​The Mother Of All Lies

Sheridan Smith on playing the loyal friend of a real-life kidnapper

- Emma Bullimore

The case of Shannon Matthews stunned the nation back in 2008, when it was revealed that the missing nine-year-old had been subjected to a fake kidnapping organised by her own mother, Karen, and carried out by her partner’s uncle, Michael Donovan.

Now, the team behind BAFTA winning true crime dramas Appropriate Adult (about Fred and Rose West) and Mrs Biggs (about Ronnie and Charmian Biggs), are taking the Matthews case as source material for their new BBC1 drama, The Moorside, named after the estate in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, where Shannon grew up.

The two-parter, filmed in nearby Halifax, tells the story from the perspective of Karen Matthews’ close friend and neighbour, Julie Bushby, played by Cilla star Sheridan Smith, who led the community campaign to search for Shannon and kept her case in the media spotlight.