'It Could Be Happening Next Door...'

Lisa Riley, Lesley Sharp and Maxine Peake on their drama based on the true stories of sex abuse in Rochdale

 

- Emma Bullimore

New BBC1 drama Three Girls won’t be easy or entertaining to watch, but its stars, including Lisa Riley, Maxine Peake and Lesley Sharp, feel it’s a hugely important piece of television.

‘It’s a story that needs to be told,’ says Lisa, 40, talking about the child-grooming ring in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, which was ignored by police for years before the perpetrators were prosecuted.

‘What is saddest for me is that the young women who were taken advantage of are vulnerable,’ says Lesley, who plays Detective Maggie Oliver, ‘and have little confidence in the world being a place where they have importance.’

While the real case affected scores of girls, the programme focusses on just three. Lisa plays Lorna Bowen, a mother whose two daughters were subjected to repeated rape and constant intimidation. She was able to get to know the woman she was playing, and her two daughters, although their names have been changed for the drama.