‘It could have been war...'

Anne-Marie Duff on the challenges of playing the unsung hero at the centre of a real-life national emergency

- SEAN MARLAND

THE SALISBURY POISONINGS

NEW SUN-TUE / BBC1 / 9PM / EPS 1-3 of 3 / DRAMA

At the BBC’s London HQ pre-lockdown, Anne-Marie Duff, star of His Dark Materials and Shameless, is reflecting upon a role that has affected her like no other…

BBC1’s real-life drama The Salisbury Poisonings, airing over three nights this week, tackles the story of the 2018 novichok nerve-agent attack that targeted ex-Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia on the streets of the cathedral city.

The plot of the three-parter focuses mainly on public servant Tracy Daszkiewicz, Wiltshire Council’s Director of Public Health, who found herself at the centre of an unprecedented national emergency – and Anne-Marie was determined to do her story justice.

‘I’ve never played a real person that’s still alive before,’ she tells TV Times. ‘I’ve played lots of people from history but never actually tried to tell the story of someone who is around to hear it. So it’s a huge challenge trying to do that responsibly, kindly and truthfully.’

The Skripals were rushed to hospital as a result of the attack, believed to be by Russian operatives, but later discharged.

Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey (played by The War of the Worlds star Rafe Spall) was contaminated at the Skripals’ home and required hospital treatment. Local woman Dawn Sturgess (Ripper Street’s MyAnna Buring) was fatally poisoned after coming into contact with the nerve agent through a fake perfume bottle.