Since the beginning of 2025, Netflix have released 2 shows dramatising true stories in which there are real victims. ‘Apple Cider Vinegar’, released on 6 February focuses on Australian fraudster Belle Gibson who claimed to treat her terminal cancer with ‘alternative therapies’ before she was discovered to be faking her diagnosis. Now a few weeks later, ‘Toxic Town’ has hit our screens showcasing the Corby toxic waste scandal, which took place in the 1980s and 1990s, and caused unborn babies to be born with congenital disabilities.
The real stories behind these shows have already reached some sort of ‘ending’ after legal action. In 2017 Gibson was ordered to pay $410,000 Australian dollars for her false claims, and in 2010 Corby Council were found liable for failing to properly decontaminate the Corby steelworks and ordered to pay £14.6 million in compensation to the victims and their legal teams. However these stories being broadcast on a large global platform has allowed for greater awareness of the injustices that took place.
At a time where many influencers are promoting advice such as ‘balancing your hormones’ despite not being medical professionals, Apple Cider Vinegar was a perfectly timed release. The show platforms how dangerous it can be to listen to influencers with no medical degree and how much harm these ‘influencers’ can cause through ignorance and greed for followers.
In response to Toxic Town, the leader of North Northamptonshire Council, which encompasses the old Corby borough council, states that it was right to showcase the victim’s stories and understands that it will likely cause needed reassurance that this mistake could never be made again. As someone who was previously unaware of the Corby scandal I think that the show is an excellent way to highlight the scandal and showcase how ordinary people can fight back against institutions which failed them.
This idea of tv being used to platform individuals demanding justice from institutions is perhaps most notably seen in the 2024 hit ‘Mr Bates vs the Post Office’ which was watched by 13.5 million in the first month of its release. The show brought the scandal, in which innocent post office workers were charged with theft due to a faulty system, to the forefront of the nation’s mind.
The outroar was so loud, it led former PM Rishi Sunak to introduce a new law the same month the programme was released, promising to exonerate and compensate all individuals who had been falsely accused. Whilst Mr Bates said in November 2024 that he had not received word from Keir Starmer that March 2025 would be the final deadline for compensation like requested, the show undoubtedly made huge waves, both legally and politically, in ensuring the scandal’s victims would not be forgotten.
Given today’s online world, it seems unavoidable that tv will not continue to be wielded as a platform for change.