# The Salisbury Poisonings (2020)

> A three-part British dramatisation of how the community of Salisbury responded to a 2018 nerve agent emergency.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/87495

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 3
- Episode runtime: 60 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, crime
- Network: BBC One
- Cast: Anne-Marie Duff, Rafe Spall, MyAnna Buring, Judah Cousin, Annabel Scholey, Sophia Ally, Johnny Harris, Nigel Lindsay
- TMDB rating: 7.2/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10394886/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: mild
- Tone: sombre, intimate, tense, hopeful

## What critics say

Critics broadly praised the restrained, human-centred dramatisation of how ordinary Salisbury residents responded to the 2018 nerve agent emergency.

## Synopsis

The Salisbury Poisonings (2020) is a British three-part limited series broadcast on BBC One, a true events dramatisation that follows the local community of Salisbury during the unprecedented national emergency of March 2018. Anne-Marie Duff plays Tracy Daszkiewicz, a mother whose family is drawn into the crisis, alongside Rafe Spall as DS Nick Bailey, a detective caught up in the investigation, and MyAnna Buring as Dawn Sturgess. The engine of the story is the slow, frightening realisation that an ordinary town has become the site of a public health threat, and the struggle of ordinary people to protect their families while authorities scramble for answers. Each hour-long episode moves methodically through the days of the emergency, building a grounded, emotionally charged picture of fear, solidarity and quiet courage. The tone is sombre and intimate, with a strong focus on the everyday lives of residents rather than spectacle. Viewers who appreciated the measured docudrama approach of Chernobyl and the procedural realism of Line of Duty will find resonance here. Set in a contemporary English cathedral city, the series offers a restrained, human-centred account of a community under pressure.

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