Peaky Blinders and Industry favourites star in exclusive first look at true crime drama aiming to be "wake-up call"

A new ITV true crime drama, titled Believe Me, is on the way, and Radio Times has got an exclusive first look at some of its central stars in character.

The four-part series tells the true story surrounding John Worboys, dubbed the 'black cab rapist' after preying on women under the cover of being a licensed taxi-cab driver. He was convicted in 2009 for crimes including sexual assault and drugging with intent against 12 women between 2006 and 2008, with their cases selected from a large number of suspected further victims.

The series tells the story of how the victims of Worboys were failed by the system, with a particular focus on two individuals, Sarah (Aimée-Ffion Edwards) and Laila (Aasiya Shah).

Both Edwards (Slow Horses, Peaky Blinders) and Shah (The Beast Must Die) are seen in the first-look images, as is Miriam Petche (Industry) who plays Carrie Symonds, now Carrie Johnson, the wife of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Not seen in the images yet is Daniel Mays (A Thousand Blows, Line of Duty), who takes on the role of Worboys in the drama written by Jeff Pope (The Reckoning).

Sarah and Laila will be seen joining forces with solicitor Harriet Wistrich, played by Philippa Dunne and barrister Phillippa Kaufmann QC, played by Rachael Stirling, to sue the Metropolitan Police under the Human Rights Act.

They won this case and also won an appeal which went to the Supreme Court, but later had to fight to keep Worboys behind bars at his first parole hearing eight years later. In this, they were joined by Symonds, who was targeted by Worboys in her youth but had a narrow escape, and who had become a senior figure in the Conservative Party press team.

Upon the release of the first-look images, Sarah, whose identity has been protected, said in a statement: "Believe Me is about the courage of every woman who came forward to help put John Worboys behind bars. What happened to me changed my life, but in many ways the hardest part was not being believed for so many years.

"Without the people who stood by me, Worboys would have been freed and continued to pose a huge risk to women. Seeking justice shouldn’t mean more trauma. We shouldn’t have to fight to be believed or feel like we’re the ones on trial. The shame never belongs to the survivor."

Meanwhile, Carrie Johnson added: "I hope Believe Me serves as a wake-up call to the police, the CPS and the parole board... Reform matters but what we urgently need above all is a profound shift in culture.

"It takes enormous courage for women to come forward. They must know that when they do, they will be treated seriously and with respect, and that every effort will be made to ensure justice is done."

Believe Me will air on ITV1 and ITVX.

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