ITV1 announce new true crime drama from Jeff Pope MBE, Believe Me

It tells the story of three victims of one of the most prolific sex attackers in British history,

ITV1 has announced a brand new four-part true crime drama written by Jeff Pope MBE. Believe Me tells the story of three victims of one of the most prolific sex attackers in British history, John Worboys, dubbed by the media as the ‘black cab rapist’ after preying on women under the cover of being a ‘respectable’ licensed taxi-cab driver.

Daniel Mays takes on the role of John Worboys, who was convicted in 2009 for sexually assaulting twelve women between 2006 and 2008, with their cases selected from a large number of suspected further victims.

His modus operandi was to claim that he’d had a win at a casino or on the lottery, then persistently offer women he’d picked up in his cab after a night out a glass of champagne, which he’d laced with drugs, and which rendered his victims unconscious.

Joining the cast are Aimée-Ffion Edwards, Miriam Petche and Aasiya Shah as the women Worboys sexually assaulted.

The drama focuses on the ordeal of two of the women who reported sexual assaults by Worboys, and how the Metropolitan Police failed to thoroughly investigate these women’s allegations, leading them to feel that they were just not believed.

Believe Me will relate how this left Worboys free to commit assaults undetected for many years. Following his trial came the realisation that he was linked to allegations of further sexual offences against over a hundred women.

The two women then joined forces with solicitor Harriet Wistrich and Phillippa Kaufmann QC, and decided to sue the Metropolitan Police under the Human Rights Act for their failure to properly conduct investigations into their allegations of sexual assault, leading to them being subjected to degrading treatment and contributing to their distress.

The drama highlights how these women fought against all odds to have their cases heard, whilst looming in the background was Worboys’ first parole hearing. Unbelievably, eight years after he was convicted for his crimes, his victims were made to fight again to keep him behind bars.

Speaking about Believe Me, writer Jeff Pope said "The series goes on an emotional journey with the victims of Worboys’ attacks, showing what happened to them when they reported being raped and assaulted, the pain and indignity of the process and how this de-humanised them. But most shocking of all is how they felt that not being believed by the police and having the attacks recorded, essentially, as non-crimes, was as traumatising for them as the actual assaults."

To which ITV's Head of Drama, Polly Hill, added "We are really proud to be working with Jeff Pope to bring this important story to screen. For too long the women were not heard by the police, resulting in more victims and ultimately resulting in a landmark case brought against the Met. Jeff’s scripts as always are brilliant in bringing this difficult but important story to screen and I am delighted that Julia Ford will be directing the piece."

Produced by Jeff Pope's production company, Etta Pictures, part of ITV Studios, Believe Me will be directed by Julia Ford, produced by Catrin Lewis Defis and executive produced by Jeff Pope alongside Saurabh Kakkar on behalf of Etta Pictures,

The drama will be filmed in Cardiff and is produced with the support of the Welsh Government via Creative Wales.

Believe Me will air on ITV1