THE silent killer

Anne-Marie Duff and Rafe Spall star in a compelling drama about the deadly novichok attack on the streets of Salisbury

- SEAN MARLAND

In March 2018, the eyes of the world turned towards Salisbury when former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, who lived in the cathedral city, was targeted in a shocking assassination attempt.

It was soon discovered that secret agents from Moscow had tried to kill Skripal and his daughter Yulia by exposing them to a deadly nerve agent called novichok. As they lay fighting for their lives in hospital, officials were terrified that hundreds more local residents could be struck down by coming into contact with the poison.

Now, a powerful three-part factual drama, which runs over consecutive nights on BBC1, tells the story of the ordinary people who showed extraordinary bravery to protect the community and avert a catastrophe during those terrifying weeks.

Anne-Marie Duff stars as Tracy Daszkiewicz, director of public health at Wiltshire Council. After learning that just a few drops of novichok would be deadly enough to kill thousands of people, Tracy and her team raced to contain the poison.

‘At the time – and perhaps it was on purpose – we weren’t told just how much of a crisis we were potentially facing,’ says Duff. ‘The ramifications of what happened could have been globally catastrophic and we can’t underestimate that.’