We meet the Shropshire filmmaker creating a hardhitting project about historical abuse with an ex-Emmerdale star
Hot on the heels of his work on the pilot for TV care home comedy-drama, Henry House, Shropshire filmmaker Gareth Thomas is diving straight into a new and hard-hitting project.
A proof-of-concept drama about the historical abuse of a child star who is forced to confront the demons of her past, Storm is set to star former Emmerdale actress Daisy Campbell in its lead role – a role that is far removed from her own experiences on a soap – and will explore the on-going issue of the prevalence of sexual violence in the UK.
As with Henry House, Storm is set to be filmed in Shropshire, and, with Daisy’s casting, has already made national headlines.
For all of the exciting momentum on signing such a high-profile leading lady, it was not lost on Gareth and the team at his production company, Rocking Horse Media, that there was a lot of work to do behind the scenes in order to do such a harrowing topic justice.
With this, Gareth met with Sarah France, a professional expert with years of experience working with real-life abuse survivors.
“This particular drama is about a very serious topic,” said Gareth. “It’s about historical abuse, specifically within the TV and entertainment industry. It’s a fictional story, but sadly it’s a thing that happens all too often.
“We’re going to tell the story of a former child star who is invited to come back to the set of the soap that she grew up on to give a contribution to the lifetime achievement award of someone on the show that she trusted – her co-star.
“The catch, and the undertone of all this, is that unfortunately this is the man who was subjecting her to years of horrific abuse which he consistently got away with.
“He’s very much a ‘national treasure’ and a beloved member of the cast. He gets away with it because of his popularity.
