Three Girls (TV series)

Three Girls is a three-part British television drama series written by Nicole Taylor and directed by Philippa Lowthorpe. It was broadcast on three consecutive nights between 16 and 18 May 2017 on BBC One. A co-production between BBC Studios and Studio Lambert, the series is a dramatised version of the events surrounding the Rochdale child sex abuse ring, and describes how the police and the local authorities failed to investigate allegations of child abuse and rape because the victims were perceived as unreliable witnesses and through fear of being accused of racism because of the ethnicity of the perpetrators.
Three Girls drew a strong viewing audience upon its first broadcast, with 8.24 million viewers for episode one, 7.88 million for episode two and 8.19 million for episode three. The series was released on DVD in Region 2 on 8 January 2018.
A BBC documentary on the case, The Betrayed Girls, was broadcast on 3 July 2017 as a follow-up to the drama.

Plot

The story is told from the viewpoint of three of the victims: fourteen-year-old Holly Winshaw, sixteen-year-old Amber Bowen and her younger sister Ruby. The focus later shifts to sexual health worker Sara Rowbotham, the main whistleblower who drew attention to the case after repeated pleas for action from social services and the police fell on deaf ears.
DC Margaret Oliver, the lead investigator on the case, manages to gain the support of her superior officer, Sandy Guthrie to instigate a full-blown investigation. However, despite significant evidence, the CPS decides to drop the case because of an “unrealistic prospect of conviction”. After Margaret convinces Amber Bowen to testify against her former boyfriend, Tariq, the case is re-opened by recently appointed public prosecutor Nazir Afzal, who with the assistance of the police and the victims involved, manages to secure convictions against ten men involved in the ring.
Rowbotham, Oliver and Afzal all acted as consultants on the series.

Cast

Maxine Peake as Sara Rowbotham
Lesley Sharp as DC Margaret Oliver
Molly Windsor as Holly Winshaw
Ria Zmitrowicz as Amber Bowen
Liv Hill as Ruby Bowen
Ace Bhatti as Nazir Afzal
Paul Kaye as Jim Winshaw
Jill Halfpenny as Julie Winshaw
Bo Bragason as Rachel Winshaw
Lisa Riley as Lorna Bowen
Naomi Radcliffe as Yvonne
Jason Hughes as DC Sandy Guthrie
Rupert Procter as DC Jack Harrop
as PC Richard Bryan
Antonio Aakeel as Immy
Wasim Zakir as Tariq
Zee Sulleyman as Billy
Simon Nagra as Daddy

Filming

The three part drama was filmed from June to August 2016 in Bristol and released from 16th to 18th May 2017. As for filming locations, the council offices on Temple Street doubled as Liverpool Crown Court, whilst Bristol Register Office was used for interior community meeting scenes. Filming also took place in Victoria Park, Eastville Park and streets in Hartcliffe, Knowle, Easton, Bedminster and Redcliffe.

Link to Finsbury Park attack

In June 2017, a terrorist attack was launched against mosque-goers in Finsbury Park. The attacker, Darren Osborne, used a van to run over Muslim pedestrians, killing one man and injuring several others. In the course of the trial, it was remarked that Osborne developed an obsession with Muslims after watching Three Girls.