Daniel Mays has been unveiled as one of Britain's most notorious sex offenders in chilling first-look images from Believe Me, a harrowing new true-crime drama that promises to be one of the most important television events of the year.
The acclaimed actor, known for his roles in Des, A Thousand Blows, and The Long Shadow, takes on the role of John Worboys (the so-called 'black cab rapist') in a drama that unflinchingly examines how the victims of one of Britain's most prolific sexual predators were catastrophically failed by the system meant to protect them.
Worboys was convicted in 2009 for crimes including sexual assault and drugging with intent against 12 women between 2006 and 2008 — a fraction of the suspected victims ultimately linked to him.
Mays has spoken candidly about the toll the role took on him. "I actually underestimated how much it was going to affect me," the actor said in a statement. "When I got these scripts, it absolutely terrified me, because I'm a father myself. My head immediately went to my 13-year-old daughter Dixie. She's venturing out, going on trains, and before long, no doubt she'll be in the back of a taxi. So as a father, I found it an incredibly disturbing and terrifying read."
The actor has, by his own admission, "played a lot of wrong ‘uns" over his 26 years in the industry. Still, he described the part as uniquely isolating. His central challenge, he revealed, was the near-impossible task of humanising him, "and that was a very difficult and unsettling thing to take on," he said.
"When I was announced to play him, I got this tirade from family and friends who can't quite believe it," he said.
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Believe Me, which is yet to receive a release date, is not a drama about Worboys himself. It is told squarely from the perspective of his victims. Aimée-Ffion Edwards (Slow Horses, Peaky Blinders) stars as Sarah, alongside Aasiya Shah (Raised by Wolves) as Laila, two women who reported their assaults to the Metropolitan Police, only to be met with scepticism and institutional failure.
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The drama also charts their legal battle, supported by solicitor Harriet Wistrich (Philippa Dunne) and barrister Phillippa Kaufmann QC (Rachael Stirling), in which they sued the Met under the Human Rights Act and won, all the way to the Supreme Court.
Miriam Petche (Industry) completes the central trio as Carrie, a senior Conservative Party press figure who risked her career to spearhead the campaign that ultimately quashed Worboys' parole.
Believe Me will air on ITV1 and ITVX.
