BBC drama Three Girls denies pushing 'far-right agenda'
Controversial three-part series about Rochdale child abuse case described as one of TV's toughest watches

A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
The writer of BBC drama Three Girls, which examines the 2012 Rochdale child abuse scandal, has denied claims it could be used by far-right groups to stoke racism.
Speaking to The Guardian, Nicole Taylor said such groups would "hitch their wagon opportunistically to anything" but she was confident her drama "doesn't give them an opportunity to do so".
She added: "I felt very strongly, from beginning to end, that there is a significant benefit in airing this story and I still feel that."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Three Girls, which stars Maxine Peake as whistleblowing social worker, tells the story of the widespread grooming of young women by a group of Asian men in Rochdale between 2008-2012.
Nine men were convicted of child sex trafficking offences and sentenced to between four and 19 years in prison after dozens of girls, many of them in foster care, were abused.
Judge Gerald Clifton said the fact the girls "were not part of your community or religion", something that had led the men to treat them "as though they were worthless and beyond respect".
However, he rejected the idea that case itself was religiously or racially motivated, saying: "What triggered this prosecution was your lust and greed."
Taylor said she hoped the drama, which was made with the full cooperation of the victims and their families, would provoke a "wider discussion" about how the abuse was able to continue unpunished for so long, and why the authorities were so quick to ignore the victims.
Peake said that the drama focussed on the victims, rather than the abusers.
"It's a story that needed to be told about a swathe of society that's ignored, bullied and shipped off to one side," she told the BBC.
The "lack of care" shown towards the girls as they were being exploited was "mind-blowing", she added.
BBC entertainment correspondent Tim Masters warns: "Three Girls isn't an easy watch, although it is never prurient or sensational."
Three Girls runs over three nights on BBC1, starting Tuesday 16 May.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
-
Why the FTC antitrust lawsuit against Amazon is so consequential
Talking Point While it's not the first case the federal agency brought against the company, it might be the biggest challenge yet
By Theara Coleman Published
-
The shutdown
Cartoons
By The Week Staff Published
-
Teachers and indoctrination
Cartoons
By The Week Staff Published
-
MG4 EV XPower review: what the car critics say
Feature The XPower just 'isn't as much fun' as a regular MG4
By The Week Staff Published
-
Black Atlantic: Power, People, Resistance review
The Week Recommends Fitzwilliam Museum exhibition features lives affected by the Atlantic slave trade
By The Week Staff Published
-
Private Lives review: a 'witty' revival of Noël Coward's classic comedy
The Week Recommends Patricia Hodge and Nigel Havers play the warring exes in this 'delicious retro treat'
By The Week Staff Published
-
Wilderness review: a soapy drama set in the American southwest
The Week Recommends Amazon series starring Jenna Coleman and Oliver Jackson-Cohen is 'full of twists'
By The Week Staff Published
-
Volkswagen ID.5 review: what the car critics say
Feature The ID.4's 'sportier, more stylish twin' – but 'don't believe the hype'
By The Week Staff Published
-
Jamaica Inn review: a small patch of Caribbean heaven
The Week Recommends Guests will feel like one of the family at this boutique beach resort in Ocho Rios
By Natasha Langan Published
-
Scottish Women Artists review
The Week Recommends Exhibition uncovers the work of female artists long hidden in 'historical obscurity'
By The Week Staff Published
-
Dracula: Mina's Reckoning review
The Week Recommends A groundbreaking and distinctively Scottish retelling of Bram Stoker's classic novel
By The Week Staff Published