Stern & Wild client part of the team behind scandalous story uncovering chemical contamination in Wales

Shout out to Stern & Wild filmmaker John Joe Bardsley, who edit produced tonight’s opening episode of BURIED WITH MICHAEL SHEEN, a shocking two-part documentary calling for action over the dumping of thousands of tonnes of the toxic “forever chemical” PCB in sites across Wales and north west England. 

Welsh actor and activist Michael Sheen has sought to highlight the issue for the past decade after recording an interview with farming consultant and whistleblower Douglas Gowan who claimed the people of Wales had been poisoned, not by a single criminal act, but by decades of exposure to toxic chemicals in the environment. Filmed over two days, the interview saw Douglas describe a lifetime battling corporations, government and local councils, claiming Monsanto – the world's leading PCB producer – knowingly buried highly toxic waste in communities across Wales, with consequences still being felt today. Two months after the interview, Douglas was dead, leaving Michael with his story.

The documentary builds on the award-winning BBC podcast BURIED: THE LAST WITNESS which Michael presented alongside investigative journalists Dan Ashby and Lucy Taylor, and follows the three as they retrace Douglas' footsteps with environmental experts, forensic scientists and residents living near toxic dump sites. The BBC describe it as “a journey into alleged conspiracy and cover-ups, but also one of ordinary people speaking truth to power”.

The series is a BBC Factual and BBC Cymru Wales co-commission for BBC Two, BBC One Wales and BBC iPlayer. It is produced by Wall to Wall and Smoke Trail Productions in partnership with the Open University.

The first episode airs tonight at 9.00pm on BBC Two, BBC One Wales and is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.