On the 7th July 2005 a series of four coordinated suicide attacks were carried out by Islamic terrorists targeting rush hour commuters on London’s public transport network.
Three terrorist deliberately detonated bombs on three underground trains in the city’s centre , later a fourth terrorist detonated a bomb on a DoubleDecker bus in Tavistock Square. It’s one of the deadliest terror attacks on British soil, and a new television series from Disney looks at how authorities responded in the days after the deadly attacks.
52 people of 18 different nationalities were killed, and nearly 800 people were injured. Police and security services feared that more attacks were to come and were on high alert, they began searching for the men responsible unsure if they had perished in the explosions.
The following day a man entered the train station and police officers matched him to a mug short of one of the wanted men. Police followed and him and an order was given to stop him from entering the London Underground system. He was shot and killed by police.
The next day Police admitted the man had no connection to the bombings. His name was Jean Charles de Menezes, he was a Brazilian man living in London.
A new series about the tragic incident and the confusion that followed, plus the many inquiries to establish the truth that followed arrives on Disney in the UK this week. Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles De Menezes has an impressive cast.
Russell Tovey (Being Human, Looking, Years and Years, Quantico) plays Brian Paddick, who at the time was one of the Metropolitan’s Police’s most senior members to publicly share that they were gay. After his police career he was entered the world of politics and later became a life-peer as Baron Paddick.
In a recent interview Tovey said he felt a personal connection with Paddick. “He’s someone I’ve looked up to. I was happy he was someone within the community with good morals.”
“I came out very early in my career and was advised along the way not to consider it, but I went against that advice. I feel a real connection to Brian. I understand what it means to be gay in the public eye and what people can write about you.”
Also, in the series is Emily Mortimer (The Newsroom) who plays Commander Cressida Dick, the officer serving as ‘Gold Commander’ when the order to apprehend the suspect was given. She would later be promoted to the highest ranking in the force, serving as Commissioner from 2017 until 2022. In 2017 she came out as a lesbian.
Daniel Mays (Line of Duty, Ashes to Ashes, Outcasts), Conleth Hill (Game of Thrones), Max Beesley (Survivors, Jamestown, Suits), Alex Jennings (The Crown, A Very English Scandal) and Laura Aikman (Casualty, Gavin & Stacey) round out the cast.
There series is available in the UK from 30th April. There’s no date yet for an Australian screening of the series, but we’ll be looking out for this one.
Check out the trailer.
