The Salisbury Poisonings review, Culture Whisper
When the inevitable Covid-19 movie plays to (hopefully) disinfected cinemas, it’ll probably be a lot like The Salisbury Poisonings. Within this three-part dramatisation of the bizarre Novichok attack in 2018, writers Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson inadvertently predict the threat we’re trying to beat.
You see masks and hazard suits, forensics teams bathed in showers of disinfectant. families unable to touch their sick loved ones, even with gloves. Government officials make stupid swerves away from panic, trying to keep the economy breathing. And you'll hear the ominously prescient phrases like ‘contagion’ and ‘locking down’, uttered by the series’ hero Tracy Daszkiewicz (Anne-Marie Duff), director of Public Health in Wiltshire. Given the scale of Salisbury’s outbreak, which is comparatively small, this feels like a three-part prequel to a seven-season box set.
It’s a story that most are familiar with. It's not only an enticing, post-cold war tale of violent espionage, but also has a calm, quiet and mostly harmless setting. The suburban absurdity is almost Lynchian: a nice city in the countryside with dark powers lurking underneath.
