There’s nothing quite like a Sheridan Smith drama to start the weekend with and, thanks to our friends at ITV, there’s one you can binge tonight. The Moorside became a true TV moment when it first aired in 2017, with fans calling it Sheridan’s best crime drama yet and 10/10 reviews across the board – and nine years on, nothing has quite surpassed it.
The two-part series tells the scarily true story of Shannon Matthews who was reported missing in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, when she was just nine years old. Julie Bushby (played by Sheridan), a woman on the Moorside estate where Shannon and her mother, Karen, lived, organised daily search teams to find Shannon. And yet three weeks later, it would be revealed that Karen had been an accomplice in her own daughter’s kidnapping.
It’s a harrowing watch as the story is told through Julie’s eyes and Sheridan’s performance is, unsurprisingly, nothing short of outstanding. With the series now available to stream in full, here’s everything you need to know about The Moorside before you do, including the full plot, cast and release date.
What is The Moorside about?
The two-part crime drama is based on the real-life disappearance of nine-year-old Shannon Matthews in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, in 2008. In what turned out to be a hoax orchestrated by her mother, Karen Matthews, Shannon was found alive hidden in the base of a divan bed at a house less than a mile from her home, 24 days after her disappearance.
Sheridan Smith leads the cast as Julie Bushby, a concerned community member who, when emotional public appeals for information from Shannon’s mother Karen amount to nothing, organises the search party for Shannon. The series tell the story through Julie’s eyes and, over the course of the two episodes, we see how Karen’s behaviour begins to spark suspicion and how the wild celebrations of Julie and the community when Shannon is found are rapidly cut short when they learn that Shannon was being held by a man known to Karen.
Sheridan told Radio Times of the story: “Julie was terribly betrayed by Karen. And she received a lot of ridicule and abuse for apparently being taken in by her. But she is a kind and courageous woman with a massive heart who just refused to believe the absolute worst of Karen.”
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Sheridan spent a lot of time with the women of the Moorside estate before taking on the role in order to understand what they went through. She explained: “They’d go out searching, grab two or three hours’ sleep, then be up for more of the same the next day – and this went on for weeks. Then, after Shannon was found, it was Julie and her friend Natalie Brown who played a key part in uncovering what had happened. I knew all about the headlines, but this was a story that had never been told.”
Who’s in the cast of The Moorside?
The main cast of The Moorside includes:
- Sheridan Smith (Mrs Biggs, I Fought the Law) as Julie Bushby
- Sian Brooke (Blue Lights) as Natalie Brown
- Gemma Whelan (Killing Eve, Gentleman Jack) as Karen Matthews
- Dean Andrews (Ashes to Ashes) as PC Steve Kinchin
- Siobhan Finneran (The Loch, Happy Valley) as DC Christine Freeman
- Tom Hanson (Brassic) as Craig Meehan
- Sam Chapman (Slow Horses) as Michael Donovan
Is there a trailer for The Moorside?
Yes – and Sheridan’s performance in the 45-second clip is enough to move you alone. You can watch the trailer below.
Is The Moorside any good?
Yes – it’s not an easy watch, but it really does captivate you from start to finish. When it first aired in 2017, The Moorside drew in more than 10 million viewers who praised the Sheridan’s “incredible” performance and called it “hauntingly accurate”, “powerful” and “brilliantly made”.
How can I watch The Moorside?
Both episodes of The Moorside are available to watch now on ITVX.
What other Sheridan Smith dramas can I watch now?
If you haven’t yet seen Sheridan's ITV drama I Fought the Law, we’d highly recommend it. The four-part series portrays the real-life story of grieving mother, Ann Ming (played by Sheridan), and her fight to change the Double Jeopardy Law and see her daughter, Julie’s murderer brought to justice. You can watch I Fought the Law on ITVX. For another heart-wrenching watch, we’d recommend Four Lives. The series stars Sheridan as the mother of Anthony Walgate, one of the four young gay men murdered by Stephen Port between June 2014 and September 2015. It focuses on the plight of the victims’ family and friends to get justice for their loved ones and Sheridan is, once again, outstanding in it. You can watch Four Lives on BBC iPlayer.
