While many viewers will be well aware of the John Worboys case that forms the basis of new factual drama Believe Me, some may find it surprising that Carrie Symonds (now known as Johnson) features in the story.
Now married to former British prime minister Boris Johnson, Believe Me goes back in time to 2007 when Carrie was just 19 and was driven home by Worboys after a night out in Chelsea.
She recalled accepting the spiked alcohol that Worboys had offered her and went on to be one of the women (as part of 14 in total) who testified against him at his trial some years later.
While her experience is different to that of Sarah (Aimée-Ffion Edwards) and Laila (Aasiya Shah) in the drama, Carrie later steps up using her professional expertise to ensure that Worboys remains behind bars.
Speaking to Radio Times and other outlets about Carrie’s important role in Worboys’s conviction and continued imprisonment, actress Miriam Petche said of playing her: “She became so involved in an extremely crucial point in this parole decision and she used her background in communication to help bring attention to this case, support this legal challenge and bring wider awareness, which is so crucial in this decision-making and took so much bravery and effort.
“I think it’s a very important aspect of the story to be spoken about.”
Speaking further to ITV about inhabiting the real-life character, the Industry star said: “I suppose she had a slightly different involvement within the case. First she waived her anonymity after Worboys’s trial and gave interviews to encourage other women to come forward.
“And later she helped with fundraising and used her press contacts to fight for a judicial review of the Parole Board’s decision in 2018.
“She must have had an incredible amount of courage to risk her career and use the tools at her disposal to support these women and make sure they were able to convince a judge to overturn the parole decision.”
Petche added: “I researched how she viewed that situation, what she had said in previous interviews and conversations which I believe were directly transcribed into our script. She believed he was unassuming, not quite aware of the possibility of what he could do.
“The shock came later on when she found out who he turned out to be after reading the newspaper about what was happening in London.”
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The drama stars Daniel Mays (A Thousand Blows) as Worboys, with the four-parter focusing on the stories of Sarah, Laila and Carrie to shine a light on how the handling of the case impacted these women and led to them not feeling believed.
The series synopsis reads: “We see what countless women say they have to go through after reporting being raped, the indignity of multiple interviews and intimate evidence gathering, and how they can face sceptical lines of questioning from the police.
“Believe Me will relate how the Met’s failings effectively left Worboys free to commit assaults undetected for many years; following his trial came the realisation that he was linked to allegations of further sexual offences against over a hundred women.”
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Believe Me airs at 9pm on ITV1 tonight (10 May), with all four episodes available to stream on ITVX.
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