That’s True Too

Drama of Dirty Reality

If as a government you’re trying to show you’re serious about solving a problem, setting up a commission and then promptly prohibiting it from even considering one of the most significant solutions to that problem is a pretty odd way of going about it. Not just odd, but downright reckless – as Dirty Business, Channel 4’s extraordinarily powerful drama-documentary on the scandal of our privatised water system, makes abundantly clear.

We’ve known for years that water privatisation in England has been a disaster – more than 70% of it owned by a complex international network of foreign investment firms, private equity, and tax-haven based businesses, all systematically extracting value, leaving water companies awash with more than £80 billion of debt, accrued in no small part to pay shareholder dividends of £85 billion.

But perhaps it takes a hard-hitting film like this to really mobilise commensurate action.

It’s no surprise that many have been comparing Dirty Business to ITV’s 2024 series Mr Bates vs the Post Office – because of that same controlled torrent of raw fury and disgust that culminates in an unanswerable demand for justice.