Why Three Girls is one of TV's toughest watches

"It was a story that needed to be told," says Maxine Peake, emphatically.
"It's a story about a swathe of society that has been ignored and bullied."
The actress is referring to Three Girls, a new BBC One drama based on the true stories of victims of grooming and sexual abuse in Rochdale. Peake plays Sara Rowbotham, the sexual health worker who realised the girls were being abused and reported it to the authorities - and was repeatedly ignored. "The powers that be weren't encouraging her, they were shutting doors, they were telling her to be quiet, they weren't interested," says Peake, who met the real-life Sara in preparation for the role. "Nobody seemed interested in helping these girls who were in desperate situations. These were really vulnerable young women - the lack of care for them I found mind-blowing."


As the title suggests, Three Girls focuses on the young victims who were groomed in Rochdale in the five years between 2008 and 2012, for which nine men were convicted and sentenced. The judge at the time, Gerald Clifton, said the men - eight of Pakistani origin and one from Afghanistan - treated the girls "as though they were worthless and beyond respect". He said: "One of the factors leading to that was the fact that they were not part of your community or religion. "Some of you, when arrested, said it (the prosecution) was triggered by race. That is nonsense. What triggered this prosecution was your lust and greed." The drama - which will be shown over three nights next week - has been made with the full co-operation of the victims and their families. It comes as ITV soap Coronation Street also has a running storyline about child grooming involving 16-year-old Bethany Platt and a "boyfriend" in his mid-30s. 'Passed around like a ball'.Three Girls isn't an easy watch, although it is never prurient or sensational. Two episodes were shown at a press screening in London this week. The mood afterwards was subdued.

 www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-39846999