We meet the Shropshire filmmaker creating a hardhitting project about historical abuse with an ex-Emmerdale star

A proof-of-concept drama about the historical abuse of a child star who is forced to confront the demons of her past, Storm is set to star former Emmerdale actress Daisy Campbell in its lead role – a role that is far removed from her own experiences on a soap – and will explore the on-going issue of the prevalence of sexual violence in the UK.

As with Henry House, Storm is set to be filmed in Shropshire, and, with Daisy’s casting, has already made national headlines.

For all of the exciting momentum on signing such a high-profile leading lady, it was not lost on Gareth and the team at his production company, Rocking Horse Media, that there was a lot of work to do behind the scenes in order to do such a harrowing topic justice.

With this, Gareth met with Sarah France, a professional expert with years of experience working with real-life abuse survivors.

“This particular drama is about a very serious topic,” said Gareth. “It’s about historical abuse, specifically within the TV and entertainment industry. It’s a fictional story, but sadly it’s a thing that happens all too often. 

“We’re going to tell the story of a former child star who is invited to come back to the set of the soap that she grew up on to give a contribution to the lifetime achievement award of someone on the show that she trusted – her co-star.

“The catch, and the undertone of all this, is that unfortunately this is the man who was subjecting her to years of horrific abuse which he consistently got away with.

“He’s very much a ‘national treasure’ and a beloved member of the cast. He gets away with it because of his popularity. 

“In this proof-of-concept we’re going to see our young character, Lacey, faced with a dilemma – she can go out there and read from an auto-cue, take the money she’s been offered and say all of these empty, fake words about how great this guy is, or she can go out there and actually speak her truth and use that platform she’s been given to actually call him out for everything that he ever did to her. To our audience, the question is, which way will she go?”

As a consultant on Storm, Sarah’s role is to be a part of making sure that the on-screen depiction of an abuse survivor is authentic, and she is proud to be working with the team at Rocking Horse to ensure this is achieved.

“My day job is as a psychological therapist,” she said. “I have a private clinic, but I also work in the NHS, and a lot of the people I work with are survivors of sexual violence.

“I have quite a deep understanding professionally, but also personally, of the impact that this can have on a person. I made contact with Gareth and said that I would really like to be involved in this project in any way I can, because raising awareness over this issue is something I’m really passionate about. 

“So I’m here to help with the research side of things, to help make it more authentic in terms of presenting how PTSD and trauma can impact somebody.”

For Sarah and Gareth, the process so far has involved delving deeply into the character of Lacey and establishing the intricacies of her background and experience.

“It’s about thinking about the character’s upbringing, because that can have an impact on how traumatic events can affect the person later on in life,” said Sarah. 

“We’re getting an understanding of the upbringing, the trauma itself, how many times it happened, what happened, her age, and just trying to understand all of that. 

“And we’re also looking at what actually happens when someone is in that situation when they are sexually assaulted.

“We have been through the ‘defence cascade’ – the behaviour that every human and animal engages in when faced with a threat; the fight or flight response, but also, the freeze response.

“We’re also looking at PTSD and the symptoms that people might experience – the thoughts, the shame, all of it. We’re also looking at the issue they might have about speaking up and the power imbalance. Especially in Lacey’s case, there’s a star here who’s got away with it before. We’re really just trying to get all of that information so as to make it as realistic as possible.”

In taking on a TV project with such an important issue at its core, there is naturally a weight and duty to be borne by Gareth and the team.

“There’s a huge responsibility in making this, but it doesn’t feel like a negative pressure,” he said. “Surrounded by people like Sarah, we know that we’re in safe hands. I’ve learnt so much from what Sarah has shared with me.

“This is not Daisy’s personal story, but because she had a very positive experience herself on a soap it has hit home with her in a different way because she knows how it should be, and she can’t imagine how awful it must be to experience anything else. So it’s very important to her that this gets the attention it deserves.

“It’s not lost on her that we need as much help as we can get from people who do know what it feels like, and that’s why that level of experience is key.”

As Sarah highlights, statistics around sexual violence are nothing less than terrifying, and both she and Gareth hope that Storm will play a part in reminding the general public of the seriousness of this abhorrent plague that affects so many innocent people, and that, quite simply, it has to end.

“One in four women are sexually assaulted,” said Sarah. “One in six children, and one in 18 males. It happens all the time. There are a lot of predators out there, and for me it’s important to instil fear in these predators and to let them know that they can’t get away with it.”

“From our perspective as writers, directors and actors, we want to tell a story which people can relate to,” added Gareth. 

“There is a lot to be said for that. But I also want someone to sit in their living room one night and, on this particular subject, gain a greater understanding of what it feels like to go through things they have never experienced. 

“I also want predators to watch this and feel uncomfortable. It’s not acceptable behaviour and it’s about time it stopped. If we help just one person get help or bring just one person to justice it will have been worth it.”

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