EXCLUSIVE: ITV and Oscar-nominee Jeff Pope are teaming on a drama examining the devastating impact of on children, an idea that came to the broadcaster from Simon Cowell’s partner Lauren Cowell.
The as-yet-untitled series will follow the story of multiple families and campaigners including Ellen Roome, who believes that the tragic death of her beloved 14-year-old son Julian ‘Jools’ Sweeney could have been linked to harmful social media. Roome has spent the past four years trying to find out why her son died in April 2022 after a typical day playing with friends, making it her mission to fight for answers from technology companies on both sides of the Atlantic as the family do not have access to her son’s social media platforms.
ITV said the drama will “depict the devastating global impact of social media on children and examine the extent to which technology companies are able to evade responsibility and scrutiny.”
Watch on Deadline
Having campaigned alongside Roome and other families, Lauren Cowell approached ITV with the idea a while back and the show comes from Pope’s ITV Studios-backed Etta Pictures in association with documentary indie Featuristic Films. Roome, who was initially developing the drama with Featuristic, is consulting and working with Pope’s team throughout production, while Lauren Cowell is an EP.
“Ellen’s story is one of the most powerful, heartbreaking and important stories I have ever come across,” said Lauren Cowell. “What she and the other bereaved families have endured is beyond devastating, and yet through unimaginable grief they have found the strength to stand up, speak out and fight for change so that other children and families do not suffer the same pain.”
Frederic J. BROWN / AFP via Getty Images
Roome added: “The fact that ITV and Jeff Pope are committed to this drama has genuinely given me a huge sense of hope and reassurance. I truly feel they will not only tell my story, but most importantly Jools’ story, with the care, sensitivity and integrity it deserves. What happened to Jools changed my life forever, but if telling his story can help protect other children and make people truly understand the reality of what families are facing, then I know there is purpose in doing this. Thank you all again for believing in this and for committing yourselves to such an important story.”
The show spotlights a topic that has been in the news plenty of late.
UK campaigners have been lobbying for years for tighter social media regulation and last month Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a full social media ban for under-16s, which he said will go even further than the world-first ban in Australia. More details were unveiled this morning about plans for a midnight social media curfew for older teens.
ITV and factual drama supremo Pope have worked together a lot down the years, most recently on Believe Me, about “Black Cab Rapist” John Worboys. Since the standout success of Mr Bates vs the Post Office, ITV has continued to regularly greenlight campaigning dramas like Sheridan Smith-starrer I Fought the Law and Peter Moffat’s upcoming show on the contaminated blood scandal.
The social media drama is the first big ITV greenlight to be unveiled since Sky officially confirmed it was buying the 70-year-old broadcaster last week.
