Sons of Neptune

Synopsis

Making waves against the establishment.

A uniquely British comedy-drama about the small guys taking on the big man.

This is the unbelievable-but-true story of a 20-year battle waged in the 1980s and 90s on the north-east coast of England. It was here, in Scarborough, the country’s first-ever seaside resort, that the might of officialdom was challenged by a local solicitor and chiropodist.

Freddie Drabble and Charles ‘Chas’ White enjoyed nothing more than bathing in the North Sea all year round—but when they saw the creeping rise of raw, untreated sewage being pumped into the sea by the local water authority, they decided to make a stand… changing their lives forever in the process.

Joining them in their unlikely crusade is Sam, a talented young American studying journalism, who becomes caught up in their fight to expose the local politicians and water company responsible for the pollution. Together, the unlikely trio set out to take on the authorities, little realising just how far their battle will take them.

At first, they thought they were merely taking on the measly mandarins of the local town council and the blinkered bureaucrats of the municipal water authority. Soon, though, they were at war with Maggie Thatcher’s Tory Government and the might of the Establishment itself. They badgered and cajoled, coming up with one crazy newsworthy protest after another—all the time being scorned and lambasted and boycotted and attacked.

They would fall under the surveillance of the security services… spend a night in prison at Her Majesty’s pleasure after a police boat chase on the Thames… and run the gamut of ignorance, indifference, greed and petty rivalries. But they persevered and won. Their efforts changed the very foundation of European laws, making Britain’s seas safer than at any time since the Victorians first started building holiday destinations. Without them—and the group they formed, the Sons of Neptune—Britain would be a very different place indeed.

A classic feel-good Brit-com based on an extraordinary story.