Fiona’s Story Coming To BBC One
A powerful one-off drama for BBC One, Fiona’s Story is a tale of trust, betrayal and the breakdown of a marriage.
Bafta-nominee Gina McKee stars as Fiona Mortimer, a woman who fights to hold her family together after her husband Simon, played by Jeremy Northam, is accused of downloading images of child sexual abuse from the internet.
As police investigations get underway Simon is released on bail and returns to the family home, but Fiona’s life has changed and her trust in her husband is challenged to the limit as events unfold over the course of a year.
Although she knew her marriage wasn’t perfect, Fiona now has to face the terrifying possibility that her children may not be safe with their own father and that the man she loved is guilty of a terrible crime.
An emotionally raw drama, Fiona’s Story looks at the impact of these accusations on the family of the accused, the turmoil they face, the questions they have and the actions they take as uncertainty surrounds them.
Written by newcomer Kate Gabriel and based on extensive research, Fiona’s Story powerfully explores a myriad of emotions and begs the question: “What would you do?”
Director Adrian Shergold (He Kills Coppers, Low Winter Sun) welcomed the opportunity to tell this topical tale from a different perspective.
He explains: “I must confess, when I first heard about the project and the subject matter I thought: ‘I’m really not sure I want to go there’.
“However, once I read the script and saw that it was a deeply personal story about the implication of these accusations on a marriage, I was drawn to it.
“It’s not about what Simon’s been doing or the images he’s seen but how his family are affected by his decisions.”
And Adrian gives credit to the powerful performances of the two leads: “Both Gina and Jeremy are thoughtful actors. Gina has an extraordinary serenity and she’s truly mesmeric on screen as she takes viewers on a journey through her emotions.
“Jeremy is phenomenal and gives a staggering performance in Fiona’s Story.
“He plays a character who never really owns up to what he’s done – he’s in constant denial and that absolutely shapes him.
“In his mind he’s not the type of man who looks at child sexual abuse. For him, denial was necessary.”
In terms of challenging reactions, Adrian believes that the audience will experience many emotions: “It’s interesting because the feedback I’ve had so far from those around about me has been extremely varied.
“Not one person had the same reaction to the drama. It had a diverse effect on those who have seen the finished piece.
“In terms of the viewers, I would absolutely urge them to live with these characters and go with them through these powerful circumstances.”
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Men who are charged and are on bail for this offence are NEVER allowed back into their homes!
Im watching this on tv right now and its making me feel very awkward. Its sickening to imagine ther are women and mothers out there who stick by their men at times like this. I understand controversial issues need to be aired and usually i love dramas like this, but this ones making me really angry as its such a sensitive subject and i cant believe shes being so pathetic for not taking immediate action. Women like this disgust me.
Actually men are allowed back into their homes. last year i was ordered to send my children to visit their father unsupervised every other weekend at his new home despite him admitting to viewing child pornography for four years, kids as young as four… Their is NO SUPPORT for the main carers of the children because the system can’t cope with the numbers. Im left feeling that Im out of step with society because I dont think its right or safe. Fionas story potrayed that.. if she refused contact the courts would order it as he was not found guilty. Its really really terrible
This is what happened to me ,at the time of me being with my wife i
had a very severe stutter ,im finally rebuilding my life
my speech is getting better and i have started to realise i love
myself at last ,i just miss my kids my ex wife went social services
saying id kill them???????? ive never hit my kids or shouted at
them,they left me a winners medal,ive just joined a toastmasters and
have started to attend a support group for people with stutters .
I would never bath my kids or let them see me naked and her parents
thought i was a nonce ???????
I was raped at 11 and abused by a neighbour when i was about 13 for 3
years so i stabbed him and half killed the guy ,i couldnt tell my
mother because she hated the male offspring as my father and her
divorced and i was the only lad i had 5 sisters,my mother would drown
me in the bath and beat me ,i never felt loved .
I was with the applicant Mrs xxxxxxxxxxxxxx for 13 years .
> At the time of us meeting i was a very severe stutter with a very
low self esteem .
> XXXXXXX knew i was mentally and sexually abused as a child .
> We moved to xxxxxxxx in August 2000 with our 3
children ,xxxxxxxxxx ,xxxxx and xxxxxxx .
> We where very protective parents i was over protective ill admit .
> We didnt really socialise as i was very shy and was very
embarrassed about talking to people we still had a good family life
we never really had people in our home as we had moved 15 miles from
where we lived .
> We planned to marry in the August 2002 and we started planning in
the summer for the event .
> In the July of the summer our daughter was abused by a neighbours
son ,this happened once the lad was 13 my daughter was 3 at the time
> The lad came in our home with his mother for the first time and he
takes my son who was 5 into his bedroom to play he locks my son in
his room and goes in our daughters room and abused her ,our son
escaped and caught him and told his mother ,.
> This was my worst nightmare imagine me getting married 5 weeks
ahead and i was supposed to be happy .
> Ill admit the wedding day was a complete mess i could,nt even say
my vows as my speech at this point went very severe .
> After our wedding my trust in people had vanished completley ,I
trusted no 1 in our home and hated people going near my children ,
> I also became even more insecure and my speech suffered .
> The neighbour lived in a culdesac with us and my children would not
even play out on the front ,id just bought a 4 Bedroom detactched
home and i hated it ,my wife asked for me to ask the neighbour to
move as her son always out side .
> I asked the father to move and he said he,d bomb me and ,in the end
he did move .
> We lived a very isolated life really i worked all the time ,and
never took holidays as with the mortgage and bills was to high .
> I did confide in the neighbour i was abused .
> On my sons birthday in the December of that year another neighbour
knocked and asked if i wanted a pint ,id never really drank round the
area before .
> We drove to the pub and he started teasing me saying why do i have
panic attacks and i just wanted to go home ,next thing i know 2 men
come in the pub and start kicking off hitting OAPS and bar woman he
asked me to try and break it up and they attacked me .
> No 1 else joined in the fight and the lads got outside the pub and
said they where going to put my windows through .
> I didnt think they would do it ,i drank my pint and drove home with
the neighbour ,i got to my home and found my children crying and my
windows smashed ,the neighbour said he knew where they lived ,we
drove round and the lads attacked my van calling me a pedophile ,i
jumped out of my van and tried to stop them attacking my van ,the
neighbour jumped in my van and drove off .I was left to fight them
and in the end i ran off .
> I went back there home and put there windows through .
> I was arrested and fined .
> I had people makin comments in the street calling me a beast ,this
drove me even more depressed .
> Life after that was a complete nightmare ,i wouldnt take my kids
out to the park or allow people in our home ,We would have the odd
birthday party but no 1 was allowed
> upstairs .
> Life went on for about 2 years like this till she brought a friend
round ,her and her fella would come round and have the odd drink at
weekends and they would bring cocaine round ,me and the wife would
both take drugs ,I never took it infront of the kids and my kids
never seen me high .
> Life was good for a while I confided in them what had happened and
what people where calling me .
> The last year of 2006 was my worst ,
> My wife would want more cocaine and she started bringing her
friends youngest daughter round with her mother and they would be
saying she wanted to lose her virginty when she was 14 ,i told my
wife this had nothing to do with us,and it sent me deeper into
depression .
> I didnt want anything said like that in our home and it was between
her and her mother to discuss .
> My wife laughed this off and would bring the girl round week after
week ..
> The next thing to happen was my wifes friends older daughter who
was 16 started to email me .
> I told my wife about this and she said she,d tell her ,this went on
for weeks ,she then brought the 16 year old round and the girl was
flirting with me ,this knocked me sick and i went the doctors for
anti depressants i told the wife what she was doing and she would
laugh it off saying it was in my mind ,The 16 year old started asking
me for money for sex ,
> I went into a nervous breakdown and hit the anti depressants and
sleeping tablets and vodka ,my wife would buy these for me while i
was in work ,i didnt know if i was coming or going she also had her
friend round with her daughter still flirting like mad with me id sit
in the living room and the girl would come in the living room .
> I would be crying all the time ,i was never happy .
> My wife would buy cocaine aswell even though she was a teacher .
> In the end i could not work ,this went on for months really .
> A neighbour knocked about december saying my wife had left her
lights on the car ,she ask him to have a drink with us he seemed a
bit strange but i wasnt upto doing anything really ,he had a lager
and i showed him our zoo we had in the back which i built for my
children .
> We had owls, hawks ,ducks ,,rabbits ,guinea pigs ,parrots,
dogs,rats ,fish ,and a big park at the top of our garden i tried to
make it really good for the kids even though i hated living there .
> At the xmas in 2006 we had a xmas party i wasnt really fit enough
to even have a cup of coffe or eat properly ,i was really depressed .
> The neighbour came and her friend and fella and daughters.
> I cant remember much about the party as drinking and taking all the
medication ,plus cocaine which my wife bought .
> Ill admit the last 6months i was severely depressed .
> The new year came and the neighbour who told my wife the lights
where on in the car .
> He knocked about 9pm me and the wife where in the kitchen ,she
stayed up for about 30 minutes and went bed ,we ended up in the
living room watching telly i think .
> He asked could he go on toilet so i told him it was ok ,He,d been
on the down stairs toilet before when he came the party .
> I waited for a few minutes and he didnt return ,i went to look for
him and couldnt find him the toilet door was open .
> I looked all round the back garden ,and in the bottom of our
home ,i then proceeded to check on my family upstairs ,i looked in my
wifes room she had the light on reading a book ,i looked at my sons
room his door was open and he was asleep ,i checked our upstairs
tolilet and the door was open and the light was on i then looked at
our daughters room and the door was closed ,we never ever leave the
door closed .
> I tried to open the door and it would not budge i pushed and the
neighbour was pushed into the middle of the room i seen my daughters
both awake in shock ,my son ran to the side of me and i asked the man
to get out of our home ,i was raging and ill admit i tried to kill
the man he died twice in our hall.
> My wife casually called an ambulance and said a few days later to
forget about it ???????????
> A week later he called our home leaving a note saying phone him
up ,he had been in intensive care for a week .
> I told him not to call as i was raging and would hurt him again .
> He called an hour later trying to tell me he wanted to play dolls
with our daughters who in the right mind would go into a neighbours
home at 11pm and lock the door behind him and play with my daughter
who was abused as a kid ??????????
> I chased him down the road and was arrested i was locked up .
> The police had an investigation and my charges where dropped .
> A few weeks later we took our children in the evening to the
pictures to get me out of our home .
> We went out and came in my wife got some vodka knowing i was on
anti depresants and sleeping tablets .
> I was drinking the vodka to get out of reality and her friends
daughter calls round and comes in the kitchen ,the girl started
drinking then she gets her mobile phone out showing me and the wife
her boyfriends genitals ,i started arguing with her and the wife ,and
went into the living room .
> The girl came into the living room and tried to kiss me infront of
the wife ,i went mad and put an ashtray through the telly and went to
bed to escape what they where doing to me ,the next thing i know
police are in the bedroom ,i was arrested and had an injuction served
on me for 1 year this was in the febuary .
> After the injunction my wife wanted me to have contact with the
kids and would let me come the home and we would have days out and
nights at XXXXXXXXXXXXXX .
> Ive never gone the home in this time and just wanted to save the
marriage for my kids sake because i have thought that hard to talk
fluent ,its took me a year to be able to get my life back together .
> Ill admit i have sent text messages which i deeply regret .
> Ive lost my home and my children ,my wife went to socail services
saying id harm them ,i have never hit my children or really shouted
at them
> Ill admit i went the home the week before the injunction was up
because my wife sent me a solicitors letter saying i would hurt my
children and she wanted no access i went in a calm manner and knocked
at the door and window i did not enter the back garden ,
> Ill admit i didnt like close contact with anyone as id have a panic
attack through my up bringing as a child
> If this is my crime im ashamed to say i think people are sick
making comments and accusing me of nothing .
> I know the marriage is over and will never ever contact my wife
again and will use a solicitor and courts to fight for access to see
my children .
> I just wish the court today to read my version of events and take
this into account .
> I have stopped taking all medication and vodka and am finally
rebuilding my life .my speech is near perfect and ive took the
challenge to defend my self in court .
> My children left me a Winners medal on a ribbon .
> Which you can see .
> I would never hurt my children or wife ,ive had to fight tooth and
nail to keep my family safe .
> Thanks
> Jonathan Ashton
> This is a misscarriage of justice ,
> All ive ever been is a loving father i cant believe it was my wife
playing sick games all along ,i believe it did not happen to my
daughter after all ,my wife thought i was a nonce ,and tortured me
for nothing
I ended up telling everyone i was going brothels and wore a dress for
work a few times i felt worthless ,the good thing is ive learnt to
talk but my children have been put through so much pain for nothing
What if you was innocent like i was ?????
There are men who are victims aswell ???
This was all because i told her parents i was abused as a child ??
Ive wrote to my mp and gordon brown