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Channel 5 lines up gypsy eviction doc

ViacomCBS-owned UK terrestrial Channel 5 has commissioned a feature doc focusing on the infamous eviction of a travelling community by police and security forces a decade ago.

Federico Ruiz

Tinopolis-owned Firecracker Films, which is known for its Channel 4 series My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, is working on Gypsy Eviction: The Battle for Dale Farm for C5.

The 1×90 feature doc focuses on the biggest eviction of gypsies and travellers in UK history, from farmland in Essex in 2011.

An Irish travelling community had been illegally developing the land near Basildon for a decade and almost 90 families were settled there when police moved in to evict them. A turf war ensued with harrowing scenes of violence that shocked the country.

In 2019, C5 aired another feature doc about Appleby Horse Fair, titled The Town the Gypsies Took Over, which consolidated to 1.9 million.

Federico Ruiz, head of factual entertainment at Firecracker Films, said: “The Dale Farm eviction was one of the most shocking and brutal events in recent British history. Doing it justice and putting it in proper historical context was our top priority in this feature doc; the more you dig into the story, the more disturbing it becomes.”

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