Sky reveals The Lie that Exposed the Truth with Sandpaper Films

Sandpaper Films’ The Lie that Exposed the Truth

UK satcaster Sky has commissioned a documentary series about a British woman who was imprisoned for making false claims about grooming and trafficking, and the consequences her lies may have had for real victims who were abused and not believed.

Produced by Sandpaper Films, The Lie that Exposed the Truth re-examines the case of Ellie Williams, whose allegations against real and fictitious men in the English town of Barrow went viral.

The 3×60’ docuseries also examines whether the case led to the denial of a wider, legitimate grooming problem, uncovering accounts from other women in the same town whose allegations of abuse were dismissed or ignored.

Developed and filmed over three years, The Lie that Exposed the Truth is made in coproduction with Sky News’ documentary unit Full Story Films and draws on Sky News’ Unreliable Witness podcast. It will premiere on Sky Documentaries and Now later this year.

The exec producers for Sandpaper Films are company directors Henry Singer and Susannah Price, and Catey Sexton. Siobhan Sinnerton and Vesna Cudic exec produce for Full Story Films. Ceri Isfryn and Katie Hindley direct. Farah Qayum is series producer, Alexandra McArdle is senior producer, and Bill Mostyn and Liz Lane are producers.

Singer said: “We’d previously made a film on the Rochdale grooming scandal so when the Ellie Williams story broke, something didn’t sit right with us with how the press was telling it. It just felt there was more to it. That was the start of a three-and-a-half-year journey, navigating a tricky landscape to separate fact from fiction.

“In so doing, we discovered there was a much larger story to tell – not just in Barrow – but nationally. The abuse of young girls has been ignored and dismissed for far too long, and we hope the series does justice to their voices and sparks a long-overdue debate.”