While Sheridan Smith has just starred in new show The Cage, we’re always looking to her back catalogue as a way of making sure we always have a brilliant TV show on the go. And from Cilla to Mrs Biggs, it’s safe to say we’re not short of options.

The latest two-part dramatisation we implore you to watch if you haven’t already is The Moorside, which is now streaming. Here’s everything you need to know about the captivating crime drama, including reviews of her unforgettable performance.

What is the true story of The Moorside?

The Moorside is a dramatisation of 9-year-old Shannon Matthews’ disappearance and kidnapping, back in 2008. Based on the true story, the West Yorkshire schoolgirl was reported missing, and later found in a flat owned by a man named Michael Donovan, the uncle of Craig Meehan, who was the boyfriend of Shannon’s mother, Karen Matthews.

After she was found alive, it transpired that she had been drugged and concealed in the base of a divan bed, and it was part of a kidnapping scheme that her mother and Michael had plotted.

They hoped to claim the £50,000 reward which had been offered in return for Shannon’s safe delivery home. Eventually, the pair were arrested and sentenced to eight years in prison for perverting the course of justice, kidnap and false imprisonment.

What is The Moorside about?

Rather than focussing in on the police investigation and crime itself, The Moorside follows the local community in the Moorside estate where Shannon went missing. Sheridan Smith plays Julie Bushby, a neighbour and friend of Karen Matthews, Shannon’s mother, who rallied around her and led the search for her daughter, putting enormous effort into the devastating search.

The character-driven drama puts notable focus on the ordinary people who interrupted their everyday lives to devote time and effort to finding Shannon. Julie is a real person, who appeared in media interviews and was heavily involved in the search.

Who else is in the cast of The Moorside?

• Sheridan Smith Cilla, The C Word, Mrs Biggs) plays Julie Bushby

• Gemma Whelan (Game of Thrones, Gentleman Jack) as Karen Matthews

• Sian Brooke (Sherlock, Blue Lights) as Natalie Brown

• Siobhan Finneran (Happy Valley, Downton Abbey) plays DC Christine Freeman

• Steve Oram as DC Alex Grummitt

• Dean Andrews as PC Steve “Kinchie” Kinchin

• Faye McKeever as Petra Jamieson

• John Dagleish as Pete “Scouse” Brown

• William Hunt as Peter Bushby

• Tom Hanson as Craig Meehan

• Cody Ryan as Tiffany Bushby

• Macy Shackleton as Callie Brown

What are reviews of The Moorside like?

The Guardian gave Sheridan a stellar review, saying, “It’s getting boring, plus hard to avoid cliches, when gushing about Smith – her range, her extraordinary humanness, her ability not just to play someone but to inhabit them, to be heroic without being sentimental. But she is, to nick one of her own lines, ‘f***ing brilliant, or what.'”

The Times gave it a five-star review, adding, “As the representative of virtue in this failing community, Sheridan Smith, playing Julie Bushby, leader of the estate’s effort to trace Shannon, will win the prizes.”

The Telegraph also gave it a five-star review, writing that they “couldn’t take their eyes off” Sheridan Smith’s performance, adding that her “honesty and sensitivity makes her such an exceptional performer, and those qualities led to another scorching performance in The Moorside.”

Where can I watch The Moorside?

While The Moorside is no longer streaming on BBC, you can watch it on Disney+ right now. There are two episodes and they are an hour long each.