THE eyes of the nation will be on Dewsbury Moor once again.

A BBC drama, The Moorside – to be screened tomorrow (Tuesday) – follows the story of the disappearance of nine-year-old Shannon Matthews in 2008 from her home in Dewsbury .

It was all part of a plot by her mother Karen Matthews to profit from reward money.

Video Loading

Today, residents told us talk of what happened had faded until publicity for the programme brought it back to the fore. And they, along with local councillors, hope the show will not reflect negatively on the estate.

Clr Darren O’Donovan, Dewsbury West Labour, said: “I hope the programme will be a fair representation of the community and the people involved at the time.

“What happened was borne out of the actions of two people and those two people are not representative of that Dewsbury Moor community.

“I hope it shows a community that came together when needed, they acted in good faith without knowing what had gone on, that to me shows what a great community there is.

Clr Darren O'Donovan - hoping for a fair picture of the community
Clr Darren O'Donovan - hoping for a fair picture of the community

“I remember at the time David Cameron made some unsavoury comments about Dewsbury Moor. It is not dissimilar to a lot of neighbourhoods, there are people of different backgrounds and I think sometimes the notion of an estate has negative connotations.

“I think people will watch the programme out of intrigue and then they’ll go back to their lives and it’ll be forgotten once again.”

Kate Lawler, a mum-of-two , said: “The whole Shannon Matthews issue isn’t something that has been talked about until now.

“I hope the programme doesn’t focus on stereotypes of a council estate, it’s far from that.”

Andy Hunt, a father-of-three, added: “What Karen did was awful, it doesn’t bear thinking about. She isn’t a good example of the sort of people that live here, I hope the programme makers realise that and don’t depict us all like that.”

Karen Matthews - her part will be played by Gemma Whelan
Karen Matthews - her part will be played by Gemma Whelan

The Moorside touches on the emotional public appeals for information from Shannon’s mother Karen Matthews (played by Gemma Whelan) amount to nothing, and the community, led by Julie Bushby (Sheridan Smith).

Doubts creep in and friend and neighbour Natalie (Sian Brooke) becomes convinced that Karen knows more than she is revealing.

Just as all hope is close to fading, Shannon is found alive. The wild celebrations of Julie and the community are rapidly cut short when they learn that Shannon was being held by a man known to Karen.

The Moorside starts on Tuesday on BBC One at 9pm.