The BBC has finally confirmed the date its drama production about the disappearance of Shannon Matthews will be aired.

The Moorside, which features Cilla star Sheridan Smith as well as big names from Sherlock and Game of Thrones, tells the story of the abduction of Shannon Matthews in Dewsbury in 2008.

The much anticipated programme will air on BBC One at 9pm on February 7.

Sheridan Smith stars as Julie Bushby, while Game of Thrones actor Gemma Whelan takes the character of Karen, and Sherlock star Sian Brooke plays Natalie Brown.

The BBC said: “Following nine-year-old Shannon’s disappearance from the Moorside Estate in Dewsbury Moor, the police and community mounted a frantic search.

“Despite their efforts, no trace of her can be found and within a few hours the police investigation takes on the scale of a murder enquiry.

“Emotional public appeals for information from her mother Karen Matthews amount to nothing, and the community, led by Julie Bushby, stand by her and make extraordinary efforts of their own to find Shannon.

Karen Matthews
Karen Matthews

“Despite the support, doubts are beginning to creep in for some regarding Karen’s behaviour.

“Friend and neighbour Natalie (Sian Brooke) struggles with her conscience as she 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 drama follows a documentary shown on the Investigation Discovery channel earlier this month about Shannon’s disappearance, called Faking It: Tears of a Crime.

The programme employed forensic and behavioural experts to spot early signs intimating that all was not as it seemed when the nine-year-old disappeared on February 19, 2008.

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Karen made numerous emotional TV appeals which led to a £50,000 reward for her safe return.

But the charade, intended to generate money from the publicity, fell apart when Karen confessed to a police officer.

She was discovered less than a month later at a flat in Batley Carr, which was occupied by Michael Donovan, the uncle of Craig Meehan, who was Karen’s boyfriend. Both Karen Matthews and Donovan were subsequently charged with Shannon’s kidnap, her false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice.

Both claimed they had been forced into the plot but were found guilty following a trial at Leeds Crown Court and jailed for eight years.