Believe Me has left ITV viewers horrified as the harrowing drama lays bare how Black Cab Rapist John Worboys was able to keep attacking women for years while victims struggled to be believed.
The powerful four-part series shines a light on the devastating failures that allowed Worboys to continue his crimes unchecked. It follows the experiences of Sarah and Laila after they reported sexual assaults, only to face repeated questioning, dismissive attitudes and a lack of proper investigation from the Metropolitan Police.
By the time Worboys was finally convicted, investigators had linked him to allegations involving more than 100 women, making him one of Britain’s most prolific sex offenders.
Believe Me exposes how police failures let John Worboys continue offending
Believe Me explores how repeated failings within the Met Police effectively allowed Worboys to continue targeting women for years. Following his conviction, Sarah and Laila joined forces with solicitor Harriet Wistrich and barrister Phillippa Kaufmann QC to take legal action against the Metropolitan Police under the Human Rights Act over the handling of their cases.
The drama also shows the degrading treatment many victims faced after coming forward. Officers are shown questioning women about alcohol, drugs and even red nail varnish, leaving viewers furious at the attitudes on display.
One viewer wrote online: “A woman is allowed to have a drink. A woman is allowed to wear red nail varnish, and a woman is allowed to wear nice clothes. Men are NOT allowed to r@pe women or men. #BelieveMe.”
Viewers left furious by victim-blaming in Believe Me
Unsurprisingly, Believe Me sparked a huge reaction from viewers, with many describing the series as “harrowing” and “hard to watch”. Others branded John Worboys a “monster”.
One viewer said: “Believe Me really highlights just how inept victim-blaming police are.”
Another wrote: “John Worboys has a parole hearing scheduled for June 2026. He received two life sentences for his vicious crimes and has served 17 years so far. After watching #BelieveMe, I hope that [bleep] never gets out. I can’t even process how police interrogated these women.”
A third added: “So have I got this right? That poor girl waited all day for police before they took her to the test centre and left her there at 3am. Then they asked her to come back in the morning to repeat the same statement and endure more gaslighting? #BelieveMe.”
“I was actually screaming at the TV,” another viewer said. “The police acted so badly and ignorantly.”
Many others accused officers of gaslighting victims. Some compared the treatment shown in the drama to the Peter Sutcliffe case, with one viewer writing: “Police blamed victims because of drink and drugs, just like they did with the Yorkshire Ripper victims because they were prostitutes.”
‘My blood is boiling at the lack of empathy towards women’
Fans also took to X and Reddit to share their anger after watching the ITV drama. One wrote: “The police’s ineptitude and ridiculous procedures… Their lack of empathy towards these women, along with their delays, meant hundreds more women were raped before officers finally caught him. Appalling.”
Another said: “Just when you think the Met Police can’t become any more incompetent, you watch Believe Me and realise they can. Police treated these women with complete contempt, and that’s a national disgrace. I hope some officers struggle to sleep at night.”
A third added: “The investigation team behaved appallingly. I hope they all recognise themselves in this drama.”
“I binge-watched every episode of Believe Me, and the police should feel ashamed. Watching how close he came to being released made me feel physically sick. That 3% statistic will stay with me for a long time.”
Shockingly, only 3% of reported rapes resulted in charges.
Jeff Pope says Believe Me shines a light on failures in the system
Writer Jeff Pope explained why he wanted to tell the story of the women failed by the system. He said: “I met with Laila and Sarah, and horrific similarities quickly emerged in what they had experienced. Ultimately, they felt no one believed them. We uncovered the story of a horrific predatory offender who assaulted — by conservative estimates — more than 100 women over many years.
“But we also realised the system failed these women badly, particularly in the way police treated them. When a woman reports sexual assault or rape, police procedure should begin from a position of belief. In so many of these cases, the opposite happened.”
Jeff also admitted he spent “a lot of time feeling angry on these women’s behalf as each new insult and degrading experience came to light”.
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