How did gun crime in Nottingham inspire the hit BBC drama Sherwood?

The return of the BBC series Sherwood has captivated viewers once again.

The tough, dark drama revolves around gun crime and gangs in post-industrial Nottingham.

However, some viewers debated the credibility of the early storylines on social media.

Warning: This article contains spoilers from episodes of the second season

“Sherwood” was written by award-winning playwright James Graham from Nottinghamshire.

It begins with a disclaimer. The drama is “inspired by stories and events” from the author's community, but “all characters and events have been fictionalized.”

I have been reporting on these true crime stories for the BBC in Nottingham for more than two decades.

Much of the latest season of Sherwood seems strikingly familiar.

Some storylines are reminiscent of headlines from the early 2000s, when the tabloid press branded Nottingham “Shottingham” and “Assassination City.”

Amid murders, revenge and police corruption, gun crime spiraled out of control.

How accurately does the fictional plot of “Sherwood” reflect the real characters and crimes?

Oliver Huntingdon plays an unpredictable new character, Ryan Bottomley, who triggers a cycle of vengeance by shooting the son of a notorious criminal.

Ryan's character reflects Michael O'Brien, who was imprisoned for the fatal shooting of Marvyn Bradshaw outside the Sporting Chance pub in Bulwell, Nottingham, in August 2003.

O'Brien's intended target was probably Marvyn's teenage friend Jamie Gunn, who was in the same car.

Jamie was the nephew of notorious Nottingham crime boss Colin Gunn and died a year later from pneumonia after falling into a downward spiral.

When O'Brien was sentenced in 2004, he verbally abused Marvyn's family, who were sitting in the public gallery. The fictional Ryan in Sherwood did the same.

Ryan's adoptive mother Pam Bottomley and her brother Dennis are played by Sharlene Whyte and David Harewood.

The fictional story of the Bottomleys in Sherwood accurately reflects what happened to Michael O'Brien's innocent mother and stepfather, Joan and John Stirland, two decades ago.

The Stirlands fled their home in Nottingham after shots were fired through their front window.

In August 2004, the couple were shot dead by two hitmen in their seaside bungalow in Trusthorpe on the Lincolnshire coast.

Colin Gunn, one of three men who imprisoned for life for conspiracy to murder the Stirlands. The two shooters were never caught.

In Sherwood, shortly before the couple's murder, Pam Bottomley tries to express her concerns to her contact at the police station. The conversation is intercepted by a police officer who lies to her and conceals her concerns.

Could this fictional cop be inspired by a corrupt detective who fed information to Colin Gunn and was paid to do so in designer suits?

Just two days before the Stirlands were shot at Trusthorpe, Det. Con Charles Fletcher was searching for confidential information on Gunn.

He had also been looking for information about the Stirlands' previous address in Nottingham after shots were fired through their window.

The former detective was sentenced to seven years in prison after he was caught by internal investigators who wiretapped him at a police station in Nottingham.

Lorraine Ashbourne returns to Sherwood as Daphne Sparrow, the matriarch of a crime family who worked as an undercover police officer during the miners' strike.

Nottinghamshire’s infamous “spy cop” had a very different cover story in real life.

Mark Kennedy was a married Metropolitan Police officer and spent seven years pretend to be an environmental activist.

Kennedy infiltrated the Sumac Centre in Nottingham and, under his alias Mark Stone, established close relationships with several women.

He was exposed in 2010 after a court case failed when it emerged that Kennedy was part of a group accused of plotting to close the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottinghamshire.

This led to similar revelations about other officers and, subsequently, to a comprehensive public inquiry into undercover policing.

Ian St. Clair, played by David Morrisey, has given up his job as a senior police officer and now heads Sherwood's fictional “Violence Intervention Team”.

His story reflects the real-life careers of several former police officers after leaving Nottinghamshire Police.

David Wakelin then went on to head the local Violence Reduction Unit, which supported at-risk young people to prevent them from committing serious crime.

Another former Nottinghamshire police officer, Gary Godden, is now the local Police and Crime Commissioner.

Mr Godden recently told the BBC that good policing is not just about enforcement. The fictional Ian St Clair used an almost identical line in Sherwood.

If you've seen Sherwood, you'll know there are significant differences between the true events and the plot inspired by them.

The fictional plot and characters took this drama to a completely different place.

But it does shed some light on why Nottingham had to go through such dark times all those years ago.

And it raises a simple question: Is truth stranger than fiction?

The final episodes of Sherwood will air on 8 and 9 September at 21:00 on BBC One and will be available from on BBC iPlayer