Is Rules of the Game based on a true story?

12 January 2022, 15:13

Watch the trailer for Rules Of The Game

By Polly Foreman

Is new Maxine Peake drama Rules of the Game based on real events?

Rules of the Game is a new four-part series starring Maxine Peake as the feared and revered Chief Operating Officer of a sportswear company.

After a dead body is found in the company office, a series of events unfold that uncover a toxic culture of inappropriate behaviour that has been allowed to to go ahead unchecked.

The series was loosely based on the MeToo movement, and many viewers may be wondering how much - if any - of the series is inspired by actual events.

Here's what we know...

• Rules of the Game filming locations: where was the BBC drama filmed?

Is Rules of the Game a true story?

Rules of the Game isn't a true story, but the show's creator Ruth Fowler said she was inspired by the real-life experiences of many women.

She said: "I related to #metoo because of the tangled messages of consent and blame I’d grown up with as a teenager in the late 90s, because of the subtle, insidious career disappointments I’d faced in my twenties, watching the men around me catapult to success while I flailed blindly around in the corridors, staring blankly at locked doors behind which decisions were made without me."

Rakhee Thakrar, who plays the company's new HR director in the series, told RadioTimes.com that she prepared for her role by reading online forums and speaking to friends who'd had similar experiences.

She said: "I unfortunately have friends who have been through similar things that Maya has been through in terms of her past and so was able to have some quite in depth conversations with them.

"Every story is so different so all of it just fed in and I’m not sure what ended up coming through or not but I think all that stuff really helps with confidence mainly, in that you’re just always trying not to be a fraud,” she added.

"Especially in stories like this where you know somebody is going to watch it and it will have happened to them."