There is something sadly unshocking about Buried with Michael Sheen, a new two-part documentary in which the actor investigates claims of chemical pollution in his native Wales. Perhaps it is because we are used to seeing these sorts of stories in films like Erin Brockovich or Dark Waters, in which Julia Roberts or Mark Ruffalo uncover grand conspiracies of corporate wrongdoing. Sheen would make a fine lead in a film like that, but Buried is something else: a sober, straight-down-the-line piece of televisual journalism. There is no cathartic arc of David-vs-Goliath heroism here, just depressing, necessary legwork.
The scandal in question concerns the alleged contamination of land with PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), dangerous, now-banned “forever chemicals” that, among other things, are linked to cancer in humans. At the heart of the issue is the Monsanto Company, an American biotech corporation with a wide-ranging history of legal battles, which dumped chemicals in Brofiscin Quarry, South Wales, between 1965 and 1972. (Monsanto no longer exists as the same entity, following a merger with German chemical company Bayer in 2018.) Sheen was first drawn into the subject nearly a decade ago, when he met with Douglas Gowan, a farming consultant and whistleblower. Gowan, who claimed he was the victim of a smear campaign and who faced death threats and alleged intimidation after bringing light to the contamination, died in 2018; his work forms the basis of Buried.
To his credit, Sheen keeps a tight lid on his natural showmanship, despite his name being on the marquee, as it were. It helps that he is aided by more seasoned investigative journalists (Dan Ashby and Lucy Taylor); much of Buried comprises footage of Sheen and his team visiting the locations in question, speaking to people who suspect they have been affected by chemical contaminants, and receiving the results of tests after bringing samples to a lab. It sounds dryer than it is, and the human impact is never sidelined: more than one of the people he interviews begins to cry as they reckon with the implications of what is being discussed. “You don’t expect attorneys and lawyers to be breaking down in tears,” Sheen notes, sombrely.
You might think that this sort of unfussy documentary is a surprising career detour for an actor like Sheen, who has fronted films, from Frost/Nixon to The Damned United, and successfully carved out a niche as a Hollywood supporting player. Really, though, Buried is in keeping with his approach these days, a sort of ravenous I’ll-have-everything-on-the-menu ethos. Sheen is constantly busy on stage (directing and starring in plays by the Welsh National Theatre company he launched in 2025) and on screen (later this year, Sheen will take over from Richard Osman as host of House of Games, star in the second season of The Traitors, and he has five forthcoming films in various states of pre- and post-production). He is an actor playing it fast and loose with his own over-saturation, and it’s a good thing, therefore, that Buried keeps him in the peripheries.
This is an interesting watch, and a convincing call-to-action, even if a series of disclaimers at the end of each episode make clear that the evidence of chemical contamination is still very much a matter of legal and scientific dispute. This is a subject that transcends the purview of a two-part BBC documentary, something that demands rigorous, in-depth investigation without being simplified so it is digestible to a casual viewing audience. But Buried is a start – and if the claims it contains turn out to be accurate, then it’s a vital one.
‘Buried with Michael Sheen’ is available to watch on BBC iPlayer