STEPHEN Fry plays the role of a brave scientist from Cheshire in a recent BBC drama.

The Dropout, which aired on BBC One last month, follows the scandalous true story of Elizabeth Holmes and her tech company Theranos.

As well as telling the story of Holmes, who is portrayed by Amanda Seyfried, The Drop Out, which is also on BBC iPlayer and Disney Plus, shows how other people were impacted by the fraudster, including Ian Gibbons.

Ian, who was originally from Runcorn, was a respected biochemist and molecular biology researcher who was chief scientist of Theranos.

He had a PHD from Cambridge University and worked in the industry for more than 30 years before joining Theranos.

Ian was the first experienced scientist to be hired in the US company and he was very well respected.

During his time at Theranos, he attempted to raise issues about the inaccuracy of their testing devices but was ignored by Holmes.

When he decided to take it the company’s board of directors, Holmes fired him but then changed her mind to ‘shut him up’, it was previously reported in The Daily Telegraph.

Ian was put under extreme stress when Holmes then decided to sue a childhood neighbour for ‘stealing’ Theranos’ secrets.

After being placed in a difficult position about testifying in court, Ian stopped going to work due to stress.

In May 2013, he tragically died of liver failure aged 67 after an attempt to take his own life following a phone call from one of Holmes’ assistants who told him she wanted a meeting with him the next day, according to Vanity Fair.

After Holmes was convicted of four counts of fraud in 2022, Ian’s widow told the Daily Mail: “'Ian would be very happy. He was a very kind, tolerant person but he hated her so much — she was a sociopath, a narcissist, a bully and a liar.

“When he realised she was pushing things on patients that were fraudulent, it destroyed him.”