Benefits Street
| Benefits Street | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Genre | Documentary |
| Narrated by | Tony Hirst |
| Composer(s) | Matthew Cracknell |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 9 |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | Birmingham (Series 1) Stockton-on-Tees (Series 2) |
| Running time | 60 mins (inc. adverts) |
| Production company(s) | Love Productions, Rebel Uncut (Series 1) |
| Release | |
| Original network | Channel 4 |
| Picture format | HDTV (1080p) |
| Original release | 6 January 2014 – 1 June 2015 |
| External links | |
| Website | www |
| Love Productions | www |
Benefits Street is a British documentary series broadcast on Channel 4. It was first aired on 6 January 2014, and ran for five episodes. The show was filmed by documenting the lives of several residents of James Turner Street, Winson Green, Birmingham, England, United Kingdom, where newspapers including the Daily Mail and The Guardian reported that 90% of the residents claim benefits. It shows benefits claimants committing crimes, including a demonstration of how to shoplift, and portrays a situation in which people are dependent on welfare payments and lack the motivation to seek employment.
The show was controversial, with the police, Channel 4 and the media regulator Ofcom receiving hundreds of complaints. There were Twitter death threats made against the residents of the street. Channel 4 was accused of making poverty porn. Many of those taking part claimed that they were misled by the documentary makers. Ofcom launched an investigation into whether the programme had breached the broadcasting regulations, but ultimately concluded its rules had not been broken.
The producers of Benefits Street defended the series, arguing that the reaction to it demonstrated the importance of making such a documentary. The series was mentioned in the House of Commons, and prompted some political debate on the topic of welfare. A number of programmes were commissioned by other channels covering the same topic, while Channel 4 commissioned a follow up series provisionally titled Immigration Street that would follow the lives of immigrants living in the United Kingdom. Benefits Street gave Channel 4 their highest viewing figures for any show since 2012. In August 2014, Love Productions confirmed the second series of Benefits Street was being filmed in Kingston Road, , England, United Kingdom. Series two aired from 11 May 2015 for four episodes.
In 2012, Love Productions approached the BBC with the idea for a programme that would feature a prominent member of the business community working with unemployed people, but the show did not come to fruition after the unnamed individual had to withdraw from it because of other commitments. The format for the series that would later become Benefits Street was then suggested, but the BBC declined to commission the series because it was producing a number of other programmes concerning similar issues, such as People Like Us and Nick and Margaret: We All Pay Your Benefits. Love Productions then suggested the format to Channel 4, who agreed to commission the programme.
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