2010s British Documentary Television Series Codexery

Benefits Street

A controversial look at life on a benefit-dependent street.

Last updated

The series sparked political debate and over 960 complaints to the media regulator Ofcom.[1][2]

Making and release

Love Productions first approached the BBC in 2012 with a different programme idea featuring a businessperson working with unemployed people, but that show did not proceed.[3] The BBC declined to commission the Benefits Street format because it was already producing other programmes about similar issues.[3] Nick Mirsky, Channel 4's head of documentaries, wrote that Love Productions deliberately selected an area with high benefit dependency "to show the effect of benefit cuts on a community for whom they were the principal source of income"[4][5] Comedian Frank Skinner turned down the narration role because he had concerns about how Birmingham people would be portrayed.[6]

Channel 4 agreed to produce the series after Love Productions brought the concept to them.[3] Only a fortnight before the programme's broadcast was the name Benefits Street decided upon.[6] Tony Hirst, an actor formerly on Coronation Street, performed the voice-over narration.[6] The debut episode aired at 9:00 pm on 6 January 2014, a Monday, and drew 4.3 million viewers, a figure exceeding that of any Channel 4 programme from 2013.[7][8]

What the cited sources add

Nick Mirsky responded that key contributors were offered viewings during editing and given the opportunity to comment, with changes made in some cases.[5][9] The Birmingham Mail reported that figures from Birmingham City Council showed benefit fraud prosecutions averaged 0.5% of total claimants over five years.[10] Professor Steven McCabe of Birmingham City Business School noted that Birmingham lost 200,000 manufacturing jobs between 1971 and 1981, and its GDP per capita fell from the highest outside the south east to the lowest in England.[11][12] The Guardian reported that an online petition calling for the series to be axed attracted 3,000 signatures by 8 January and 60,000 by the series end.[13][14]

According to the Birmingham Mail, several inhabitants of James Turner Street stated they were deceived into participating, as they were informed the programme would focus on community spirit, not benefits.[15]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Benefits Street" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: McTague, "Benefits Street: Iain Duncan Smith uses poverty porn show to justify savage Tory welfare cuts", Daily Mirror, 13 January 2014; Dominiczak, "Iain Duncan Smith: I'll stop Benefits Street Britain", The Daily Telegraph, 22 January 2014; Wintour, "Benefits Street reveals 'ghetto' reality, says Iain Duncan Smith", The Guardian, 22 January 2014; "Benefits Street reaction shows poor 'ghettoised', says Duncan Smith", BBC News, 23 January 2014; "PMQs: Benefit Street 'in every constituency' says MP", BBC News, 15 January 2014; "MP stands en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Benefits Street" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Collier, "Benefits Street backlash continues as petition calls for series to be axed", The Guardian, 8 January 2014; Collier, "Benefits Street backlash continues as petition calls for series to be axed", The Guardian, 8 January 2014; Suart, "Huge viewer backlash over Benefits Street", Birmingham Mail, 15 January 2014; Plunkett, "Benefits Street to be investigated by Ofcom following viewers' complaints", The Guardian, 25 February 2014; "Benefits Street series faces Ofcom investigation", BBC News, 25 February 2014 (we also read that sourc en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Benefits Street" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Doward, "BBC rejected early version of Benefits Street two years ago", The Observer, 18 January 2014 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Benefits Street" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mirsky, "Benefits Street struck a nerve – exposing how vital a documentary it is", The Guardian, 10 January 2014; Burrell, "'Benefits Street': Channel 4 documentary sparks anger and threats of violence", The Independent, 7 January 2014; Mirsky, "Benefits Street struck a nerve – exposing how vital a documentary it is", The Guardian, 10 January 2014; Wyatt, "Benefits Street: Channel 4 boss denies show's residents were duped", The Independent, 10 January 2014 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Mirsky, "Benefits Street struck a nerve – exposing how vital a documentary it is", The Guardian, 10 January 2014. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com
  6. Wikipedia, "Benefits Street" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mirsky, "Benefits Street struck a nerve – exposing how vital a documentary it is", The Guardian, 10 January 2014; Wyatt, "Benefits Street: Channel 4 boss denies show's residents were duped", The Independent, 10 January 2014; Laws, "Frank Skinner turned down Benefits Street job over fears about how Brummies would be portrayed", Birmingham Mail, 13 January 2014; "Tony Hirst - voiceover artists", Hobsons International (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Benefits Street" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Collier, "Channel 4's Benefits Street claims 4.3 million viewers", The Guardian, 7 January 2014; Burrell, "'Benefits Street': Channel 4 documentary sparks anger and threats of violence", The Independent, 7 January 2014; "Benefits Street: White Dee Invites Nick Clegg", Sky News, 22 January 2014; "Channel 4 commissions Benefits Street live debate", Channel 4, 16 January 2014; "Benefits Street: Seven charged with drug offences", BBC News, 25 January 2014; Withnall, "Benefits Street residents charged with drug offences", The Independent, 26 en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Benefits Street" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Suart, "Benefits Street: Channel 4 documentary stars hit out at portrayal of life in James Turner Street, Birmingham", Daily Mirror, 6 January 2013; Plunkett, "Benefits Street adds nearly 1 million viewers for second episode", The Guardian, 14 January 2014 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Benefits Street" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mirsky, "Benefits Street struck a nerve – exposing how vital a documentary it is", The Guardian, 10 January 2014; Wightman, "Benefits Street's White Dee: 'We went into the show naively'", Digital Spy, 19 February 2014; Price, "Decoding Benefits Street: how Britain was divided by a television show", The Guardian, 22 February 2014 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Benefits Street" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: McCarthy, "Benefits Street: The truth about benefit fraud in Birmingham", Birmingham Mail, 10 February 2014 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. McCabe, "Benefits Street - and a warning from history", Birmingham Post, 6 February 2014. facts only, no text reused. birminghampost.co.uk
  12. Wikipedia, "Benefits Street" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cavallaro, "Benefits Street: 'Living the dream' 100 years ago", BBC News, 10 February 2014; McCabe, "Benefits Street - and a warning from history", Birmingham Post, 6 February 2014; Henley, "Benefits Street: the hard-working history that Channel 4 left out", The Guardian, 29 January 2014; McCabe, "Benefits Street - and a warning from history", Birmingham Post, 6 February 2014 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  13. Collier, "Benefits Street backlash continues as petition calls for series to be axed", The Guardian, 8 January 2014. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com
  14. Wikipedia, "Benefits Street" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Collier, "Benefits Street backlash continues as petition calls for series to be axed", The Guardian, 8 January 2014; Suart, "Benefits Street set for second series - but camera crews will not be returning to James Turner Street", Daily Mirror, 10 February 2014 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  15. Suart, "Benefits Street TV show lied to us, say Winson Green residents", Birmingham Mail, 6 January 2014. facts only, no text reused. birminghammail.co.uk

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Benefits Street (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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