Best Documentary
Intimate stories of people living with the devastating effects of long-term unemployment
A true account of life on an English housing estate. With those on Government handouts, drugs, booze & long-term unemployment.
Star: Ralph Ineson
00:00 Episode 1
Thirty-seven-year-old Dean used to work at the steelworks in Scunthorpe, but now he, his wife and their seven children and stepchildren get by on benefits. Dean is a guide to his world, where being out of work is nothing out of the ordinary, where people do what they can to survive and where keeping your kids on the straight and narrow is a challenge.
46:00 Episode 2
Dean's wife Claire became a mother in her teens and is determined her daughters won't go the same way. It's difficult not to worry that her 15-year-old daughter might follow in her footsteps when she has been driving around with an older boy.Sixteen-year-old Jemelia left home at 14 and by 15 had a baby, who was immediately taken into care. The film follows Jemelia during the build-up to the court's decision about the future of her baby and Jemelia speaks honestly about her reaction to the verdict.Relying on benefits to support your children is no easy option either, as Dean and Claire are well aware.Hayley is just 21, but has five children. Neither she nor her partner work and they're hoping to get married, until their child tax credits are cut off.Meanwhile, 19-year-old Fergie is wanted by the police and is worried about whether his new girlfriend will wait for him if he ends up in prison.
01:30:41 Episode 3
Kieron, who was once slapped with an ASBO to stop his prolific shoplifting, but is now trying to change his life and get clean; and Dean's former son-in-law Shane, who wants to make it as a cage fighter. Dean's stepson James is about to leave school and hopes to join the army. First, it's time to pack the family off to Skegness for their annual holiday.
02:13:39 Episode 4
Gail deals with the loss of her husband due to alcoholism, and struggles to keep her daughter on the right path as she mourns her stepfather. A candid look at the effects of addiction on families.
02:58:53 Episode 5
We meet a fisherman who's been at sea for four decades, but now - like most of his former shipmates - he's out of work and getting under the feet of his long-suffering fiancée. She's got enough on her plate with four kids and a sick dad.
03:42:52 Episode 6
Richie used to work down the docks, but now he's more likely to be found pawning DVDs. Heidi's at rock bottom, waiting to find out if she's going to prison. Meanwhile fishermen Jeff is still off work.
04:26:30 Episode 7
The intimate stories of people living with the devastating effects of long-term unemployment in the East Marsh area of Grimsby
05:09:03 Episode 8
Fishing and other industries suffer in Grimsby's East Marsh, as citizens like Becky rely on welfare. She and her partner Jeff ask her father for help when they struggle to make ends meet.
05:54:33 Episode 9
06:25:41 Episode 10
We meet Rachel who has been battling addiction and is now determined to get clean and go to university. Rob, who has recently came out of prison and his girlfriend is about to have a baby, is determined to get a job.
07:15:39 Episode 11
We meet Si and Nicola who live in a tent in the hills above Merthyr and skip-dive for food, Simon who sofa-surfs at his brother's bedsit, and Chrissy who alternates between kipping on the floor and sleeping on top of a washing machine in a shed.
Published May 7, 2026
