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''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, 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, Stockton-on-Tees. ==Background== 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. Writing in ''The Observer'' in January 2014, Nick Mirsky, head of documentaries at Channel 4, said that Love Productions intentionally selected an area where a high proportion of the residents were in receipt of welfare payments "to show the effect of benefit cuts on a community for whom they were the principal source of income". The filming and production process took eighteen months. Both Mirsky, and Ralph Lee, Channel 4's head of factual programming, said the residents of James Turner Street were consulted about the series before filming began.〔 Cameras observed them over the course of a twelve-month period.〔 The decision to call the series ''Benefits Street'' was taken two weeks before the programme aired.〔 The comedian Frank Skinner, who is from the West Midlands, was approached to narrate the documentary but turned it down because he had concerns about how people from Birmingham would be portrayed, and did not wish to criticise the city. The voice-over was provided by former ''Coronation Street'' actor Tony Hirst instead. The first episode of ''Benefits Street'' was aired at 9:00 pm on Monday 6 January 2014, and ran for five episodes.〔 A live one-hour debate to discuss issues raised by the series was then scheduled to air after the final episode, Channel 4 announcing plans for this a few days after the second episode had been transmitted.〔 During the week following the broadcasting of the third episode, West Midlands Police charged several James Turner Street residents with drugs-related offences in connection with a raid their officers had carried out in June 2013. Those facing charges included some people seen in episodes of the series.〔 Channel 4 said they had no plans to alter any footage from the episodes yet to be transmitted. On 23 January, the ''Birmingham Mail'' reported that items of ''Benefits Street'' branded merchandise, such as mugs and T-shirts, were being produced for sale over the internet by individuals wishing to cash in on the programme. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Benefits Street」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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