Skint - C4 NOW and C4 +1, 10pm

[mwpfilms]

This show is unbelievable. Blatant criminality! 

 

 

 

Frank, funny and provocative, Skint pulls no punches in its look at a community where a life without work is nothing out of the ordinary. Thirty-seven-year-old Dean used to work at the steelworks, but now gets by on benefits. He lives with his wife Claire and their seven children and step-children on the Westcliff estate, one of the most deprived parts of Scunthorpe.

 

He is candid about his feelings and responsibilities towards Claire and his children - he has worked for 23 years and feels he deserves ‘a bit back’, no matter how big his brood. And he emotionally introduces his newborn son as the latest welcome addition to the family. With so many mouths to feed however, Dean and Claire begin to consider whether it’s time for the ‘snip’.

 

In an area of high unemployment, crime is always going to be an issue – and Dean takes a pragmatic approach. With money tight Dean, like many of his friends, uses the service of the local shoplifters whether it’s getting food from ‘unofficial suppliers’ to fill up the fridge or buying stolen deodorant on the cheap – whatever he feels he needs to do for the family.

 

But Dean is all too aware of just how challenging it can be bringing up kids when crime is all around. One of Dean’s neighbours Jordan, has just had her windows smashed in. Jordan’s 15-year-old son Connor has been excluded from seven different schools and relations between mother and son are at breaking point. Connor is supposed to go to a special residential school but would rather spend time with his friends on the estate, many of whom are already getting into trouble. How can school compete with his friends’ adrenalin rush of joyriding bikes around his estate? And how does Dean react as the impact of crime starts to be felt in his own family?