Benefits Street on Channel 4 is a fly on the wall documentary that follows the residents of James Turner Street in Birmingham where everyone is struggling to live on benefits. The series has attracted a lot of attention including a police enquiry because this show is not so much a lesson in misery and the problems of making ends meet but more a lesson in petty crime and how to make a few extra quid to top up the weekly income. Benefits Street on Channel 4.

The residents of James Turner Street claim to be a closely-knit community where everyone looks out for each other. This is unusual today on most British streets where people often do not even recognise their neighbours and is a positive aspect to this documentary. v510tv

Where the show Benefits Street is running into problems is with the focus on criminal activity such as shoplifting and cannabis growing and this has angered viewers and the residents themselves who feel that this series is showing their community in a bad light. Benefits Street.

There’s no getting away from the fact that many of the Benefit Street residents come across as a bit lazy. Although it may not be their fault that the council dustbin men have not taken away the bins for weeks so rubbish is overflowing all over the street , you can’t help wondering why, when they have got so much time on their hands, they don’t just tidy it up themselves?

Despite the dispiriting nature of Benefits Street on Channel 4, this show is interesting and not without its lighter side. It has netted the biggest audience for Channel 4 this year and although there has been an online petition to get this programme taken off air, it seems very unlikely that this will happen.

Controversy makes for some great free publicity and the outrage expressed in the Daily Mail has added to it. Decide for yourself and catch up with all the episodes of Benefits Street via youriplayer.co.uk

Watch all episodes of Benefits Street here. Benefits Street is a tv-programme of BBC One. You can see all episodes of Benefits Street here via Youriplayer.co.uk.