Documentary Review - Benifet street

I watched the first episode of Benefit Street and found it interesting but not enough to watch regularly, it is an Actuality driven piece with little or no scripting or recreations, it observes the lives of a several people who live on a street who are all claiming benefits in some form or another.

Its eye opening to how some people live with only the benefits they claim but it's also controversial as we can clearly see people stealing from shops to fund a drug habit or admitting to claiming more benefits than what they deserve because they need more to feed their family.

In the first episode we are introduced to the people who are living on the street.

White D - The mother figure

The Young Couple - Mark and Becky - In trouble for falsely claiming benefits

Fungi - A Alchohlic with a drug abuse problem.

Becky - A Resident of the street

Black D - Who is facing eviction because of late bills

Danny Smith - Recently released from prison, shown stealing from shops and being arrested for breaching his ASBO, In the end of the episode he is back in prison and stole a bunch of Weed from on of the residents.


Smoggy - A ex thief but shown as an honest man, trying to make money by selling small quantities of items for 50p

In terms of technology and equipment, there are few shots which have been filmed with a tripod, the majority are Handheld shots, there is little or not set up lighting each shot has been filmed with the available light and no set up furthering the observational theme.



Cameraman is heard several times during the episode but not seen, he typically asks questions to guide the person in front of the camera such as asking how many times he has been in jail and such, The show is narrated by Tony Hirst who also narrates popular shows such as "How its Made". This voice over can describe what's going on behind the camera and give some context to what the audience is seeing.

There are many establishing shots of the street, such as Drone Footages, I feel like these may have a Gods eye view perspective making the viewer look down on the street both literally and figuratively.]


I enjoy the run and gun aspect of the show, the camera man follows the characters as they live life rather than setting up interviews, finding locations and so on, I think this is an interesting medium to send a message. however Benefit Street whilst giving an important message is not something I would watch with regularity.

It was also poorly received with claims of misrepresenting the residents as lazy as they do not show them actively seeking a job. The fact they show controversial subject such as drug abuse, alcoholism, drug growing and shoplifting makes the show more popular as the more controversial something is it typically gets more viewers tuning in to see if what they have heard is true.