Dispatches: Britain’s hidden homeless | Shooting Producer
2021 | Channel 4, 8pm | True Vision, 1 x 60’
As the safety net of the temporary universal credit uplift disappears, the furlough scheme now over, fuel prices at an all-time high, and landlords once again able to evict tenants, Dispatches examines the devastating impact of overcrowded, unsuitable housing on young lives.
Set in a primary school in Luton, I self-shot single camera through lockdown and worked closely with the incredible family liaison team, the teachers and support workers to ensure appropriate safety and safeguarding measures were in place for the children during production and post broadcast. During post, I carried out Freedom of Information requests encapsulating over 33 million people and produced fresh journalism in tandem with Shelter.
The programme proved ‘a hard watch’ for Luton Council’s acting Chief Executed, who admitted that ‘no-one can escape the fact that Kai, Qasim and Yaqub and their families are in need of assistance’.
WATCH in full here. Get behind the scenes in Broadcast Magazine and Televisual. For more information, visit True Vision.
CREDITS
Commissioner: Louisa Compton | Executive Producer: Brian Woods | Narrator: Sheridan Smith | Director: Jezza Neumann Jenkin | Editor: Carole Bertinet | Researcher: Charity Muiruri | Junior Researchers: Sadiqul Choudhury and Elisa Hammond | Colourist: Alex Malcolm | Online Editor: Paddy Garrick | PM: Pippa White | Production Coordinator: Adam Louka | Composer: Jamie Perera | Accountant: Bruce Palmer
“A blood-boiling urgent documentary that follows three young boys in Luton who are part of the 1.5 million ‘hidden homeles’”
“The effect of unsuitable housing is profound and it can alter children’s life chances, research shows”
“PICK OF THE DAY - The Dispatches team… followed the progress of three boys in one class, and charted the impact of lockdown on education”
“CRITICS CHOICE - The report also takes an ominous look ahead to the winter.”
“★★★★”
