Benefits Street producer regrets tarring James Turner Street's reputation

Love Productions' Kieran Smith said the name of the street could have been withheld with hindsight

A producer of the 2014 TV show Benefits Street has said he regrets tarring the reputation of the road it focussed on.

The documentary series, which followed the lives of people in Birmingham's James Turner Street, has been branded one of the most controversial ever.

When it aired it generated hundreds of complaints and sparked nationwide debate about the welfare system.

Ten years on, Love Productions' Kieran Smith said the road's name could have been withheld in hindsight.

"When we set out to make the programme we didn't forecast that it was going to be the thing it became," said Kieran Smith, executive producer of the programme.

"I do have sympathy with people who say 'listen that's tarred our street' or 'we've got a reputation we didn't ask for'. I do regret that. 

"But it wasn't our motive to do that.

"Our expectation was this would be a series that would fly under the radar. It turned into something much larger."

Deidre "White Dee" Kelly (left) became an unlikely celebrity during the Channel 4 series

Residents have told the BBC that even now they are reluctant to reveal their address because of James Turner Street's association with the documentary.

In many ways, circumstances there are similar to that of a decade ago. The number of people receiving benefits in the wider area is almost identical - 371 in February 2014 compared with 367 in August 2023.

But Mr Smith, now creative director of Love Productions, said in other respects the situation - in light of the cost of living crisis - is now "probably a lot worse than it was in 2014".

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Residents have particularly hit out at the state of the area.

One woman in her 80s, who has lived on the street for more than 10 years, said: "You would think that, with the programme, there would be some assistance to the homeowners or generally to try and improve the area.

"But instead it's got worse. It's not fit for human consumption. There are rats running round and they are as huge as a cat."

Angelina Fosu and her daughter have lived in James Turner Street since 2017

Mother-of-four Angelina Fosu, who has lived in James Turner Street since 2017, said: "The dirtiness and the rats are too much - inside the house, in our rooms. They need to clean the streets."

Councillor Sybil Spence, who covers Soho and Jewellery Quarter for Birmingham City Council said the local authority "did what it could do with what it had" - including upgrading street lighting and organising job fairs.

She said: "The council clean the area and tries its best. The council try to allow people to live a decent life - it tried to give them jobs. But some took it and some wouldn't take it."

'Cuts are rife'

She claimed people from other areas were responsible for rubbish dumped on the street.

"There are a lot of other places that need help. The council does not employ enough staff at this time when the cuts are rife," she said.

"It's important people realise the council is doing its best but cannot do any more."

The local authority has unveiled a string of planned cuts in the past week to help fill a £300m hole in its budget over the next two years.

They include cuts to the teams investigating fly-tipping and cleaning graffiti, the introduction of fortnightly bin collections from 2025-26, as well as bringing in pest control charges from this April.

James Clarke, who was know as Fungi and featured prominently in the show, died in 2019

Love Productions has previously been accused of manufacturing scenes in the series, misleading people to get them to take part and not supporting some of those who became famous after transmission.

But Mr Smith denied that was the case.

He said: "Everybody who was a central character in that series, they all saw those episodes before anyone in the public saw them… everyone going into transmission was happy."

Mr Smith blamed some elements of the press for twisting "the public perception about those people".

"In terms of aftercare - I had producers staying in Dee's house… we put Fungi through rehab… we did a lot for people on that series," he added.

Despite the programme's controversy, Mr Smith believes a version could be made again. 

"You probably couldn't call it Benefits Street because the title has become toxic and people wouldn't be happy to be called that again," he said. 

"But filming a group of people again who live on the same street... who have something in common. So another version of a Benefits Street is possible I would imagine."