Benefits Street's White Dee
Channel 4 has commissioned a second series of 'Benefits Street' to be set in Stockton-On-Tees.
Following on from the success of the first instalment of the observational documentary series, which was set on James Turner Street in Birmingham, filming has now begun on a street in the town near Middlesbrough.
Love Productions' Kieran Smith said of the new location: "Like many places in the UK Stockton has been hit hard by the recession and economic decline. Those who are reliant on welfare for the majority of their income are some of the hardest hit.
"We have been invited to share in the lives of the residents of one street where many people rely on benefits to survive. It's an incredible community and whilst people may not have much they do have one another to turn to for help."
The second series will also be made up of six hour-long episodes and will likely attract the same kind of media attention and political debate as the first - which featured characters including White Dee, who is now competing on 'Celebrity Big Brother'.
Channel 4's Head of Documentaries, Nick Mirsky, said: "It [Benefits Street] brought a very human focus to an issue that is at the heart of who we are in Britain today. I'm sure the new series will advance that debate and introduce viewers to a new group of compelling residents."
The documentary series will not be the first to be filmed in Stockton-On-Tees, however, as Diversity's Ashley Banjo visited the town last year to film 'Ashley Banjo's Big Town Dance'.