White season
The programmes: part two
The Poles Are Coming
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Tim Samuels explores the biggest migration to Britain in centuries – the million or so Eastern Europeans who have recently come here. Some locals in Peterborough say their city is being "swamped". But if the Poles and others left could we cope without them? And can the desperate leader of a Polish city woo Peterborough's Poles back home – in time to build the stadiums for the Euro 2012 football tournament?
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A provocative look at the reality of immigration in Middle Britain.
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Up to a million Eastern Europeans have come to Britain since 2004 – but what has been the impact on the towns and cities that have acquired this mass migration? Tim Samuels immerses himself in the daily life of Peterborough to find out.
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Many in the city say that services are being pushed to breaking point by the number of new arrivals. One GP surgery has registered a thousand new patients from Eastern Europe in six months – and a local primary school has one child who speaks English as a first language at home. An elderly lady says she feels like a stranger in her own country. A local councillor – who once championed the arrival of Ugandan Asians to Peterborough – now says enough is enough.
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However, some employers say the immigrants provide skilled labour and fill the jobs British people won't do. Samuels meets the Eastern Europeans who are doing the back-breaking work – and follows a 40-year-old Pole as he leaves his family behind to try his luck vegetable picking in Britain.
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This mass migration is having an effect in Poland too. The Polish government says too many of their countrymen have gone abroad. They want some back to help re-build the economy, especially the roads and stadiums needed in time for the Euro 2012 football tournament.
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Samuels follows the leader of one city, Gdansk, on a mission to convince the Poles of Peterborough to come home. But can the Poles ever be tempted to go back and what would happen to us if they did?
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Tim Samuels is the award-winning documentary maker and presenter who brought OAP pop sensation The Zimmers to ´óÏó´«Ã½ Two last year. He is an acclaimed TV journalist having won two RTS Awards (currently nominated for a third) and was once Young Journalist of the Year. His Mischief clean-up of dirty hospitals with MRSA victims won a top international award at the Banff Festival. Tim is also a regular presenter on the Culture Show on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Two.
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The Primary
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Welford Primary School is in Handsworth, Birmingham, one of the most troubled and racially tense areas in Britain. Today this thriving school has pupils from 17 different ethnic backgrounds. It has never had many white British pupils. "There's never been more than ten within the school community of 480," explains headmaster Chris Smith.
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Filmed over the autumn term at the school, The Primary follows headmaster Chris and the pupils at Welford revealing what life is like for nine-year-old-Nathaniel, 11-year-old Aleyx and their diverse peer group, Mariam, Saubia, Conrad and Xhosa.
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All White In Barking
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"You are what you eat," so the saying goes, and in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, not everyone eats the same. Not anymore, that is.
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Barking has recently witnessed some of the highest levels of immigration throughout Britain and the local white population are struggling to come to terms with the new arrivals. As filmmaker Marc Isaacs arrives in town, over 10,000 residents have just voted for the far right British National Party, making them the second largest party in the area.
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This provocative and humorous film questions prejudices and preconceptions with remarkable results. Lifetime Barking residents Susan and Jeff have never said hello to their Nigerian neighbours, insisting that "they are not our people". Dave is so incensed by the influx of non-white faces to Barking he becomes a BNP activist.
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Meanwhile, African Betty and Holocaust survivor Monty form an unusual relationship based on laughter and affection, despite disapproving stares. The film at times plays like a Mike Leigh comedy, particularly when Isaacs urges the reluctant neighbours to meet up.
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