Best movies & TV Shows like Benefits Street

Two out-of-work actors -- the anxious, luckless Marwood and his acerbic, alcoholic friend, Withnail -- spend their days drifting between their squalid flat, the unemployment office and the pub. When they take a holiday "by mistake" at the country house of Withnail's flamboyantly gay uncle, Monty, they encounter the unpleasant side of the English countryside: tedium, terrifying locals and torrential rain.

A pub landlord in a previously thriving mining community struggles to hold onto his pub. Meanwhile, tensions rise in the town when Syrian refugees are placed in the empty houses in the community.

After a night of drinking Guiness at the local watering hole, an ordinary, working-class, family man in Dublin's life is turned upside-down when he wakes up as a rat.

Stevie, fresh from prison in Scotland, finds a job on a London construction site. The working conditions are poor and most of the men are working under aliases, due to immigration status and to not conflict with their "signing on" for unemployment benefits. Some coworkers help Stevie secure housing, squatting in a council estate. Then Stevie meets Susan, from Ireland, who's struggling to be a professional singer.

A documentary on the life of Amy Winehouse, the immensely talented yet doomed songstress. We see her from her teen years, where she already showed her singing abilities, to her finding success and then her downward spiral into alcoholism and drugs.

The larger than life true story of how a barmaid in a poor Welsh mining village convinces some of her fellow residents to pool their resources to compete in the "sport of kings" with a racehorse they would breed and raise.

Manchester, the present. Michael divides his time between the job center and the pub. A chance meeting with Lee, an introduction to her Uncle Ian and a heavy night on the lash lead to a job working the door at a Northern Quarter massage parlor. After witnessing the violent death of one of the punters, Michael experiences blood-drenched flashbacks and feels himself being sucked into a twilight world that he doesn't understand but that is irresistibly attractive. When he eventually finds out what goes on in the room below Cloud 9, Michaels' life will never be the same again.

London Road is a musical drama that documents the events of 2006, when the quiet rural town of Ipswich was shattered by the discovery of the bodies of five women. The residents of London Road had struggled for years with frequent soliciting and kerb-crawling on their street. When a local resident was charged and then convicted of the murders, the community grappled with what it meant to be at the epicentre of this tragedy.

The setting is a city block during a sweltering summer, where the residents serve as representatives of the not-very-idealized American melting pot. There is idle chitchat, gossip, jealousy, racism, adultery, and suddenly but not unexpectedly, a murder.

Unemployed and unemployable, Tony is a sympathetic recluse with severe social problems, an addiction to VHS action films and a horrible moustache. Occasionally he snaps and murder is the result…

Three people, three extraordinary stories. All lived out within a hundred London streets.

A documentary about Kim Philby, a British member of MI6 who was in reality a spy and defected to the U.S.S.R.

When a cross-section of seven-year-olds were interviewed for 7 Up in 1964 it was immediately evident that their social backgrounds influenced their attitudes towards life. While the upper class children were confident and self-assured, those from middle and working class backgrounds were resigned to a challenging life of hard work. This premise was put to the test every seven years when the same group were interviewed about the progression of their lives. 49 years in the making, the changes that occurred to the original 14 make for fascinating television and are in many ways the stories of all our lives. From success and disappointment, marriage and childbirth, to poverty and illness, nearly every facet of life has been captured on film. Now, at the age of 56, the group are once more brought together and, with the benefit of hindsight, assess whether their lives have been ruled by circumstance or self-determination.

The Draymen Estate has become an urban legend. Amongst the sinister stories of unsavoury locals and brutal violence, several people have apparently gone missing. Even the police won't go there. Enter two naive student filmmakers with a well-meaning plan to make a sympathetic documentary of life on the estate. The unlucky duo quickly discovers that problems of drugs and crime in this community go way beyond the norm. This is a community which is about to present the students with material of unimaginable horror - turning their final project int their darkest nightmare.

America Undercover goes to the Madison Hotel in the skid-row section of downtown Los Angeles and talks to some of the desperate people living there. It talks to a prostitute and heroin addict named Becky, a drug dealer and traveler names John, and an heavy drinking alcoholic named Jack Woodrow Wilson.

In Victorian London, young Adelaide is born into luxury, but marries starving artist Henry. His alcoholism and their lack of money lead to many quarrels. During one such fight, Henry slips down a flight of stairs and dies. A neighbor, Mrs. Mounsey, is the only witness, and she blackmails the young widow by threatening to tell the cops that Adelaide killed her husband. Luckily, lawyer Gilbert swoops in to help Adelaide.

Residents of a suburban community enjoy a night at home with their friends and family, while an ominous threat looms just outside their doors.

Is this a film about Scrooge? About a composer’s life? An opera within an opera? The Passion of Scrooge blurs these lines between performance, documentary, and fiction, into a cinematic concert experience that’s seasoned with magical reality. Composer Jon Deak has adapted Charles Dickens’ timeless tale into a contemporary opera that melts the heart, but doesn’t avoid the darkness in Scrooge that’s still resonant with the material concerns of our time. Using neither period costumes, nor set pieces to reconstruct old England, the film invites you to experience A Christmas Carol with the imaginative possibilities of a radio play. And then, to meet those visions in your head, filmmaker H. Paul Moon‘s floating camera intimately captures musicians performing the score as characters themselves, in this ageless haunted redemption story about “us, every one.”

A gangster family epic set in 1919 Birmingham, England and centered on a gang who sew razor blades in the peaks of their caps, and their fierce boss Tommy Shelby, who means to move up in the world.

Big Fat Gypsy Weddings is a British documentary series broadcast on Channel 4, that explores the lives and traditions of several Irish Traveller families as they prepare to unite one of their number in marriage. The series also featured Romanichal in several episodes, and has been criticised for not accurately representing England’s Romani and Travelling community. It was first broadcast in February 2010 as a one-off documentary called My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, filmed as part of the Cutting Edge series and voted Most Groundbreaking Show in the Cultural Diversity Awards 2010. A series of 5 episodes were later commissioned, and the series first aired in January 2011. A second series began airing in February 2012. A third series was not made, rather the show ended with six stand-alone specials.

The daily lives of the men and women at Sun Hill Police Station as they fight crime on the streets of London. From bomb threats to armed robbery and drug raids to the routine demands of policing this ground-breaking series focuses as much on crime as it does on the personal lives of its characters.

The residents of Coronation Street are ordinary, working-class people, and the show follows them through regular social and family interactions at home, in the workplace, and in their local pub, the Rovers Return Inn. Britain's longest-running soap.

Set in the fictional Midlands town of Letherbridge, defined as being close to the city of Birmingham, this soap opera follows the staff and families of a doctor's surgery.

The everyday lives of working-class residents of Albert Square, a traditional Victorian square of terrace houses surrounding a park in the East End of London's Walford borough.

People whose uncontrollable addiction to drugs, alcohol or compulsive behavior has brought them to the brink of destruction and has devastated their family and friends are presented with a life-changing opportunity of intervention and rehab. Each addict must confront their darkest demons in order to begin their journey to recovery in the hopes that they can turn their lives around before it’s too late.

Unencumbered by wives, jobs or any other responsibilities, three senior citizens who've never really grown up explore their world in the Yorkshire Dales. They spend their days speculating about their fellow townsfolk and thinking up adventures not usually favored by the elderly. Last of the Summer Wine premiered as an episode of Comedy Playhouse in 1973. The show ran for 295 episodes until 2010. It is the longest running comedy Britain has produced and the longest running sitcom in the world.

Police, Camera, Action! is a police video programme made by Optomen Television, originally broadcast on ITV with repeats airing on ITV4. It was originally commissioned through Carlton Television. It was presented by Alastair Stewart from 1994 until 2002, until his second drink-driving conviction led to a temporary suspension, before he resumed his role with Adrian Simpson from 2007. In 2010, the programme was presented by Gethin Jones.

Documentary series profiling the work of high-speed police units across Britain.

TOWN with Nicholas Crane is a BBC [documentary] series produced by Tern TV and first broadcast on BBC Two in 2011. It covers various subjects about the history and development of towns in the United Kingdom. The series is presented by geographer Nicholas Crane. Each four-part series covers one town per hour-long episode, and documents the benefits of life in a town as compared with a larger city.

Derek is a loyal nursing home caretaker who sees only the good in his quirky co-workers as they struggle against prejudice and shrinking budgets to care for their elderly residents.

Viewers go deep into an Alaskan winter to meet six tough and resilient residents as they try to stay one step ahead of storms and man-eating beasts to make it through to spring. The closest neighbor to Sue Aikens is more than 300 miles away. Eric Salitan subsists solely on what he hunts and forages. Chip and Agnes Hailstone catch fish for currency in bartering for supplies, and Andy and Kate Bassich use their pack of sled dogs for transportation.

Drama following WPC Gina Dawson, the first Woman Police Constable to join Brinford Constabulary, a fictional police force in the West Midlands, in 1956. The show focuses on WPC Gina Dawson's struggle to gain acceptance in the male-dominated police station whilst having to deal with the sexist attitudes that were commonplace at the time.

The charming magician, Ben Hanlin, conjures up mischief as unsuspecting celebrities and members of the public are taken in by his unique brand of hidden camera magic.

UK is the most surveilled place in the world. It is home to more than 6 million CCTV cameras -- about 1 for every 14 people -- that operate 24/7 and generate more than 1 billion hours of video every week. Crime reporter Nick Wallis tells us how UK police uses this vast surveillance network for active crime prevention as well as tracking down outlaws.

Documentary series following the work of groundbreaking police teams as they confront the problems of troubled communities.

Documentary looking at people and families whose sole source of income is benefits and state welfare

This real-life series follows the residents of an average suburban community in Ohio where the couples maintain a not-so-average way of life. Neighbors are often more than just friends in this seemingly ordinary neighborhood that has become home to the controversial, yet surprisingly common "swinger" lifestyle.

Documentary series going behind the scenes at Britain's busiest and biggest international airport - London Heathrow.

This drama-documentary series takes us back in time to the most shocking and surprising murder cases in London, England's history. Nicholas Day guides us into the world of the killer as we see how police ingenuity and early forensics helped bring them to justice.

Chester Zoo is the most popular zoo in Britain. This observational documentary series uses micro-rig camera technology to capture, in incredible detail, the remarkable behaviour of the animals there.

Documentary series going beyond the theatre doors of Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, where surgeons push medical boundaries to the limits.

We follow two sisters contending with the recent zombie apocalypse.

Going behind the scenes with staff at Birmingham New Street station to provide a vivid insight into the variety of situations they face, from flooding to industrial action, irate passengers, parties on the concourse and even nudity on the platforms.

British true crime documentary series telling the real life stories of those who paid the ultimate price for offending an obsessive lover.

DI Ray is set in Birmingham and follows Leicester-born Rachita Ray, a police officer who takes on a case that forces her to confront a lifelong personal conflict between her British identity and her South Asian heritage.

"On Patrol: Live" follows police officers and sheriff's deputies from diverse agencies in different cities across the country for three hours. Program hosts Dan Abrams, retired Tulsa Police Department Sgt. Sean "Sticks" Larkin and Deputy Sheriff Curtis Wilson provide minute-by-minute perspective and analysis from a central studio location during footage. Local residents from the communities of featured departments are given the opportunity to have a firsthand experience during ride-alongs with officers on live nights.

Ten thousand revellers pack Brighton’s clubs and pubs every weekend, and as the sun goes down and the lights come up, the number of assaults, sexual violence, anti-social behaviour, drug-related incidents and hate crime goes through the roof – and for the Night Coppers of Brighton, policing this city after dark is one hell of a ride.

Exploring the rise and fall of one of the most famous faces on British television in the 60s and 70s: Noele Gordon (or Nolly to her friends).

Joe Lycett is back broadcasting live from his hometown of Birmingham. Each Friday a mix of Joe's community of local legends, LGBTQ+ heroes and allies will join him alongside celebrities and big-name guests from the worlds of comedy, television, music and film.

Welcome to Britain's biggest beat. Covering 12,000 square miles of loch, glens, islands and mountains, cutting-edge crime fighting meets traditional ways of life.