‘Last chance to keep my children’ documentary series to air

A documentary series about life in a family rehab house will air this week.

‘Addicted Parents: Last Chance To Keep My Children’ will air on BBC Two at 9pm on 18 and 25 July.

It was filmed inside Sheffield’s Phoenix Futures’ Specialist Family Service, which is a unique family rehab where mothers and fathers addicted to drug or alcohol live with their children as they undergo detox and therapy.

Filmed over a year, the two episodes will focus on mothers who have spent years battling addiction and for whom this is the last chance to keep their children out of care, and the story of a young couple trying to overcome heroin addiction.

Emma Wakefield, managing director of Lambent productions, which made the two documentaries, said the programme follows families from the moment they step into the home to the moment they leave and “the work of the amazing team dedicated to giving these parents and their children a second chance”.

Tom McDonald, head of commissioning for Natural History & Specialist Factual programming at the BBC, said the story hadn’t been told before.

“One that is utterly affecting and dramatic as addicts are forced to make the toughest decision of their lives that will not only have an impact on their own, but most crucially, on the entire future for their children.”

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