WHITE - The Poles are Coming
Tuesday, 11 March 2008
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?
In The Poles Are Coming, Tim Samuels immerses himself in daily life in Peterborough to find out.
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, and a local councillor, who once championed the arrival of Ugandan Asians to Peterborough, now says enough is enough.
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.
This mass migration is also having an effect in Poland, and the Polish government says too many of their countrymen have gone abroad.
Euro 2012
They want some back to help re-build the economy – especially the roads and stadia needed in time for the Euro 2012 football tournament.
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 here if they did?
The Poles Are Coming forms part of BBC Two's White season, a selection of programming focusing on life in 21st-century Britain for the white working class. Other programmes in the season are Last Orders, White Girl, Rivers Of Blood, The Primary and All White In Barking.
This programme is on BBC TWO on Tuesday 11 March @ 9-10pm
More Documentary »
Snowdon and Margaret: Inside a Royal Marriage
Tony Snowdon was one of the most flamboyant and charismatic figures of the 1960s, a talented photographer who charmed everyone around him. Princess Margaret was one of the most eligible women in the world.
Tuesday, 24 June 2008, 4.59pm - in Television
The World's Hairiest Man and Me
You would think that in the 21st century the freak show was dead.
Tuesday, 3 June 2008, 4.39pm - in Television
Mum & Me - My story of Alzheimers
Film-maker Sue Bourne has a string of successful documentaries to her name, most recently Cutting Edge's My Street, Wedding Days and the Emmy-nominated The Falling Man.
Tuesday, 20 May 2008, 4.38pm - in Television
The World's Smallest Man and Me
In a world where the lottery of nature defines your height, size and features, individuals can become celebrities based simply on how they look.
Tuesday, 20 May 2008, 4.33pm - in Television
Reverend Death
Six years ago the award-winning journalist Jon Ronson began filming what has turned into a most extraordinary and chilling documentary.
Monday, 19 May 2008, 4.59pm - in Television
Time Team - Swords, Skulls and Strongholds
The Iron Age is the period of about 800 years before the Romans arrived to turn this nation of disparate tribes into a single state.
Monday, 19 May 2008, 4.55pm - in Television
