James Burton is articulate, well spoken - and a compulsive gambler. When it comes to spending his disability pension windfall on either practical things like clothes and food, or a trip to the bookies the answer is always the same. His self-destructive ways have already lost him a life of respectability, a wife and family, job and company car. Desperate to gamble, he becomes agitated and frantic as soon as he gets cash in his pocket. This intimate film, which heralds a series of documentaries on compulsive behaviour, portrays James's struggle with his addiction. As the relationship between James and the film's director grows, James feels he has someone he can trust and to whom he can finally release his demons. Further episodes in the series will be shown in a month's time.
Director Henry Singer ; Executive producer Richard Klein The UK's hidden addiction: page 38