BBC Northern Ireland region started on 19th April 1955 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One Northern Ireland.

BBC One Northern Ireland

Brian Woods

Katy Sheppard

Deborah Shipley

Bust

Documentaries

Factual: Life Stories

Factual: Money

20/01/2009

BBC One - Bust

Documentary following families as they struggle to cope with personal debts.

Documentary following families struggling to cope with personal debts, as the credit crunch unfolds during one of the worst recessions in decades, following them over a year.

Bust is an intimate portrait of families struggling to cope with personal debts, as the credit crunch unfolds during one of the worst recessions for decades.

Like many other families in Britain, Tracy and Melvyn opted to buy their council house on a cheap mortgage. Then, despite their best endeavours to make their books balance, they gradually sunk more and more into the quagmire of debt.  Over a year, we witness their emotional roller coaster as they fight to keep everything they have worked so hard for: their jobs, their car, their home, and their sanity. What options do they have to keep their family together and a roof over their heads?

Michael, a retired chef, is struggling to afford the help he needs to cope with his lung and heart disease. Maria is a social worker who took out a loan when she and her partner could easily afford the repayments; that relationship is now over, and she is on maternity leave, with her creditors threatening to send in the bailiffs. Both are facing the terrifying prospect of declaring themselves bankrupt.  We follow them as they struggle with the burden of admitting they cannot cope, and battle through the bureaucracy of bankruptcy. Is it really the answer they all expect it to be?

Bust is the emotional journey of debt and bankruptcy.

BBC One

BBC One is a TV channel that started broadcasting on the 20th April 1964. It replaced BBC Television.

BBC 1

BBC1

BBC One London

London

BBC One Cambridgeshire

BBC One Channel Islands

BBC One Yorks & Lincs

The BBC East region started on 1st May 1959 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One East.

BBC One East

BBC One region covering Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.

BBC One East Midlands

The BBC North East & Cumbria region started in 1959 (tbc) as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One North East & Cumbria.

BBC One North East & Cumbria

BBC One North West

BBC One Oxfordshire

BBC One Scotland

Scotland

The BBC South region started on 5th January 1961 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One South.

BBC One South

Formerly part of a wider BBC One South East region that included London and part of the South region. Separated from BBC One London 2001-09-03 following reorganisation of the South East region.

BBC One South East

The BBC South West region started on 20th April 1961 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One South West.

BBC One South West

BBC One Wales

Wales

The BBC West region started on 1st September 1957 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One West.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Bust

Contributors

Genres

Formats

BBC One Northern Ireland

About BBC One