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Wonderland

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BBC Two's documentary strand focusing on different aspects of contemporary British life.

BBC Two's documentary strand, an annual eight-part series of hour-long films about different aspects of contemporary British life.

Wonderland: Series 4

Olly Lambert

Nick Mirsky

Wonderland: Series 4: Episode 4: My Child the Rioter

My Child the Rioter

Episode 4

Episode 4: My Child the Rioter

Series 4

BBC Two - Wonderland, Series 4, My Child the Rioter

Documentary going to the heart of families at the frontline of Britain's 2011 riots.

Documentary going to the heart of families at the frontline of Britain's recent riots. In August 2011 parents across the country woke up to a morning they had never imagined.

In August 2011, parents all over Britain were waking up to a morning they had never imagined. For some, it was the police knocking on the door, for others, it was the sight of a pile of stolen goods in their child's bedroom. Some simply realised that it was their kid who had been out on the streets, smashing windows, looting shops and attacking the police. 
 
In sitting rooms and kitchens around the country, these families endured some of the most difficult conversations of their lives. Olly Lambert's film takes viewers inside those homes and inside those conversations. Many of these families would find their children facing lengthy prison sentences, and they themselves were singled out by a prime minister who blamed the worst riots in recent British history on 'a lack of proper parenting, a lack of proper upbringing, a lack of proper ethics, a lack of proper morals'.
 
Eileen and Alan Bretherton's son Liam had recently served in Afghanistan, and was at the beginning of a promising career in the army. He got caught up in the events of last summer while home on leave; consequently, his parents now have to face the fact that the son in whom they took so much pride is now an ex-offender whose military career is in ruins.
 
In Manchester, childhood sweethearts Kerry and Liam Parkes looked on as their 19-year-old son defended the riots and took pride in what he did on the streets of Manchester. And in Willesden, David Clark watched his son break down in tears in fear of what his future may now hold.  
 
This simple film cuts to the heart of families at the frontline of rioting Britain.

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Episode 4: My Child the Rioter

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