Episode 1

In Blackpool, a mother-of-six is banned from the job centre.

We meet the immigrants who are claiming UK welfare to send back home.

Single mum Marie Buchan has been battling the system for years to get a bigger home as she currently has to share a three-bedroomed house with eight kids, all aged under 13. The family has now expanded further with the acquisition of a new dog called Patches. It looks as if Marie and the kids might have one of the best Christmases ever, as they have just received some good news – the family will finally move to a bigger housing association home in Birmingham. Until the move, however, life on benefits goes on. Marie is annoyed that her benefits are capped at £26,000 a year, but she says that nothing is going to spoil Christmas for the Buchans. “No matter what, claiming benefits or working, everybody deserves a Christmas Day."

Tony ʻScrapʼ Taylor is a well-known figure in the community doing odd jobs and collecting scrap. He claims just £51.40 a week but does odd jobs for food, enabling his benefits money to go a bit further. If you need something in Jaywick then Tony is the man who can sort it out!

Dean, an 18-year-old from Harlow in Essex, made sure that he signed on as soon as he was old enough, regarding benefits as “free money”. He still lives at home with his mum, has zero ambition, spends his days in bed until 2pm and plays on his phone the rest of the time. His mum does everything for him and his benefits are spent on booze and fags. A brief stint in a reality show gave him a taste of fame and left him with no intention of getting a normal job – until he is sanctioned.

Life on the dole north of the border with a pair of wannabe pop stars, a globetrotter who has invented her own new age Chakra swing, and a woman who is convinced that her weight is stopping her from getting a job.

This time we're at the seaside. Debbie suffers from numerous disabilities, while single mum Stacie is living in a small flat with a three-month-old baby. We also meet Dave, a firearms fanatic who hasn't worked for two years and lives in a two-bedroom home with his mother.

A man whose partner earned too much on a zero hour contract.

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Tom and Stacey have 14 children and claim £70,000 a year.

Ex-prisoners trying to go straight on the welfare state.