Channel 4 documentary series puts immigration under spotlight

21 January 2016

Channel 4 is to air ‘Keeping Up With The Khans’, an observational documentary series made by Love Productions exploring the lives and aspirations of new migrants to Britain and the impact of immigration on a single community.

The new 4x60 series, which begins on Thursday, February 4th at 9pm, was filmed over 15 months in the Page Hall area of Sheffield in South Yorkshire. Each episode focuses on a different community: Refugees; Roma migrants; the Pakistani and White British communities.

Page Hall’s tightly packed streets of terraced houses were once home to a predominantly white working-class community. During the 60s and 70s migrants from the Pakistani controlled area of Kashmir came to the area and thrived, owning properties, shops and restaurants.

Over the past five years more than 1,500 Roma migrants from Slovakia have moved to the area hoping to build the sort of prosperous lives for themselves that previous generations of immigrants now have.

While some of the long-standing white residents and established immigrants have become frustrated with the influx of Roma into the small community and accuse them of anti-social behaviour, other locals have tried to give the new arrivals opportunities to make a better life for themselves.

Channel 4’s Head of Documentaries, Nick Mirsky, who commissioned the series, said: “Immigration is one of the most hotly debated and polarising issues in Britain today. What we are doing with this series is showing audiences how complex the subject is, and reflecting the human stories behind the rhetoric and provocative headlines.”

Love Production’s Creative Director for Factual, Kieran Smith, added: “We had exceptional access to the different communities living in Page Hall who wanted to share their lives with us.

“The series shows the tensions that can arise when people from a wide range of backgrounds and ethnicities live side by side and also what can be achieved when they work together.”

Executive Producer: Kieran Smith

Series Producer: Coco Maclehose

Production Company: Love Productions

Commissioning Editor, Head of Documentaries: Nick Mirsky