Beat It

beat it
angry with my father (3/3)
21.00–22.00

Concluding tonight on Five is the documentary series that follows members of the public as they attempt to overcome a variety of psychological difficulties. Tonight’s instalment tells the story of 25-year-old Chris, who is coming to terms with a violent childhood and desperately hoping to eradicate his anger-management issues so that he can fulfil his dream of becoming a social worker.

In Worthing, West Sussex, two young brothers are clearing out the debris of their father’s life. Furniture, fittings and an odd, scythe-like object are flung onto a rubbish heap in the back yard. The boys are feeling strange – their father terrorised them with violence for years, and it is with a mixture of anger and elation that they now remove all tangible proof of his existence from their former home. “You walk into the kitchen and there’s a carving knife and you’re like: ‘I’ve felt that against my throat,’” says Chris.

beat it
the boy with the stammer (2/3)
21.00–22.00

Continuing tonight on Five is a series of documentaries following members of the public as they attempt to overcome a variety of psychological difficulties. Tonight’s instalment follows schoolboy Cameron’s attempt to defeat the stammer that cripples his self-confidence and prevents him from expressing himself. Ever since he could speak, 13-year-old Cameron has stammered. When he began to talk “in a jumbled-up way”, his mother took him to a speech therapist. She was told he would hopefully grow out of it – but he has not. Cameron is articulate when he can force the words out, but most of the time, he explains, “my throat gets so tight, nothing gets out.” Cameron talks candidly about his “stressful” and “disheartening” condition: “It’s kind of like a parasite,” he says. “It just won’t leave.”

Before his last birthday, Cameron told his mum, Jane, that he did not want any presents – just a new voice box so he could speak normally. Then, he said, he would “have so much confidence it would be unbelievable.” Determined to help her son beat this problem, Jane has enrolled him on an intensive residential course where teachers use a breathing technique to help people manage their stammers. The Starfish course is run by Anne Blight, who explains that the technique of “costal breathing” is simple and well established: “It’s not rocket science,” she says.

beat it
addicted to asda (1/3)
21.00–22.00

Starting tonight on Five is a new series of documentaries following members of the public as they attempt to overcome a variety of psychological difficulties. The series shows how counselling, training and advice from top psychologists can help people battle the demons that have taken over their lives. Tonight’s first episode tells the story of 24-year-old mother Amanda, who developed an uncontrollable shopping addiction after being brutally attacked seven years ago.

In the northern town of Ashton-under-Lyne, a young woman is dealing with an unusual and debilitating compulsion. Amanda is addicted to shopping at Asda, and has come to view the supermarket as her shelter from the world. After being attacked by a gang of youths and scarred across the face at the age of 17, Amanda retreated to the safety of her local Asda, where her mum works. “It’s my own little way of getting away from things,” she says. But Amanda’s safe haven turned into a nightmare when she found that she could not stop spending, buying endless clothes that she did not need. “It’s like something inside me just takes control,” she confesses.