We Are England – Season 2
We Are England was a regional current affairs documentary programme shown on BBC One. The programme was made by six teams around England, based in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Newcastle and Norwich. It explored the issues people cared about, as told by them from across the country. It replaced the long running BBC programme "Inside Out".
Episodes
Bullseye! Our School of Darts
Mental Health: The Midlands darts academies improving teenagers' mental wellbeing and shaping stars of the future, such as Henry from Derbyshire who's battling it out to be world number one.
Coping in Construction
Mental Health: Alfie and his scaffolding gang have seen first-hand the mental health struggles of colleagues in construction. Now they're joining forces with other workers to make a difference.
Free Falling
Mental Health: Peter, a professional skydiver based in County Durham, has climbed back from suicidal depression and is now on a mission to help others reach new highs with their mental health.
Hip Hop Family
Mental Health: Can hip-hop, rap and breakdancing help mental health? We look behind the scenes at a unique community project in Plymouth as they build up to one of their biggest shows to date.
The Barbershop
Mental Health: After the suicide of a loved one, the owners of a Bedford barbershop take a mental health course to help tackle the issue of male suicide.
Bradford Church of Wrestling
Mental Health: Go behind the scenes as we step into the ring at the Bradford Church of Wrestling.
Educating Blyth
Education: We follow the reality of school life with staff and students of one forward-thinking secondary school in the industrial port town of Blyth.
From Conflict to Classroom
Education: Far from home, young refugees from Ukraine and other countries get a second chance in England's schools.
Make Me a Paramedic
Education: Hina and Sarah are student paramedics, going through a rigorous three-year undergraduate degree whilst learning on the job with the North West Ambulance Service.
Our Big Home Education Family
Education: During the pandemic, schools closed leaving parents to home educate. With home education on the rise, we find out why two families chose to home educate their children pre-pandemic.
The Classroom Revolution
Education: It's difficult to pay attention in class when successful people in textbooks don't look like you and unsuccessful ones do. Chaz and Lawrence are on a mission to change that.
Zoo School
Education: Can working with animals improve behaviour and inspire learning? We follow six Luton teenagers at England's largest zoo.
Farming Fields of Gold
Farming England: Shot over the summer of 2022, this fascinating film follows the working life of Cotswold farmer and culinary oil producer Charlie Beldam.
Our Cheese Farm
Farming England: A third-generation dairy farmer who branched out into cheesemaking on a whim finds himself facing growing global demand.
Our Family Cucumber Farm
Farming England: Tony fears his third-generation family cucumber farm won't survive the season, thanks to rising energy costs. Will this be their last year in business?
Shaking Up Our Sheep Farm
Farming England: James is a sheep farmer with a big vision: he’s taken over the family farm and is making exciting changes using modern breeding and farming techniques.
To the Manor Farm
Farming England: The large country estate handing hundreds of acres back to nature.
Trouble at Sea
Farming England: After thousands of crabs wash up dead on the North East coast, struggling local fishermen attempt to get to the bottom of the devastating environmental event.
A Night at the Market
Serving England: Meet the night workers at the UK's largest wholesale market racing against time to get thousands of tonnes of fresh fruit and veg from pallets onto our plates.
A1 by Night: Against the Clock
Serving England: Night workers adding an extra lane to the A1 battle machine breakdowns, tiredness and danger traffic as they race to get the road open by 6am.
Life in the Fast-Food Lane
Serving England: Bassam, Henry and Viktória all rely on food courier work to financially support them, but just how hard is it to earn a living in this fast-growing industry?
Saving Lives by Air
Serving England: Grappling with cardiac arrests, road traffic accidents and even a wasp attack, the medics and aviators of the East Anglian Air Ambulance stand ready to fly, 24/7.
The Women Building Nuclear
Serving England: 24 hours inside Europe’s biggest construction site with some of the women building it, challenging long-established myths about the building industry and careers in STEM.
We Are Firefighters
Serving England: A unique insight into the heart of the modern-day fire and rescue service. We meet the Midland firefighters who work around the clock to keep their communities safe.
A Home without Bills?
Money and Me: Property developers Scott and Cameron find out ways to keep the cost of bills down for their tenants by learning about carbon-efficient methods of powering homes.
Bellies Not Bins
Money and Me: A single mum of five from Sheffield and a café in Chester-le-Street are both finding ways of tackling the cost-of-living crisis by stopping food from going to waste.
Our Money-Saving Story
Money and Me: Having grown up in poverty, money guru Emmanuel Asuquo is on a mission to solve people’s money issues during the cost of living crisis.
Greetings From Guernsey
Made in England: Moonpig print and send tens of thousands of cards from their Guernsey factory every day. We go behind the scenes meeting the characters who keep the factory running, ensuring cards are ready in time for the last plane off the island, sometimes when the odds are stacked against them.
Making Waves: Building Boats
Made in England: Building the superyachts of tomorrow. Rare access to a pioneering Ipswich boat yard whose yachts marry classical wooden design with cutting edge sustainability.
Northern Sole
Made in England: This year, New Balance celebrated 40 years of Cumbrian manufacturing by producing a special set of trainers to commemorate its milestone. The tongue proudly says 'Made In England'.
Our Big Beauty Business
Made in England: A rare look inside a major cosmetics factory. We join one of the UK’s last family-owned beauty brands in their 40th anniversary year, and see how they’re beating big-name rivals.
Pots About Pots
Made in England: A day with the factory workers, engineering staff, management and design team to get a glimpse of the challenges inside Denby Pottery’s Derbyshire factory.
We Make Supercars
Made in England: The people behind McLaren's latest model, and how over a hundred new jobs have been created with a brand-new state of the art factory in South Yorkshire.
Athletes of the Sky
Family: Nine-year-old Harry isn't like his friends at school. While they are playing computer games at home, he is down the allotment looking after his pigeons.
Dementia, Music and Us
Family: Innovative music therapy is helping families to live with dementia and create new memories. We follow Keith and Joan as they prepare for a group holiday to Llandudno.
England's Greatest Showman
Family: Eighty-year-old Nipper is fairground aristocracy, the head of East Anglia’s largest family of showmen. We join them on the road, seeing the challenges they face.
My Walking Family
Family: Founder of the largest online community of Muslim hikers, family man Haroon is on a quest to make the outdoors more inclusive to all as he leads them on a trek to Scafell Pike.
Weston-super-Mums
Family: The mums on a mission to get back into work. We follow the unique 12-week course helping mums on benefits get back into employment. But can they secure a job?
Born to Race, Part 1
Belonging - Mental Health: Ruben and Lewis have been racing since the age of four and dream of making it in Formula 1. Now, they’re facing a race that could make or break their careers.
Born to Race, Part 2
Belonging - Mental Health: Ruben and Lewis have been racing since the age of four, with hundreds of trophies between them. Now, with advice from their idol, they face the most important race of their careers.
England's Next Lionesses
Belonging - Mental Health: England football legend Jill Scott inspires the next generation of Lionesses to success at her childhood club in the north east.
Let Us Entertain You
Belonging - Mental Health: With staycations on the rise, we follow two touring tribute acts over the summer, ‘Elvis’ and ‘Jessie J’, as they navigate the ultra-competitive world of holiday park entertainment.
My Body: No Limits
Belonging - Mental Health: Disabled model Sian Green explores the barriers to amputees getting active. She’ll face a new challenge – going to the gym on her own for the first time as an amputee.
Our Toxteth Cycle Club
Belonging - Mental Health: With 74% of people from ethnic minority groups having never cycled, one Liverpool-based organisation aims to get more diverse groups interested and active in cycling.
Riding the Waves
Belonging - Mental Health: A paramedic, a firefighter and a police officer head to north Devon for a day of ‘surf therapy’ in the hope it can help process trauma from their demanding jobs.
Fighting For Our Homes: What Happened Next
Neighbours on a Leeds housing estate fight to keep their community together when faced with eviction from their privately rented homes. We join the residents of the estate one year later as they adapt to new living situations.
Hanging onto Home: What Happened Next
Almost a year on since the original programme aired on BBC1, We Are England returns to this south Acton estate to find out how Yacob and his family have fared.
Knife Angels: What Happened Next
Teesside is one of the worst places for knife crime, so how should £3.5 million of new government cash be spent tackling the problem?
Our Derby Dance School: What Happened Next
20 years ago, Nadia opened a dance studio that became a safe haven where some youths were able to overcome social and mental health issues. Six months on, how have things been?
The Real Phoenix Nights: What Happened Next
A year on since the original programme aired on BBC1, We Are England returns to the club to find out how they are getting on.
When the Boat Comes In: What Happened Next
Almost a year on since the original programme aired on BBC1, We Are England returns to see if Martin’s shellfish business is surviving with the continued implications of Brexit.