Abused By My Girlfriend
BBC3, from Mon 18 Feb, 10am BBC1, Tue 19 Feb, 10.45pm
One of those truly eye-opening documentaries that comes along once in a while, this tells the shocking, disturbing story of Alex Skeel, a 23-year-old man from Bedford who survived a deeply abusive relationship with his girlfriend, Jordan Worth, described by local police as one of the most extreme cases of domestic violence they had ever dealt with. The film combines observational footage with personal and police archive material to provide insight into this teenage romance that descended into terrible violence. We get Alex’s own testimony, as well as his family and friends sharing their stories of seeing his slow decline. At one point, doctors told Alex that he was just ten days away from death. ★★★★ Boyd Hilton