BRITAIN’S BIGGEST FAMILIES: 31 KIDS AND SAVED BY A STRANGER
COUNTING THE PENNIES BBC2, 9pm
ITV, 9pm
If you think your supermarket bill is eye-watering, imagine if you had a supersized brood to feed.
Following three of the biggest families in Britain, this one-off film captures the chaos of the households and asks how they manage their very different budgets.
In Cumbria, Nicole and Joseph Sutton and their 11 kids, aged nine months to 14, survive on Joseph’s £400 a week coach driver salary. Nicole is an expert money-saver and can do the weekly food shop on as little as £80 if necessary.
Meanwhile, in Scotland, Ben and Zoe also have 11 kids and spend £300 a week on food, while Zoe does three or four washloads a day.
And in Suffolk, ‘power couple’ Layden and Fran Seymour have nine kids and no real budget. They’ve spent £30,000 on family tech and Layden has a Rolex collection worth £70,000.
“I think I’ve got more cars than children,” he says.
In this extraordinary series, Anita Rani helps reunite people who have been caught up in massive events and the strangers who helped them.
Navy veteran David was just 20 when he found himself heading towards a war zone most people had never heard of – the Falkland Islands.
He was aboard a container ship struck by two deadly missiles in May 1982, forcing the crew into the freezing South Atlantic Ocean.
Twelve men died in the attack. Now David’s hoping to reconnect with some of his former shipmates.
In a second story, Darryl experienced racism after moving to Britain from Kenya at the age of four and his family struggled to cope.
When life at home was tough, he found a safe haven at primary school, where his teachers instilled in him a love of education and the confidence to succeed.
Now author Darryl wants to find them and thank them.
There will be tears...