Me And My Series 2

Me And My Alcoholism (1x60')

Episode 2

In a country where boozing is the norm, 9 million Britons are considered alcohol dependent. All of us know someone whose relationship with the bottle damages their health, destroys their friendships and family ties, ends their careers. In this groundbreaking documentary, Me and My Alcoholism (working title) tells the frank story of 8 people - both celebrities and civilians - and their tempestuous relationship with alcohol: from their first drink, their love affair with booze and their despair as they hit rock bottom, to what it took to get sober and build a new life in recovery.

Alcohol is society's great leveler - and alcoholism can sneak up on almost any of us, unsuspecting, at any time. Alcohol doesn't obey the stereotype we imagine: the rich and the famous are just as likely to fall prey as any one of us. We hear from a professional footballer, a former newsreader, an actress, an international model… but also how a successful teacher went from a 'harmless' bottle of wine a night to pregnant in jail, to losing all three of her children; a young man determined to learn and trade support kids was just one drink way from death when he finally decided to kick the habit and how a sweet hard working schoolgirl spent her last night before rehab squatting in a shed, not a possession to her name. With each story we learn the triggers that propel someone into alcoholic despair: everyday feelings of anxiety, inadequacy, shyness - and what it took to propel them into a life of recovery and sobriety.

As much a story of the struggle as it is one of hope, this sensitive and resonant film takes us straight into the heart of one of society's most dominant but misunderstood addictions.

Me And My Addiction (1x90')

Episode 3

More people than ever are admitting to taking drugs. In this groundbreaking documentary we tell the story of Addiction from cannabis to cocaine, to heroin - from so-called legal highs and even prescription drugs. Featuring both celebrities and everyday people we hear how something seemingly harmless took 10 people into a tunnel of addiction, and how hard they fought to get out.

Hollywood actor Corey Feldman was introduced to cannabis on the set of Stand by Me with his friend River Phoenix - their curiosity led to a drug habit, which caused the former to lose years of his life to heroin, and killed the latter. Teen rapper Abz joined 'badboy' band 5ive! at just 16 years old. He hardly touched alcohol… but as the pressures of fame mounted he was introduced to cocaine, and an addiction which dominated his life for almost 10 years. Patrick Walden of Babyshambles fame smoked the odd spliff with his musician pals, it felt creative. But a 'split second bad decision" led him to heroin. The group's drug habits became renowned, but the music kept coming and fans (and supermodels) adored them. Desperate to kick the habit, he turned to buying legal-highs from the Internet - the unmonitored consumption of which nearly killed him.

Meanwhile journalist Catherine stumbled into addiction without indulging recreationally: 'I left hospital a heroin addict'. Travelling the world as a young travel she was suddenly diagnosed with pancreatitis. After fighting excruciating pain in hospital on a morphine drip she was prescribed fentanyl - the drug which killed the likes of Prince - and sent home. But her pain drove her into a life-threatening opioid addiction which saw her lying her parents, boyfriend and pushing her GP to his professional limits.

Each story helps us understand the triggers of addiction. Former banker Jamie hid his habit from his wife, volunteering for their baby's night-feeds as an excuse to keep on taking lines. Looking back, he knows cocaine helped him conceal feelings of inadequacy as he began to fail at secondary school aged 15. Cocaine made me "everything he wanted to be".

Punctuated with scene-setting montages of why we're all too familiar with these drugs - hedonistic summertime raves, glamorous cocaine-fuelled parties, the heroin chic movement - as well as news footage of celebrity arrests and deaths - this film documents the euphoric highs and crippling lows as we journey into the heart of addiction.

UK PREMIERE: Wednesday 25th April 2018 on Channel 5