Brought up by Booze: A Children in Need Special
BBC1, 10:45pm - 11:50pm Wednesday 11 November
When Calum Best was a child, he'd carry his dead-drunk father, football legend George Best, home from the pub. It seemed the normal thing to do for a boy who spent his life trying to win his alcoholic dad's love and attention. Says Calum Best, in this affecting Children in Need special, "I didn't know anything different. Our relationship was me, him and alcohol." Calum Best is a tabloid staple, well known for his volcanic private life and for being unable to spell "celebrity" when he took part in ITV1's cretinous reality show, Celebrity Love Island. But it's hard to judge him for his very public shortcomings as he talks about his childhood and the father who would disappear on benders, leaving his small son alone and forgotten. Best talks to the children of alcoholic parents and their stories are almost unbearably moving as they discuss chaotic lives filled with broken promises, the desperate need for love, the mental cruelty and, sometimes, the violence from drunk mothers and fathers.
VIDEO Plus+: 8644140
Subtitled, Widescreen, Audio-described
Followed by National Lottery Update
Directed by: Katy Sheppard
radiotimes
