AN actor outraged by a damning TV show about Jaywick is hitting back with her own documentary.
Penelope Read, 67, was left fuming by the way the coastal community was portrayed in Channel 5’s Benefits Britain – Life on the Dole series earlier this year.
“It made me so angry, I couldn’t sleep,” she said.
“My husband said I should make a documentary to counter it – so I did.”
Penelope and producer friend Heather Thompson, who lives in Jaywick, began working on their own programme to highlight what is good about the community.
“I interviewed a whole lot of people, showing the good things going on in Jaywick,” said Penelope, of Clacton.
“It’s taken ages, but we’ve done it and it had its premiere on Wednesday.”
Residents, former councillor Dan Casey, and community stalwarts Clive Elkins and Sylvia Hobbs all feature in the hour-long documentary – called Jaywick – A Diamond in the Rough.
The film was more than two months in the pipeline.
“It’s about raising the profile of Jaywick in a positive way,” said Penelope.
“Benefits Britain only focused on a tiny, tiny minority.
“I didn’t see anything positive at all, except one couple who said Jaywick was better than where they came from.
“There is so much going on in Jaywick which they could have shown.
“But we get so many people on benefits shipped in from London, you don’t get a complete picture of the community.”
The free premiere was being held at Tendring Enterprise Studio School, in Jaywick Lane, last night.
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