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Britain is a nation under the influence. The Government has just announced that over seven million people are risking their health by drinking too much and revealed their strategy for tackling the “English drinking culture”. This documentary examines how successful this approach will be, investigating the new drinking patterns in the UK, which involve far more alcohol being drunk at home, and the recent lobbying activities of the alcohol industry.
Reporter Deborah Davies investigates the switch in alcohol consumption from pubs to homes, examining the pricing of alcohol in supermarkets versus pubs, the huge increase in wine purchases and the emergence of pre-loading: drinking at home before heading out for an evening.
Dispatches investigates the medical profession’s warnings of a liver disease time bomb by organising a unique experiment, using cutting-edge technology not yet available on the NHS to test the health of people’s livers in London and Birmingham. In all, 70 passers-by take up the opportunity to have the test, with shocking results that suggest the incidence of liver disease is even higher than doctors had feared
