Brickies – the real-life documentary that follows the trials and tribulations of a group of bricklayers – is back!
Expect a lot of fun and laughter from the brickies as they get on with the serious business of getting on with the job but we see a different side, too: just how much the cost of living is affecting them.
Characters in the series address the soaring price of their shop-bought lunches, fuel and the outrageous cost of… butter!
The Open University/BBC co-production covers all manner of subjects in this second series, which charts the lives of this group that includes both men and women.
It airs on BBC Three on Mondays, the first being 20 March at 9pm, and is available on iPlayer thereafter. It depicts the crew building houses, earning cash and overcoming obstacles at the beginning of another long, scorching summer.
The cost-of-living elements point to what we are all experiencing, which make it so relatable and relied on the input of an Open University academic, Dr Rajiv Prabhakar.
Rajiv is a senior lecturer within personal finance and economics, and worked with the programme makers. He said:
“It was great to see footage of the Brickies discussing something I raised with the production team – how cost-of-living pressures directly impacted them.
“These can be abstract topics but the Brickies showed what this means in practice – how fuel costs made it more expensive for them to travel to work, how rises in meal deals had made it more expensive for them to eat and how shocked they were at the price of butter!”
He added:
“The series looks directly on how cost-of-living pressures impact directly on the brickies, the importance of supply chains and employing women in a traditionally male-dominated profession.”
His favourite moment?
“When one of the female brickies, Jeorgia, has plans to build her own house – what a great story.”
This programme was commissioned by Broadcast and Partnerships and is supported by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, with particular relevance to BA (Hons) Economics I R30, BA (Hons) in Social Sciences I R23 and BA (Hons) Politics, Philosophy and Economics I Q45.
- Commissioned by Dr Caroline Ogilvie, Head of Broadcast & Partnerships
- Academic Consultant Dr Rajiv Prabhakar
- Media Fellow: Dr Alison Penn
- Broadcast Project Manager: Matthew Ray
- OU Connect Website Manager: Andrew Hudson
Supporting Online content:
Visit our NEW Broadcast & Partnerships site, where you can find extensive resources and information on topics related to this series, including exclusive interviews with the brickies sharing insights into life on the site.
Picture caption: (L-R) Kuda, Leah, Charlie & Jeorgia
Image copyright: Button Down
