Andrew O’Connell, Commissioning Editor, Factual, Sky1, Sky2 and Sky3 announced the commission of An Addict’s Last Days from indie Gecko Productions and Junction 15. An Addict’s Last Days is a one-off authored documentary using raw – and intimate – video diaries to tell the moving story of a heroin addict’s battle against an ultimately fatal addiction. An Addict’s Last Days will be broadcast on Sky1 this autumn.

As a bright schoolboy from a loving middle-class family of six, Ben Rogers was expected to make a success of his life. Brought up in a quiet, picturesque Staffordshire village, Ben was a Scout, loved cricket, rode ponies and played in the school orchestra. But Ben’s life took a different route as early cannabis use spiralled into heroin addiction and a tragic death from a brain haemorrhage while he was attempting to detox in hospital.

During his last months, 34-year-old Ben filmed a video diary of his final desperate attempts to come off heroin. The diary charts Ben’s lies and manipulation as he mixes his next hit whilst telling his mother Anne he is clean and making a new start. The film reveals Anne’s anger and tears as Ben loses his fight against the drugs and shows how father Mike’s unconditional love is tempered by his total resignation that they have lost the battle against their son’s addiction.

Anne Rogers has given Gecko and Junction 15 exclusive access to the video diaries, which form the centrepiece of the documentary. She commented: “It’s all very painful to watch but I’m willing to go through it time and again if it can help stop the same happening to other youngsters. The final scene is perhaps the hardest. Ben is desperately searching for a vein to inject into. He looks as if he is dying as the heroin passes into his body. It’s as if you can see his life just ebbing away.”

Andrew O’Connell added: “The film unearths the harsh realities of drug abuse and the dramatic impact of addiction. Ben and Anne’s bravery in documenting this tragic period will undoubtedly make for one of the year’s most powerful films.”

Executive Producer Vivian McGrath says: “This film is an incredibly intense and very moving portrayal of one man’s descent into the final stages of addiction. But it also reveals an intimate portrait of one ordinary middle class family’s 13-year battle to save their son.”

Director Olly Lambert commented: “It’s incredibly rare to come across such raw and unflinching footage of a man so close to an abyss, and I was literally speechless when I first watched it. I hope it’ll be a way for people to get a visceral understanding of the nature of addiction, and it’ll be a privilege to try and unpick who Ben really was using the intimate legacy he’s left behind.”