Brian Cox: Succession star who came from poverty to front Channel 5 documentary about ‘what money does to you’

Actor will also delve into his own story of going from poverty in Scotland to one of Hollywood’s biggest TV stars

Succession star Brian Cox will front a new documentary about society’s complicated relationship with money.

The Scottish actor, 76, will present the two-part series titled Brian Cox: That’s the Way the Money Goes, an investigation into wealth and poverty.

He will also touch on his own story of growing up in poverty to becoming a Hollywood star, who in Succession plays a billionaire business mogul.

“In this series, I want to find out what money does to you, to me, how it affects all our lives. Whether we have it or we don’t,” Cox says in a teaser clip.

“After my father died, my mother discovered his bank had the sum of £10 in it, we were destitute. For me, money is very much my own personal demon. Something I have avoided confronting until now.”

News of the project comes amid the cost of living crisis in the UK, with rising energy bills and inflation forcing people to take on extra work or cut down on socialising.

Ben Frow, Channel 5’s head of programming, said the broadcaster has been “blessed” to commission such a timely documentary.

“I mean, how timely is the show now. We have been so blessed,” he said.

“Could we be more on the money at a time of huge financial pressure on peoples’ purses.”

Companies are struggling under the weight of higher energy bills (Gareth Fuller/PA) (PA Wire)

News of the series was announced at the Edinburgh TV Festival, where Frow said he came out of the first meeting with Cox thinking it was a “very simple idea”.

“It was clever,” he said. “How do people spend their money? You have that compare and contrast between a billionaire who buys a house for £90m and then spends £30m redecorating it, or somebody who buys vintage cars and spends millions and throws money away.

“And somebody is going up and down the aisle of a supermarket with £30 in their purse, how do they spend that money? I love that idea of the contrast between our understanding of and our relationship with (money) – a really simple idea.”

He added: “To get Brian Cox on Channel Five, it’s impossible. Why would he not go to one of our competitors? But what reassured me... We know we could do that compare and contrast in a warmer, more formatted way.”

During the series, Cox will visit a soup kitchen in the Bronx, speak with supermodels on the beach in Miami, and visit a billionaire living in one of London’s most expensive houses.

“This is a fascinating subject and having lived both ends of the wealth gap, this series will allow me to examine my own relationship with money whilst gaining a deeper understanding of how wealth really affects society today,” Cox said.

Additional reporting by Press Association