Addicted to Pleasure

Episode 1

Sugar

48 mins

Succession star Brian Cox explores the origin stories of four of the most addictive substances that still have the world hooked today - sugar, opium, tobacco and whisky. Kicking off with sugar, he reveals how the exploitation of our sweet tooth gave birth to the modern consumer economy and made Britain a major world player. But once that sweet taste wore off, there was a bitter price to pay.