Louis Theroux - The Most Hated Family in America
12:00 am - 01:00 am, Saturday, February 7 on U&W (25)
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About this Broadcast
The journalist heads for Topeka, Kansas, to meet members of the controversial Westboro Baptist Church. Comprised almost entirely of members of the Phelps family, the organisation is vehement in its disapproval of homosexuality and followers have picketed the funerals of Iraq War soldiers in protest against America's attitude toward gay people. Louis witnesses the emotional toll the clan's strict rules have taken on its members, including 21-year-old Jael who says she will never have a boyfriend. He also meets Steve Drain, who set out to make a documentary about the group - and ended up as one of its number
subtitles
16x9
audio-description
Documentary
News/Current Affairs
More Information
Did You Know..
Louis Theroux
(Reporter)
Born:
May 20, 1970
in
Singapore
Best Known For:
His controversial documentaries.
Early-life:
Louis Sebastian Theroux was born on May 20, 1970, in Singapore, to American writer Paul and his British wife Anne. He has an older brother, the broadcaster Marcel, and his cousin is actor Justin Theroux. After attending Westminster School, where he befriended comedians Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish, and politician Nick Clegg, Louis gained a first-class degree in modern history from Magdalen College, Oxford. He landed his first journalism job working for alternative free paper Metro Silicon Valley, and in 1992 moved to Spy magazine.
Career:
Theroux got his TV break as a reporter on Michael Moore's TV Nation. When that ended, he was snapped up by the BBC to make the series Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends. In 2001 he fronted When Louis Met…, featuring an array of celebrities who were shadowed by the journalist. Two years later, the BBC aired a series of one-off specials in which Louis explored various figures in America. In 2006, he signed a deal with the BBC to film 10 documentaries over three years, which aired sporadically. Among them were The Most Hated Family in America and Louis Theroux: Under the Knife. He continues to make acclaimed documentaries on a range of unusual subjects.
Quote:
"The subjects I'm interested in are quite extreme. They're so far beyond the pale of normal human interaction that you're never going to get a reality show on that territory."
Trivia:
He's won several awards and in 2005 published a book, The Call of the Weird: Travels in American Subcultures.
Geoffrey O'Connor
(Producer)
Stuart Cabb
(Series producer)
