David Farnor | On 09, Apr 2016

BBC Three has ordered new documentaries from Stacey Dooley and Reggie Yates.

The two presenters have proven vital to the channel’s continuing commitment to factual programming, with Yates recently winning Best Presenter at the RTS Awards for Extreme Russia and Dooley’s Sex in Strange Places becoming the third most popular title on BBC Three since it moved online. (For more on the BBC Three viewing figures, click here.)

Now, the channel has commissioned another series from each.

Brainwashing Stacey Dooley will span three one-hour episodes and see Stacey step away from her traditional investigative role and immerses herself fully in worlds with extreme views. To enter the mindset of people whose views and activities are perceived as highly controversial – from the sports hunting community to the pro-life youth training camps – Stacey will sign up to live, breathe and train 24/7 under the watchful eye of experts and leaders within these intense ideological worlds.

In the US and Africa, she will join the sports hunting community to find out what is takes to kill, while in India, she will undergo training to become a member of the Gulabi Gang, who use direct and physical action to campaign for women’s rights. In America, she will join an anti-abortion bootcamp, embedding herself in the pro-life movement.

Reggie Yates: Worst Weeks will see Reggie Yates embark on two different challenges for two one-hour episodes – spending time behind bars in a Texan jail, and going on patrol with the Mexican army.

Entering Bexar County Jail in Texas for one brutal week, where around a quarter of the inmates have a diagnosed mental illness, we will see Reggie experience what it’s like to be an inmate in the American criminal justice system as he attempts to understand how prisoners with mental health problems are treated behind bars.

Reggie will also join the army in Acapulco, a city once known as Mexico’s premium beach resort, but now considered one of the most violent cities on Earth. Sent in to try and win back control, Mexican soldiers are at the front line of the drug war in Acapulco, and Reggie will be embedded with the troops as they fight to restore law and order in this violence-stricken city.

Patrick Holland, Head of Commissioning for BBC Documentaries, says: “Both of these new series will push Reggie and Stacey further than ever before. Through Reggie living as an inmate in a US jail, and going on patrol with the Mexican Army, the audience will gain a very visceral insight into American justice and the War on Drugs. Stacey’s immersion will take us to the heart of some of the most controversial groups around the world, gaining a fresh insight into the psychologies and behaviours that lie at the heart of these movements.”

Damian Kavanagh, Controller of BBC Three, adds: “I’m incredibly proud of what Stacey and Reggie have achieved with BBC Three and I know that these two series will be as distinctive, courageous and informative as their previous work with BBC Three.”

For our reviews of Sex in Strange Places and other series available on the online channel, click here – or for more on what’s coming soon to BBC Three, click here

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