- Opinion
- 03 Mar 17
The much-loved, incisive documentary-maker fascinated people last year with with Saville, Drinking to Oblivion and A Different Brain.
Theroux's three new documentaries are set to broadcast on BBC 2 later this year and will take a look into some of the many challenges the citizens of America are facing today. The three main areas the documentary-maker will be focusing on are murder, sex trafficking and opiate dependency.
Theroux was granted access to the police in several different states and, according to The Independent, he elaborated: "I've got to know the people affected by crime ; and I've also spent time with the perpetrators of crime, with the idea of understanding the causes of it, both on a systemic level and a personal."
There had been rumours that Theroux was going to look into the rise of Donald Trump, however this does not seem to be the case.
The three documentaries are titled Murder in Milwaukee, Sex Trafficking Houston and Opiate City.
In Murder in Milwaukee, Theroux visits one if the poorest cities in the US during a time of heightened tensions between the police and the African-American community by following the story of two police shootings.
During his time there, Theroux will examine the two sides to the conflict. He visits the Milwaukee Police Department homicide team as they patrol District 5 were the homicide rate is 12 times the national average. He also meets families and social activists in the area.
In Sex Trafficking Houston, Theroux looks into an area notorious for human trafficking in North America. Theroux interviews different women working in the city's sex industry.
In the third and final documentary Opiate City, Theroux explores the world of drugs and addiction. Theroux travels to Huntington where 1 in 10 babies are said to be born addicted to opiates and where a fatal overdose rate is 13 times higher than the average in America. He follows the Appalachian community, which has a high spread of heroin use, as well as emergency services responding to overdose calls.
Dates have yet to be confirmed but the three episodes will be airing on BBC 2 later on this year.