Theroux curates iPlayer collection

2006 BBC Storyville doc Philip & His Seven Wives

Documentarian Louis Theroux is to curate a selection of factual films that have influenced his carrier for the BBC’s iPlayer VoD service.

Louis Theroux

In Louis Theroux: Docs That Made Me he will explain the reasons he selected the seven films featured, all of which will be made available on the BBC’s on-demand platform from today.

The collection showcases a variety of docs from the BBC archives dated between 1975 and 2016, exploring issues including alcoholism, the American criminal justice system and childhood delinquency.

The selection includes Fourteen Days in May, a death row doc from 1987, and 1975’s Inside Story: Mini, which follows an 11-year-old arsonist who twice attempted to burn down his parents’ house.

More recent offerings include 2006’s Storyville: Philip & His Seven Wives¸ which follows a Jewish antiques dealer who believes it is his biblical birthright to take as many wives as he chooses.

Theroux said: “It is an absolute privilege to be able to be part of sharing these wonderful, powerful documentaries. Each of them had an impact on me in a different way. They cover a range of styles – some vérité-driven, others told more through interview – but in all of them you see life at its most raw, its most strange and therefore its most human.”

Alison Kirkham, controller of BBC factual commissioning, said: “Louis is one of the nation’s best-loved documentary makers, and it’s a thrill to have him curate this selection of films for BBC iPlayer.

“We know that his work influences countless other documentary filmmakers, so it is fascinating to understand the films that have touched, moved and inspired Louis himself throughout his career.”