The Polygamist comes to Channel 4

The Polygamist comes to Channel 4

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Tuesday, 23rd August 2016
The Foster family appear in Channel 4's documentary The Polygamist (credit: Channel 4)

Channel 4 Documentaries have commissioned a brand new series exploring the lives of a community of Fundamentalist Mormons based in the Utah desert

The Polygamist (w/t) takes a peak at the daily rituals and practices of 15 families living in a small township, whose homes are carved into the face of a vast sandstone rock and where more than half of residents are involved in 'plural marriages'.

The four-part series is produced by KEO Films, who made the refugee documentary The Exodus: Our Journey To Europe for BBC2 and current Channel 4 reality show Eden

Polygamy is currently illegal in the state of Utah, and was renounced by the mainstream Mormon Church 130 years ago, but advocates say that the law violates their right to privacy and infringes their religious freedom.

Channel 4 has been given exclusive access to the Utah community for 12 months, in order to portray a balanced view of the beliefs and habits of the Mormon group and reveal how they manage the intrigue and attitudes of the outside world.

In 2014 Channel 4 released Meet the Mormons which followed the travels of a young British missionary sent to Leeds to convert the locals. Though the mission proved largely unsuccessful, the programme was deemed a fair representation of the divisive religious sect. 

In a press release for The Polygamist, the broadcaster said: "at a time when the entire concept of a traditional nuclear family is being redefined, this series will ask if there's anything we can learn from plural marriage."

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Channel 4 Documentaries have commissioned a brand new series exploring the lives of a community of Fundamentalist Mormons based in the Utah desert