Louis Theroux

From comedy to docs, via reality TV: “With my writing partner from university, I was writing script-based comedy… we got close a few times to getting things away but it wasn’t quite working,” recalled Cary.

He landed a job as a runner at Endemol, working on BBC Three show Celebrity Scissorhands and then Big Brother: “I exploited every connection I had at Endemol and got a job at North One, which used to make a lot of Cutting Edge [documentaries] for Channel 4.”

The BBC Two documentary follows Theroux as he learns of the legality of the service and learns how social media and websites have fuelled new opportunities for the business of selling sex, making transactional sex more accessible to individuals who possibly wouldn’t have considered it previously.

The filmmaker will meet with people in the industry and explore the reasons behind their choice to sell sex, such as to supplement their income or make a living, potentially earning a lucrative income.

The Westboro Baptist Church, a controversial Christian ministry, are known for protesting and picketing high profile events, including military funerals and creating antagonistic homophobic placards.

Having been led by Pastor Fred Phelps, also known as ‘Gramps’ to the congregation, his death in 2014 led to extreme changes within the tight-knit family community.

In a time of Trump’s America, controversial statements are now commonplace and the relevance of the church has been brought into question, threatening to tear it apart.

In Louis Theroux’s Altered States, the documentary-maker will look at how changing social attitudes and radical new laws have transformed the way that Americans love, die and raise children.

“I was not a conventional presence,” says the documentary maker, who is now entering his 24th year in television with over 50 films under his belt.

His opportunity came in 1994, when he joined Michael Moore’s series TV Nation. “I went into the interview with Michael saying ‘I’ll do anything’ and I genuinely meant it: writing researching or doing anything.”

That is his first tip for tomorrow’s Therouxs: focus on making good TV.

Comedy: Curb Your Enthusiasm

Monday

Sky Atlantic, 10pm

Curb Your Enthusiasm is back after a six year absence. We last saw Larry David in Paris after being driven out of New York by his neighbour (Michael J. Fox) and the mayor. 

Now Larry is back in LA, where he manages to offend Jeff's (Oliver Hardy) barber and land himself in trouble over a new project. 

The latest documentary series from Louis Theroux will begin on BBC Two in early October.

The three new films will explore the damaging and destructive effects of murder, sex trafficking and opiate dependency in American cities.

Louis Theroux said: “I immerse myself in some of the most dysfunctional and disturbing aspects of American society. They combine hard-hitting actuality with intimate interviews.

The Trustees’ Award recognises an outstanding contribution to the craft of documentary making and has previously been awarded to greats such as Sir David Attenborough and John Battsek.

Theroux, who has been involved in documentary making for more than 20 years, has participated in some of America’s strangest pursuits and explored some of the most important subjects of the modern day, including transgender children and alcoholism.

Announcing the award, Chairman of the Grierson Trust, Lorraine Heggessey says: "Louis is a filmmaker who has effectively created his own genre."