Prized Apart and Release The Hounds host Reggie Yates moved into very different territory with this look at the dark side of Russia.
Sundog for BBC Three
Prized Apart and Release The Hounds host Reggie Yates moved into very different territory with this look at the dark side of Russia. He visited three different communities to see how young people in the country are coping 24 years after the fall of the Soviet Union.
Yates focused on the far right of Russian youth politics, meeting a notorious neo-Nazi leader, and was racially abused on a march attended by 30,000 neofascist protestors. In subsequent episodes, he explored homophobia within certain groups and the issue of underage Russian supermodels.
The three-part doc, produced by Sam Branson’s indie Sundog, performed well for BBC Three, scoring an above-slot-average live series average of 468,000 (2%). The series was repeated on BBC One and, including iPlayer streaming, each episode averaged a consolidated audience of more than 2 million, according to the broadcaster.
One judge said the series was “engaging and informative”, adding: “It was an extremely brave journey from Reggie Yates.” Another said the documentary was “memorable and insightful” and “made current affairs accessible”.
Extreme Russia, which was commissioned by former BBC Three channel editor Sam Bickley, was followed up by a three-part series set in the UK, in which Yates investigated the impact of male body culture on young men.
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