Louis Theroux has written, produced, and directed numerous documentary series and films over his career. He is best known for his participatory documentary style, where he fully immerses himself in the subjects and situations. Some of his most notable works include his contributions to the TV series TV Nation in the 1990s, the series Weird Weekends which explored unusual communities across three seasons, and individual documentaries such as When Louis Met... and Louis and the Nazis where he interacted directly with his subjects.
2. Basics
• He has Written 41 TV series and standalone documentaries, this does include
the parts that he wrote for TV Nation
• He produced 26 of these series and documentaries
• He directed one of them and acted in one of them
3. TV Nation
• He took part in 10 episodes of the 17
that were created.
• He contributed to this in a couple of
ways. His more notable segments were
on Jerusalem Syndrome and how the Ku
Klux Klan attempted to rebrand
themselves as a civil rights group.
• On the right is a list of all the TV
Nation episodes that he took part in as a
correspondent
• Episode #2.6 (1995) ... Himself - Correspondent
• Canada Night (1995) ... Himself - Correspondent
• War Night (1995) ... Himself - Correspondent
• Payback Night (1995) ... Himself - Correspondent
• We’re #1 (1995) ... Himself - Correspondent
• 1994 Year End Special (1994) ... Himself - Correspondent
• TV Nation Day (1994) ... Himself - Correspondent
• Production Placement Night (1994) ... Himself - Correspondent
• Episode #1.4 (1994) ... Himself - Correspondent
• Episode #1.2 (1994) ... Himself - Correspondent
4. TV Nation
This video talks about the
issues surrounding Jerusalem
Syndrome and what people are
feeling when they have it.
This video talks all about the KKK
who are trying to reimage
themselves in the eyes of the public
and trying to make their
organisation less secret. (This video
does contain rude words and
racism)
5. Weird Weekends
• This is a television series that is mainly set in the United States, but when we
get to season 3 he visits a few other places such as: India, South Africa and
Thailand.
• These could be seen as a participatory documentary mode as Theroux is
getting involved with everything that is going on, whether it be events or
rituals.
• There are a total of 17 episodes split across three seasons.
6. Weird Weekends
This extract is an example of one of the
episodes that he did when he went to meet the
people who believed that aliens and UFOs
existed
This extract demonstrates an example when
Theroux is getting involved with people as he had
a rap battle with someone over the radio.
7. Other Works
• He has also done many other shows and TV Movie documentaries:
• When Louis Met … is one of his more famous works as he met the likes of Jimmy
Saville, Chris Eubank, and Ann Widdecombe. There is also a magician and his wife
who is his assistant
• Louis and the Nazis is another famous documentary that he created where he went to
meet Tom Metzger, a man considered to be “the most dangerous racist in America”
• He has also done many different other works but these could be considered to be some
of his most famous.
8. Other Works
This extract is from When Louis Met the Hamilton’s.
It is interesting because we se him sitting around
the table with them getting involved with the
conversations.
This is an extract from Louis and the Nazis, where
Theroux is talking about how a Neo-Nazi came
up to him believing that he was Jewish and what
happened in that situation.
