Louis Theroux

Louis is an English broadcaster who is famous for gonzo style journalism. He currently works with BBC producing his well known documentaries and TV series.

His most recently won award is from the British Academy Television Awards where he won Richard Dimbleby Award for the Best Presenter.

Other awards and nominations include:

1996 Emmy Awards:

Nominated: Outstanding Informational Series for TV Nation

British Academy Television Awards 2001:

Won: Richard Dimbleby Award for the Best Presenter (Factual, Features and News) for Weird Weekends

2002 Royal Television Society:

Nominated: Best Presenter for When Louis Met…

British Academy Television Awards 2002:

Won: Richard Dimbleby Award for the Best Presenter (Factual, Features and News) for When Louis Met…

Nominated: Flaherty Documentary Award for When Louis Met the Hamiltons

Louis Theroux has his own website online (http://louistheroux.com/) this includes his own blog and information about the man himself. He states on the home page 'I am Louis Theroux and this is my virtual home' there are many different types of media on his website including images and animations. There is a page called Purchase and on this page it has list of some of the DVD's that are available to buy, you have the option to read what is in the possible purchase and then to buy his work... this is a clever way for him to make money and become more popular and successful. The other interesting part of his website is the forum where people can join his website and ask and answer questions.

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In class we started to watch a documentary called Louis and the Nazi's.

I took down notes about the techniques and conventions used to make the documentary more successful. I discovered that Louis and the Nazis was an expository type of documentary as well as reflexive and slightly participatory at the same time. He exposes a political issue whilst participating and giving his own narrative guidance, he gets involved and interview's the subjects himself in front of the character. In this documentary Louis goes round a few different groups of nazis and asks them personal stuff that sometimes can create a dangerous situation. The things he reveals to the audience are somewhat shocking to say the least. He is not afraid to dig deep even if it means hitting a nerve on one of his subjects, he often puts himself in some sort of danger by doing this but it is more exiting for the audience which is part of what makes his documentaries so successful. Below i found a short clip from youtube that is an extract of the documentary itself.

When Louis Met...
This series includes season 1 and season 2.
In season 1 Louis meets:
Jimmy Saville
Paul and Debbie
The Hamiltons

In season 2 Louis Meets:
Ann Widdecombe
Chris Eubank
Keith Harris
Max Clifford

This series follows louis meeting these famous people.. he goes into the lives of them and allows the audience to see what goes on in their lives.

'Ever wanted to ask your favourite celebrities the tough questions? Louis Theroux does just that in When Louis Met... as he follows the nation's most eccentric celebrities around asking them the tough personal questions'

This series has scored a range from 7.3-7.8 out of 10 by an average amount of votes. When Louis Met Jimmy is the favoured episode from both seasons. Here is an example of a review and a clip from the episode itself.

"Good subject, good chemistry, good documentary, 28 March 2002

Author: bob the moo from Birmingham, UK
Louis spends time with charity-working celebrity Jimmy Savile. He sees his homes and joins him on public appointments. Over breakfast, lunches, late nights and early mornings they get to know each other.

Like most of Louis characters, Jimmy is a bit of a character and a bit of a social misfit. We all know who he is but know little about him, what makes him tick or how he lives. Louis gets close enough to actually see beyond the character and expose areas of his life that he doesn't usually show. His relationship with his dead mother is strange – he calls her the Duchess and keeps all her clothes perfectly in her room.

Louis clearly gets attached to Jimmy and they do get on all right. Jimmy's character doesn't seem to be a character – he doesn't seem to have a guard up at all and lets Louis do anything he wants.

Overall this is one of Louis best – an interesting subject, a good chemistry and plenty of interesting tit-bits."