List of Louis Theroux documentaries

British television presenter Louis Theroux has presented a number of documentaries since 1998. His work includes studies of unusual and taboo subcultures, crime and the justice system, and celebrities. He also acted as a correspondent for the TV Nation documentary series.^[1]

Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends[]

Series 1 (1998)[]

#	Title	Broadcast	Synopsis
1.1	"Christianity"	15 January 1998	In Dallas, Theroux meets TV evangelists Marcus and Joni Lamb, and joins a group of hardline Christians called "The Family" as they visit the Deep Ellum entertainment district.
1.2	"UFOs"	22 January 1998	This episode follows several people who believe in UFOs. One of these is a man called Thor Templar, the self-titled "Lord Commander of the Earth Protectorate". He claims to have killed more than twenty aliens.
1.3	"Porn"	29 January 1998	This episode offers a look at very different sides of the porn industry, as Theroux interviews both male and female porn stars. He reveals the problems a lot of porn actors face, be it not getting a job in straight porn and therefore having to do gay porn, or not getting an erection when it is needed.
1.4	"Head for the Hills"	5 February 1998	In Idaho, Theroux meets military enthusiasts and right-wing patriots who are preparing for a global catastrophe, including trips to survivalists' store Safetrek and a mountain refuge for conspiracy theorists called Almost Heaven. Theroux also visits the Aryan Nation Church and helps to build a straw-bale home. The episode focuses on the survivalism movement and communities formed around it. That several self-proclaimed survivalists were also hippies and environmentalists is a recurring theme.
1.5	Louis Theroux's Weird Christmas	23 December 1998	Theroux invites someone from each of the four episodes of series 1 to New York for Christmas.

Series 2 (1999)[]

#	Title	Broadcast	Synopsis
2.1	"Infomercials"	12 May 1999	Theroux attempts to become a presenter on Florida's Home Shopping Network TV channel and meets Anthony Sullivan. He also meets people who invent, sell and make a fortune from products such as the Win Gym.
2.2	"Swingers"	26 May 1999	Theroux meets a couple from Southern California who host swinging parties. He visits one of these to find out what drives couples to want to swap partners. This programme also offers a brief look into other kinds of swinging through an organisation that has a database of members that are rated on a scale of 1 to 10. Under this system, people rated highly are invited to exclusive parties intended to keep out unattractive, socially awkward, or otherwise undesirable people.
2.3	"Black Nationalism"	2 June 1999	American black nationalist groups have been branded anti-Semitic, homophobic, misogynist and racist by the mainstream press. Theroux goes to Harlem in New York to meet its proponents, and meets the Reverend Al Sharpton, the main point of contact in the black nationalist movement. Theroux also meets Khalid Abdul Muhammad, dubbed by the media 'the most dangerous man in America' and visits the Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge, who believe that blacks are the true Israelites and that all English monarchs until early modern times were black. Theroux also joins Al Sharpton on a march on Wall Street to protest at the shooting by New York police of Amadou Diallo, who was shot 19 times.
2.4	"Demolition Derby"	9 June 1999	Theroux has to overcome his nerves to enter a demolition derby in car-mad Michigan.
2.5	"Off-Off Broadway"	15 June 1999	Theroux meets the hordes of out-of-work actors in New York as they try to land a part – and even goes on an audition himself – for a job on a Norwegian cruise ship, in front of Craig Revel Horwood.
2.6	"Wrestling"	6 July 1999	Theroux takes a look at different types of wrestling from the high-profile WCW to low-profile amateurs organizing events in their spare time. He also visits the WCW Power Plant, a training facility where some of the WCW wrestlers started out. The training he receives there from DeWayne Bruce shows him that some wrestlers will not break kayfabe (the illusion of fiction being fact) and will take exception when their profession's authenticity is questioned.

Series 3 (2000)[]

#	Title	Broadcast	Synopsis
3.1	"Self-Fulfillment"	25 September 2000	Theroux meets a Las Vegas hypnotist who claims he can make dreams come true and meets a California man who teaches chat-up techniques.
3.2	"India: Enlightenment"	2 October 2000	Theroux travels to India to witness Westerners seeking enlightenment. In Goa he meets 57-year-old American astrologer (and former psychology professor) "Deepak" who studies meditation. He moves on to meet Mike, who is a follower of Swami Ganapathi Sachchidananda, and Amma who claims spiritual powers through hugging people. He joins Amma on a pilgrimage with 400 believers on their three-month tour of India.
3.3	"Whites"	9 October 2000	Theroux meets Afrikaner separatists who dream of building cultural enclaves in post-apartheid South Africa, including leader Eugène Terre'Blanche.
3.4	"Body Building"	16 October 2000	Theroux travels to California, home of the body beautiful, to see if he can join the world of extreme body building. After working out with Guy Grundy, a leading amateur, he soon realises he is not cut out to be a muscle man and goes off in search of another role in the bodybuilding world. Theroux travels to Charles Peeple's farm in Connecticut, where Peeple has transformed his farm into a playboy mansion for female body builders. While here, Theroux gets a part in a female muscle film being made at the farm.
3.5	"Looking for Love"	23 October 2000	Theroux visits a Bangkok marriage agency where Western men meet Thai brides.
3.6	"Rap"	30 October 2000	Theroux travels to America's South to have a look at the gangsta rap scene known as the "Dirty South". He starts his own Gangsta rap, having a CD cover designed for him as well as getting the rappers Reece and Bigelow to write a song for him to perform on a rap radio show. Other parts include him interviewing pimp turned rapper Mello T, as well as rap superstar Master P.

When Louis Met...[]

Series 1 (2000–2001)[]

#	Title	Broadcast	Synopsis
1.1	When Louis Met Jimmy	13 April 2000	Theroux visits his former childhood hero—73-year-old Jimmy Savile, the miner who became a TV and radio star. Theroux also talks briefly about the allegations of paedophilia against Savile before the Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal broke after his death.
1.2	When Louis Met Paul and Debbie	20 February 2001	Theroux joins Paul Daniels and Debbie McGee in their home beside the River Thames and on the road as the magician appears on Celebrity Ready, Steady, Cook and his wife launches a ballet company.
1.3	When Louis Met the Hamiltons	11 December 2001	Theroux follows the former Tory MP Neil Hamilton and his wife Christine Hamilton as they try to make a living as "objects of curiosity". The film features Theroux on the sofa with a tipsy Christine, and follows the pair when they are arrested over an alleged sexual scandal (both were later cleared).

Series 2 (2002)[]

#	Title	Broadcast	Synopsis
2.1	When Louis Met Ann Widdecombe	5 March 2002	A prickly encounter with the Conservative politician Ann Widdecombe, in which Theroux upsets her by asking about her possibly non-existent sex life and hears about her love of poetry and cats.
2.2	When Louis Met Chris Eubank	12 March 2002	Theroux joins the ex-boxer Chris Eubank at home, in the ring and on a trip to buy jodhpurs. Eubank attempts a tongue twister and pontificates on being a role model for children.
2.3	When Louis Met Keith Harris and Orville in Panto	19 March 2002	Theroux meets the ventriloquist Keith Harris who no longer enjoys the TV light entertainment limelight but is still earning a good living. He has a flashy car, an ex-model partner, a large home and a role in Crewe's pantomime.
2.4	When Louis Met Max Clifford	26 March 2002	Theroux meets publicist Max Clifford as he handles Pop Idol judge Simon Cowell and child star Declan Galbraith and organises a charity event involving Westlife.
2.5	Living with Louis	2002 on UK Horizons	Produced exclusively for pay TV channel UK Horizons. Jimmy, Paul and Debbie, The Hamiltons, Chris Eubank and Keith Harris talk about being interviewed by Theroux. Theroux also discusses how he felt those four shows went and what the subjects were like to spend time with. The show is interspersed with clips from the shows.

BBC Two specials[]

One-off episodes[]

#	Title	Broadcast	Synopsis
1	Louis and the Brothel	9 November 2003	Ex-prostitute Susan Austin and her ex-client and now husband, Lance Gilman, run America's newest legal brothel – The Wild Horse Ranch in Reno, Nevada. In a three-week sojourn, Theroux gets to know the couple and meets their customers. He also hears the stories of the working women.
2	Louis, Martin & Michael	16 November 2003	After losing out to Martin Bashir for an opportunity to produce an official Michael Jackson documentary, Theroux tries unsuccessfully to obtain an interview with Jackson. In the process, he meets with Uri Geller and Michael's father Joe Jackson.
3	Louis and the Nazis	21 December 2003	Theroux travels to California to get to know some of the key personalities of the American neo-Nazi movement.
4	Louis Theroux: Gambling in Las Vegas	4 February 2007	Theroux heads for Las Vegas to reveal the world of casino culture – the so-called "slot slaves", high rollers and casino men live and work in the city.
5	The Most Hated Family in America	1 April 2007	Theroux gets to know the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas – whose members are nearly all from one family and are known for extreme homophobia and picketing the funerals of fallen soldiers.
6	Louis Theroux: Under the Knife	7 October 2007	In California, Theroux investigates extreme plastic surgery.
7	Louis Theroux: Behind Bars	13 January 2008	Theroux goes inside California's San Quentin – one of America's most notorious prisons – to meet serial murderers, gang members, at risk inmates and guards.
8	African Hunting Holiday	6 April 2008	Theroux journeys to Limpopo Province in South Africa to join the holidaymakers who flock there to hunt big game.
9	Law and Disorder in Philadelphia	30 November 2008	Theroux joins Philadelphia's police department, patrolling an area that has over 400 homicides a year, drug dealers on every corner and where carrying a gun is part of everyday life.
10	Law and Disorder in Johannesburg	7 December 2008	Theroux travels to Johannesburg, where the residents find themselves increasingly besieged by crime.
11	A Place for Paedophiles	19 April 2009	Theroux visits the Coalinga Mental Hospital in California, which houses more than 500 convicted child sex offenders. Spending time with those undergoing treatment, Theroux wrestles with whether he can ever allow himself to believe men whose whole history is defined by deception and deceit.
12	The City Addicted to Crystal Meth	9 August 2009	Theroux examines how drug addiction has torn apart the city of Fresno in Central Valley, California.
13	America's Medicated Kids	18 April 2010	Theroux meets parents who have turned to medication to keep their children under control.
14	Law and Disorder in Lagos	10 October 2010	Theroux travels to Lagos and investigates crime in that city.
15	The Ultra Zionists	3 February 2011	Theroux spends time with a group of ultra-nationalist Jewish settlers in the West Bank.
16	America's Most Hated Family in Crisis	3 April 2011	Four years after his last visit, Theroux returns to spend a week with the Westboro Baptist Church in the wake of several defections from the church.
17	Miami Mega Jail Part 1	22 May 2011	Theroux spends time in one of the most notorious sections of Miami County Jail: the fifth and sixth floor of 'Main Jail', where many of the most volatile inmates are incarcerated.
18	Miami Mega Jail Part 2	29 May 2011	Theroux goes deeper into the jail system and meets an inmate facing a possible death sentence. He also follows a group of younger inmates who have escaped prison by pleading guilty and agreeing to attend a four-month military style boot camp.
19	America's Most Dangerous Pets	30 October 2011	Travelling to America's heartlands, Theroux spends time with an Oklahoma man (the now infamous Joe Exotic) who has bred and collected over 150 tigers, visits the woman who privately owns one of America's largest collections of chimpanzees, and finds himself in uncomfortably close contact with a number of big cats and dangerous primates.
20	Extreme Love: Autism	19 April 2012	Theroux travels to one of the most innovative autism schools of its kind – the DLC Warren in New Jersey – opened in 2007 at a cost of $54 million. There he finds out how specialised intervention can help both the children and the families that care for them.
21	Extreme Love: Dementia	26 April 2012	As one of the big retirement destinations for middle class Americans, Phoenix, Arizona has also become a capital of dementia care. Theroux visits the city in order to spend time in state-of-the-art care home Beatitudes and with home-based carers, whose love is tested by a condition that steadily erodes the personality and character of their partners.
22	Twilight of the Porn Stars	10 June 2012	Fifteen years after documenting the world of male porn performers in Los Angeles, Theroux returns to find a business struggling with the deluge of free porn online.
23	By Reason of Insanity Part 1	22 March 2015	Theroux immerses himself in the world of Ohio's State Psychiatric Hospitals, meeting patients who have committed crimes - at times horrifically violent - while in the grip of severe mental illness.
24	By Reason of Insanity Part 2	29 March 2015
25	Transgender Kids	5 April 2015	Theroux travels to a hospital in San Francisco to meet transgender children and their families, as they undergo life-changing treatment.
26	Drinking to Oblivion	24 April 2016	Theroux spends time at King's College Hospital in London where he immerses himself in the lives of patients in the grips of alcohol addiction and the medical staff trying to make them better.
27	A Different Brain	15 May 2016	Theroux takes a look at the issues experienced by people living with long-term brain injuries.
28	Savile	2 October 2016	Theroux tries to understand how Jimmy Savile managed to get away with his crimes, in a follow up to his 2000 documentary "When Louis Met Jimmy".
29	Talking to Anorexia	29 October 2017	Theroux spends time in two of London's largest eating disorder facilities to meet women with anorexia - an illness with the highest death rate of any psychiatric disorder.
30	The Night in Question	4 March 2019	Theroux heads to US college campuses and comes face-to-face with students accused of sexual assault.
31	Mothers on the Edge	12 May 2019	Theroux returns to the UK to spend time in specialist psychiatric units which treat mothers experiencing serious mental illness whilst allowing them to live alongside their babies.
32	Surviving America's Most Hated Family	14 July 2019	Theroux returns to visit the controversial Westboro Baptist Church, investigating what effect the death of its founder has had on its members and those who have since left.
33	Selling Sex	12 January 2020	Theroux meets the women legally providing sexual services to paying clients.
34	Shooting Joe Exotic	5 April 2021	A decade on, Theroux revisits Joe Exotic - 'gay hillbilly', convicted felon and cult figure. He digs deep into Joe's background, meets Carole Baskin and asks what made the Tiger King.

LA Stories[]

#	Title	Broadcast	Synopsis
1	LA Stories: City of Dogs	23 March 2014	Theroux enters the world of Los Angeles's dogs, meeting the characters whose lives revolve around the city's huge canine population.
2	LA Stories: Edge of Life	30 March 2014	Theroux heads to West Hollywood's Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to experience the American way of death.
3	LA Stories: Among the Sex Offenders	6 April 2014	Theroux looks at how California deals with sex offenders after release from prison.

Dark States[]

#	Title	Broadcast	Synopsis
1	Heroin Town	8 October 2017	Theroux looks at America's love affair with prescription painkillers that has led to a widespread dependency on opiates.
2	Sex Trafficking in Houston	15 October 2017	Investigating sex workers and their pimps, Theroux uncovers the dark underbelly of Houston, Texas.
3	Murder in Milwaukee	22 October 2017	Theroux spends time with the Milwaukee Police Department as they try to tackle the high rate of homicide and meets the residents affected by gun crime.

Altered States[]

#	Title	Broadcast	Synopsis
1	Love Without Limits	4 November 2018	Theroux travels to Portland, Oregon, to meet people engaging in polyamorous relationships.
2	Choosing Death	18 November 2018	An investigation into California and Oregon's right to die laws for terminally ill people and those who are in pain but are not terminally ill.
3	Take My Baby	25 November 2018	Theroux meets American women who cannot or will not keep their new-born baby and seek to find new parents from an adoption agency.

Life on the Edge[]

Life on the Edge is a series released during the social distancing restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK in 2020. It follows Theroux, in his home, discussing the content and making of many of his past documentaries, including Weird Weekends, interspersed with clips and interviews with participants.

#	Title	Broadcast	Synopsis
1	Beyond Belief	6 September 2020	The first episode talks about Louis and the Nazis, and early Weird Weekends episodes UFOs and Survivalists. Theroux interviews survivalist Mike Cain, and former Nazis Lamb and Lynx from Prussian Blue.
2	The Dark Side of Pleasure	13 September 2020
3	Law and Disorder	20 September 2020
4	Family Ties	27 September 2020

My Scientology Movie[]

A documentary film about Scientology in which Theroux teams up with former senior church official Mark Rathbun, the film takes an unconventional approach, after the Church of Scientology refused to cooperate in its making. It features actors "auditioning" for parts playing high-profile Scientologists in scenes recreating accounts from ex-members about incidents involving senior church management. Initially released on 7 October 2016 in the UK, and 3 March 2017 in the US.

References[]

External links[]

• Louis Theroux’s Shows and Books on Louis Theroux's official website
• List of Louis Theroux documentaries at IMDb