BBC Docuseries to Explore U.S. Hate Crimes

LONDON: On the heels of a weekend shooting spree that left 50 dead at an Orlando gay nightclub, the BBC has announced a three-part docuseries exploring U.S. hate crimes based on sexuality and race.

The series, which was commissioned before the attack, will air on BBC Three as Love and Hate Crime. The Top Hat Productions title will chronicle the murder of a transgender woman by her boyfriend, the killing of a gay man by his own boyfriend’s family and the involvement of two white teenage girls in a race hate killing.

Also commissioned is My Parent’s in Prison (working title) for BBC One, which will explore the diverse experiences and perspectives on losing a parent to the justice system. The hour-long documentary, made by True Vision, is due out in November.

BBC Two, meanwhile, will get Label11’s 6×60-minute series The Hospital: Life and Death in a Week (working title), about the complex decisions made every day in a hospital and how they impact patients and staff across departments, and the hour-long observational documentary Sir Chris Hoy: From Velodrome to Le Mans (working title), which tells the story of Britain’s most successful Olympic athlete of all time, Sir Chris Hoy.

The hour-long Surviving Aberfan lands on BBC Four. Developed by BBC Wales, the film tells the story of a 1966 avalanche of coal waste that crashed into a school in the titular village, killing 116 children and 28 adults.

Patrick Holland, BBC’s head of commissioning for documentaries, said: “The BBC Documentaries department has commissioned some brilliant films this year, from recent singles How To Die: Simon’s Choice, Abused: The Untold Story and Behind Closed Doors, to beautifully crafted series such as The Prosecutors and The Big C and Me. I want the BBC to be the place where the most exciting and acclaimed documentary filmmakers in the U.K. can come and do their very best work. The new series and singles we are announcing today use a range of filmmaking techniques offering unique and privileged access to some extraordinary stories. Whether engaging with big issues like the crisis in the NHS or the explosion of hate crimes in the U.S., these are films that will resonate powerfully with the concerns of the audience. Together with our New Directors initiative, these commissions are a clear indication of how we are putting authorship at the heart of our commissioning, and attest to the unique breadth and range of documentaries at the BBC.”