BBC investigates Howard Marks, Knowsley riots & pandemic in order for factual trio

Mobeen Azhar (Sourcer: BBC)

UK public broadcaster the BBC has commissioned a trio of new documentary titles, including two series and one film.

A co-commission with BBC Cymru Wales, Hunting Mr Nice from Passion Pictures and Welsh indie Kailash Films tells the story of notorious cannabis smuggler Howard Marks AKA ‘Mr Nice’. The 2 x 60-minute series for BBC Two and iPlayer features unique access to members of his criminal inner circle as well as to the DEA agents and police who devoted their lives to bringing him to justice.

Meanwhile, journalist Mobeen Azhar presents new two-part series Our Town: The Day That Ended In A Riot for BBC Three and iPlayer. Produced by Forest, the series explores community concerns around the housing of asylum seekers, and how a peaceful protest outside a hotel in Knowsley in February 2023 became violent.

Also from Forest, the 1 x 60-minute documentary film Our Pandemic, directed by Catey Sexton, will tell the story of the pandemic from a deeply personal standpoint, that of the bereaved whose loved ones died of covid.

Clare Sillery, BBC head of commissioning, documentaries, said: “Documentaries at the BBC are in fantastic shape, bringing broad audiences to distinctive, high impact content, from the recent Sarah Everard: The Hunt For Justice and The Miners’ Strike: A Frontline Story to the award-winning Once Upon A Time in Northern Ireland.”