| When Louis Met... | |
|---|---|
Title card from When Louis Met...Keith Harris & Orville in Panto |
|
| Format | Documentary |
| Starring | Louis Theroux |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 7 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC Two |
| Picture format | 16:9 |
| Original run | 13 April 2000 – 26 March 2002 |
When Louis Met... is a series of documentary films made by BAFTA award-winning film-maker Louis Theroux. The series was originally aired on BBC2 from 2000 to 2002.
In the series, Theroux accompanied a different British celebrity in each programme as they went about their day-to-day business, interviewing them about their lives and experiences as he did so. His episode about the DJ and charity fund-raiser Sir Jimmy Savile (When Louis Met...Jimmy) was voted one of the top fifty documentaries of all time in a survey by Britain's Channel Four. In another episode ("When Louis Met...The Hamiltons"), the disgraced Tory MP Neil Hamilton and his wife Christine were arrested following false allegations of indecent assault during the course of filming.
The show did not return for a third series, Theroux admitted that he had difficulty in finding people to appear.[1]
Contents |
| # | Title | Broadcast | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.1 | "When Louis Met...Jimmy" | 13 April 2000 | Louis visits his childhood hero – 73-year-old Sir Jimmy Savile OBE, the miner who became a TV and radio star. |
| 1.2 | "When Louis Met...Paul and Debbie" | 20 February 2001 | Louis 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 | Louis 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 Louis on the sofa with a tipsy Christine, and follows the pair when they are arrested over an alleged sexual scandal (both were later cleared). |
| # | Title | Broadcast | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | "When Louis Met...Ann Widdecombe" | 5 March 2002 | A prickly encounter with the Conservative politician in which Louis 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 | Louis joins the ex-boxer 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 & Orville in Panto" | 19 March 2002 | Louis meets the ventriloquist who no longer enjoys the TV light entertainment limelight (and can't hide his bitterness about that) 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 | Louis meets the PR guru/media manipulator as he handles Pop Idol judge Simon Cowell and child star Declan Galbraith and organises a charity do involving Westlife. |
| 2.5 | "Living with Louis" | Unknown | Jimmy, Paul and Debbie, The Hamiltons, Chris Eubank and Keith Harris talk about being interviewed by Louis Theroux. Louis also provides insight into how he felt those four shows went and what those people were like to spend time with. The show is interspersed with clips from the shows. |
Winner - 2002 BAFTA TV Award - Richard Dimbleby Award for the Best Presenter (Factual, Features and News) - For the "When Louis Met..." series of films.
Nominated - 2002 Flaherty Documentary Award - For "When Louis Met...The Hamiltons"
"When Louis Met... Jimmy" was voted number 50 in Channel 4's 2005 poll of the 50 greatest documentaries.
When Louis Met... has been released on PAL DVD in a number of best-of sets. Originally, Vol.1/Vol.2 and Vol.3/Vol.4 were released as two disc sets, before being split. Later the 4 volumes were released as a limited edition box set.