Louis Theroux is returning to the West Bank for his latest documentary.
In a BBC show titled Louis Theroux: The Settlers, the documentarian will travel to the disputed territory 15 years on from his doc The Ultra-Zionists.
There, he will meet some of the large and growing ultra-nationalist community of Israeli settlers. The settlements are held to be illegal under international law yet they have been protected by the army, the police, and the Israeli government for years. Since the devastating Hamas‘ attack on Israel on October 7 when 1,200 Israelis were killed and circa-250 kidnapped, the settlers have been emboldened to expand their areas of control by pursuing a campaign of violence and forced expulsion against local Palestinian communities.
The BBC said Theroux will “embed himself in the West Bank,” meeting prominent settlers and travelling around the territory in a similar vein to much of his previous work. His indie, Mindhouse, is producing. This is the second time he has traveled to the West Bank for a BBC doc, following 2010’s The Ultra-Zionists that examined the Israeli settler community. Theroux often returns to his doc subjects several years on.
“Since [2010], those same extreme settlers are even more emboldened,” said Theroux. “I’m interested in ideologues and fundamentalists of all stripes. In going back to the West Bank, I wanted to see settler expansionism up close, and the human cost it entails. It’s a story specific to a time and a place and a region, but it’s also a universal insight into tribalism and the ways in which we can blind ourselves to the humanity of those around us.”
Theroux recently dropped the fourth season of his podcast with guests Armie Hammer, Jade Thirlwall, Sharon Horgan and Jamie Oliver, while other recent TV shows include Sky’s Darts Lings and Lockerbie, and the BBC’s Boybands Forever.
Louis Theroux: The Settlers was commissioned by Clare Sillery, Head of Documentary Commissioning, with Fran Baker as commissioning editor. The director is Josh Baker, the senior producer is Sara Obeidat and the producer is Matan Cohen, the production manager is Emily Wallace and the EPs are Fiona Stourton and Arron Fellows. Global sales will be handled by BBC Studios Distribution.
Hamas has slowly been returning the remaining hostages who are still alive to Israel over the past few weeks and Gazans have been returning home.
