After watching Ross Kemp make the move from his “Grant Mitchell”, soap opera starring role, to cutting edge documentarian in his Sky One Bafta award winning program “Ross Kemp on Gangs” I was eager to see what he would do next. In the “on Gangs” series he travelled far and wide trying to get up close and personal with some of the worlds scariest gangs. He spent time with Nazi skinhead gangs in Orange County, USA and Russia, he visited different prison gangs across the world and often interviewed the leaders of these organisations, not once getting flustered by their aggression or rhetoric.
In the “in Afghanistan” series he follows British troops from the 1st Anglian Regiment on their tour of Helmand province in Afghanistan, where they are in some of the “worst fighting encountered by the British Forces in over 40 years”. He goes out on patrol with the FSG (Fire Support Group) and also on the front line with infantrymen.
One of the main things, apart from the fighting, is the disregard the British press have in their handing of the “friendly fire” accident which killed 4 members of the regiment, in the series they show helmet cam footage of this. The men Ross interviews think its horrid how the press used this story to scapegoat the Americans and sell more papers, without any thought for the families and friends involved.
This is one of the best documentaries I have seen in a long time, whereas others deal with the politics behind the war this shows us what its like day in day out to be on the front line in a modern war. If “on Gangs” got a Bafta for showing us gangster scum then “in Afghanistan” deserves 10 Bafta’s for documenting these “ordinary people doing an extraordinary job”.
CLICK HERE, or head on over to http://www.tvokay.com to stream / download the episodes. You could even search for them through your favourite torrent site.
Unless you have been living under some kind of rock, in a none wi-fi enabled area, then I’m guessing you’ve heard of “Flight Of The Conchords”. These New Zealand funny men are responsible for making the most drink-spurting-out-of-my-nose hilarious stand-up and series Ive seen since Peter Kays “Live At The Top Of The Tower” and “Phoenix Nights”.