Documentaries you've seen you still think about to this day

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Glad to hear its not just me that gets so emotionally invested in these shows!
I've got a few, there was a woman on Holbeck red light district show who was really nice, she kept animals and someone killed them all and she wanted to be a masseuse but her boyfriend was never that nice to her. There was also a couple who were on one of those series about poverty - i think it was the grimsby or scunthorpe one? Anyway they went joyriding after filming and the girl ended up totally paralysed. I remember being so shocked by that. Also watched one about a woman who was having to prostitute to feed her children and she had a teenage daughter who was talking to the camera about how she worries that her mum will be killed by a punter etc. It was so sad. It really annoys me that people don't see that this is the reality of poverty.
Also I watched a documentary years ago about the witch children in Africa and that was just awful 😔
 
All the cast of the 7 Up documentaries- think this concept for a docuseries is/was absolutely brilliant.
The kids from Educating Yorkshire (2013 I think)- they’d have all left school by now and I wonder if they managed to get jobs/ further education etc?
Bit of a light hearted one but there was a reality show on T4 in 2001 called Model Behaviour and one of its main stars was a pretty young girl who was trying to be a model from a poor background- she could barely read and write (when they gave her her contract she could barely write her name), never really travelled outside her own city and was overwhelmed when they sent her to Ireland as it was her first time on a plane. I’d love to know if she made it big.
 
HockyRorror said:
They were/are very wealthy, I believe the husband was a property developer. There’s an update here on what they are doing now running a food company/restaurant (back in the UK 😉): https://elianesmiles.com/our-story/



That second one sounds scary, I just read up on it 😱😱 There are loads of people online asking where they can find the episode to watch and one person said the woman threw a fit and ordered all copies of it to be destroyed and not allowed to be uploaded online anywhere 😬

I found an update from March 2020 for your first doc:

www.ipswichstar.co.uk

Inspiring Terri Calvesbert, who suffered 90 burns as a child, reveals wedding plans

Brave Terri Calvesbert, who suffered 90 burns as a baby after a fire broke out at her Ipswich home, will be marrying her “best friend and…
www.ipswichstar.co.uk www.ipswichstar.co.uk
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Thanks for this, I think that’s actually one of the other episodes where another family went to the Himalayas and all sorts but still interesting to see what they are up to now!

I did some digging last night and looks like the people I was referring to are also back now though -https://www.islandlifemagazine.co.uk/around-the-world-hardly-your-normal-family-holiday/
 
There was a Channel 5 doc on shoplifters, I knew one of the people who appeared on there as it was filmed in our local area. He and his partner had 5 children between them and before the doc had been filmed I knew all the kids had been removed from their care. Both parents were also well-known substance abusers. Sadly, I’ve heard the children were split up, with some living with extended family, and the others going into the care system. Although the kids weren’t featured or mentioned, it’s them I think about as I sometimes see them around the area and really hope they’re living a good life!
As for the parents, they have split, and both spent short stints in prison.
 
I used to live in the same town as a young man who was on both "The World's Strictest Parents" and in a police documentary I watched - can't remember the name but he'd been arrested for drunken behaviour and taken into custody which they caught on camera. The first time I saw him out and about I couldn't place why he looked so familiar, it only dawned on me later but while I lived there I would spot him in different places

There was an episode of "Snog, Marry, Avoid" I watched as a teen where a goth couple got a makeover, one of whom was an 18-year-old girl and they were already married. I often wondered what had happened to her as she reminded me somewhat of a girl in my class at school who had married at the same age. I found her on YouTube a while back, she's in her 20s now and divorced, still a goth
 
Brilliant thread, thanks!

I was very humbled by a documentary of a young girl who had a terrible skin condition (something like Harlequin disease) like terrible, terrible excema, and it took her mum ages after every bath and throughout the day to put cream on her everywhere and make her comfortable. I used to moan about putting my two kids in the bath, etc but seeing that documentary, I never took for granted again how lucky I was to have two kids who got out of the bath, dried and straight into PJs. I often think of her and wonder how she's getting on.

Children living in poverty and counting what cash they had for the week with their parents broke my heart.

 
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Lolarose19 said:
Alex life fast forward has always stayed with me.
Also dreams of a life about Joyce Vincent. She died in her flat but her remains were not discovered until three years later. Her heating and her television were still on and she had been wrapping Christmas presents when she died. Yet nobody realised
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I often think about Joyce Vincent, and rewatch that when I want her cry. The contrast between how her ex lights up when speaking about his memories of her, and crumples at the thoughts of her loss.
 
Officedoor123 said:
Brilliant thread, thanks!

I was very humbled by a documentary of a young girl who had a terrible skin condition (something like Harlequin disease) like terrible, terrible excema, and it took her mum ages after every bath and throughout the day to put cream on her everywhere and make her comfortable. I used to moan about putting my two kids in the bath, etc but seeing that documentary, I never took for granted again how lucky I was to have two kids who got out of the bath, dried and straight into PJs. I often think of her and wonder how she's getting on.

Children living in poverty and counting what cash they had for the week with their parents broke my heart.
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I remember that girl too. She had to have like 5 baths a day didn't she, and constantly apply the cream. Must have been awful.
 
Reminded of another one: There was a BBC3 series called "My Big Decision" which was about teenage girls deciding whether they should (for instance) binge drink, have underage sex, or get plastic surgery. One of them was a young Black girl desperate to have breast implants as soon as she was old enough, she was currently only 12-13 years old. It was obvious she had very serious self-esteem problems and during the episode was taken to various activities designed to help her feel better about her mixed race identity which seemed to be the core of her problems. I had similar issues as a kid (I'm not Black but mixed white and East Asian) and still sometimes think about that episode, I hope she grew up to have a better view of herself
 
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Johnny Kennedy and his documentary "The Boy Who's Skin Fell Off"

It documented the last few months of his life, from choosing his coffin, to moving out of his parents house into his own place, and raising awareness and money for his condition.

He was such a brave, honest and funny man. I always would think of him whenever I hear Queen's Don't Stop Me Now, which was played at his funeral.

I rewatched it again a few months ago. Still powerful TV.
 
Miss Demeanour said:
Johnny Kennedy and his documentary "The Boy Who's Skin Fell Off"

It documented the last few months of his life, from choosing his coffin, to moving out of his parents house into his own place, and raising awareness and money for his condition.

He was such a brave, honest and funny man. I always would think of him whenever I hear Queen's Don't Stop Me Now, which was played at his funeral.

I rewatched it again a few months ago. Still powerful TV.
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I watched that a few months ago too, probably the same time as you did. But I didn’t realise it was a repeat, and from so long ago as well. It was very sad. He was so brave.
 
Miss Demeanour said:
Johnny Kennedy and his documentary "The Boy Who's Skin Fell Off"

It documented the last few months of his life, from choosing his coffin, to moving out of his parents house into his own place, and raising awareness and money for his condition.

He was such a brave, honest and funny man. I always would think of him whenever I hear Queen's Don't Stop Me Now, which was played at his funeral.

I rewatched it again a few months ago. Still powerful TV.
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I was just about to come on here to post this! Oh gosh, I just SOBBED watching that.
 
Miss Demeanour said:
Johnny Kennedy and his documentary "The Boy Who's Skin Fell Off"

It documented the last few months of his life, from choosing his coffin, to moving out of his parents house into his own place, and raising awareness and money for his condition.

He was such a brave, honest and funny man. I always would think of him whenever I hear Queen's Don't Stop Me Now, which was played at his funeral.

I rewatched it again a few months ago. Still powerful TV.
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This was the first person I thought of when I read the title. He was such a funny upbeat guy considering what he was going through.
 
Prgirl_cesca said:
I was just about to come on here to post this! Oh gosh, I just SOBBED watching that.
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Me too. Like a baby. I just couldn't imagine how much suffering he had to contend with day in, day out.

But I also laughed, as Johnny had the wickedest of wit and that cheeky glint in his eye.

He was a true inspiration.

HockyRorror said:
I watched that a few months ago too, probably the same time as you did. But I didn’t realise it was a repeat, and from so long ago as well. It was very sad. He was so brave.
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Yep, 2004, crazy to think it was so long ago. I remember watching it the first airing and just in awe of his bravery. I couldn't stop thinking about him for weeks.
 
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