Prime Video reveals new true-crime docs
August 24, 2022
By Nik Roseveare
Prime Video has revealed further investment into documentary filmmaking with two new UK Original series, The Greatest Show Never Made and Fake Sheikh. Both documentaries will launch on Prime Video in 2023.
These new docu-series will sit alongside the chilling Patricia Hall documentary, The Confession, three-part series Three Mothers (working title), and previously announced documentary series launching in the next six months, including a film about YouTube sensation KSI produced by Louis Theroux and Ben Stokes: Phoenix from the Ashes.
The Greatest Show Never Made reveals how, on a wet morning in June 2002, four cameras filmed 30 contestants who had travelled to a park in South East London, to take part in the biggest reality show on TV. The show is going to change their lives – and it is all captured on camera. They have quit their jobs and given up their homes to be here. Some have left long-term partners and sold their possessions; all want to escape the 9-5 grind, and start on the road to adventure, fame and fortune. It’s the new millennium and anything is possible. Just one small thing…the show does not exist. At the heart of this gripping, funny and emotional series is an exploration of fame, identity and the desire we all share to escape the traps of everyday life. The 2 x 50’ series will be produced by Factual Fiction, with Executive Producers Emily Dalton and Jonathan Smith and BAFTA Breakthrough and RTS Award winning Producer/Director Ashley Francis-Roy.
Fake Sheikh, from Voltage TV, tells the thrilling story of maverick reporter Mazher Mahmood, whose exposés generated headlines by his use of false identities to ensnare royals, sports stars, politicians, celebrities and members of the public. The three-part UK Original documentary series will track his meteoric rise to the highest ranks of the tabloid press—twice winning Reporter of The Year at The British Press Awards—and his subsequent downfall and imprisonment. Fake Sheikh is directed by Ceri Isfryn, with executive producers Sanjay Singhal and Jonathan Smith.
“Original documentary storytelling is a key part of our growing UK slate, from nail-biting sport to intriguing whodunnits and stranger-than-fiction history,” commented Dan Grabiner, head of UK Originals, Amazon Studios. “We’re excited to be working with tremendously talented filmmakers, both new directors and legends of the genre, to bring these remarkable human stories to a global audience.”