Episodes
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Sirin Kale and Pandora Sykes look at how one of TV’s most popular shows became mired in tragedy and controversy. Where did it all go wrong? And is this the end for reality TV? Featuring interviews with Megan Barton-Hanson, Dr Alex George, Jake Cornish, Rachel Finni and many more.
Producer: Hannah HuffordExecutive Producer: Pandora SykesExecutive Editor: James Cook Content Producer: Hannah RobinsTechnical Producer: Giles Aspen
Archive credits:The Victoria Derbyshire Show, BBC Love Island, ITV Studios/Lifted Entertainment/Motion Content GroupThis Morning, Granada Television Caroline Flack: Her Life and Death, Curious Films 1Xtra Talks with Richie Brave, BBC Sophie Gradon On Internet Trolls, Radio Aire Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee meeting 14 September 2021, Parliamentary Recording Unit The Great British Bake Off, Love Productions The Voice, Wall to Wall Big Brother, Endemol UK
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Pandora Sykes and Sirin Kale analyse how Love Island became a finishing school for influencers and a commercial juggernaut through its association with fast fashion. Featuring interviews with Megan Barton-Hanson, Dr Alex George, and many more.
Producer: Hannah HuffordExecutive Producer: Pandora SykesExecutive Editor: James Cook Content Producer: Hannah RobinsTechnical Producer: Giles Aspen
Archive credits:Love Island, ITV Studios/Lifted Entertainment/Motion Content GroupSausages, Adam BuxtonTrying on Love Island x I Saw it First outfits… is it worth the money!?, Roxxsaurus Ethical Fashion, Brett StanilandThe Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett, Steven Bartlett Let’s Talk Business: Meet My Manager (Finally), Molly Mae Hague Blindboy Undestroys the World, Rumpus Media for BBC 3 Olivia Attwood video on influencers flying to Dubai for work
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Missing episodes?
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Sirin Kale and Pandora Sykes slip into the moneyed world of the Californian 0.01% with the help of a Real Housewife and a Selling Sunset realtor, to examine property porn, toxic wealth, and why audiences want schadenfreude. Featuring interviews with Real Housewife's Taylor Armstrong, Selling Sunset's Mary Fitzgerald, plus the show creators and more.
Producer: Hannah HuffordExecutive Producer: Pandora SykesExecutive Editor: James Cook Content Producer: Hannah RobinsTechnical Producer: Giles Aspen
Archive credits:The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Evolution MediaDallas, Lorimar ProductionsDesperate Housewives, Cherry ProductionsSelling Sunset, Done and Done ProductionsABC News, ABC
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Pandora Sykes and Sirin Kale look at how these BAFTA-winning reality shows became national treasures and explore why the ingredients for a good reality show are the same, wherever they are set. Featuring interviews with Spencer Matthews, Georgia Toffolo, James Lock, plus many more.
Producer: Hannah HuffordExecutive Producer: Pandora SykesExecutive Editor: James Cook Content Producer: Hannah RobinsTechnical Producer: Giles Aspen
Archive credits:The British Academy Television Awards: 2011, Whizz Kid EntertainmentThe Only Way is Essex, Lime PicturesMade in Chelsea, Monkey KingdomFriday Night with Jonathan Ross, Hot SauceThe Reality of Reality TV with Fleur East, Bauer MediaWhat We Don't Post, Nicola Hughes and Tiffany WatsonI’ve Been There: Amy Childs and Cosmetic Surgery, Nine Lives Media
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Sirin Kale and Pandora Sykes delve into the story of America’s First Family, the Kardashian-Jenners, and how they leveraged reality tv to redefine beauty ideals and create an entirely new category of uber-celebrity. Featuring interviews with Keeping Up With The Kardashian's executive producer for all 20 seasons, plus @NorisBlackBook creator, and many more.
Producer: Hannah HuffordExecutive Producer: Pandora SykesExecutive Editor: James Cook Content Producer: Hannah RobinsTechnical Producer: Giles Aspen
Archive credits:Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Bunim-Murray ProductionsOprah's Next Chapter, Harpo StudiosX17onlineVideo's video of Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian with paparazzi Kim Kardashian’s Business Advice, Variety
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Pandora Sykes and Sirin Kale tread a nostalgic path back to their teenage years and The Hills, which birthed reality’s first wave of lifestyle influencers. Featuring interviews with Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag, and many more.
Producer: Hannah HuffordExecutive Producer: Pandora SykesExecutive Editor: James CookContent Producer: Hannah RobinsTechnical Producer: Giles Aspen
Archive credits:The OC, Wonderland Sound and VisionLaguna Beach: The Real Orange County, Go Go Luckey ProductionsThe Hills, Done and Done ProductionsNightline, ABC News ProductionsVelvet’s Edge with Kelly Henderson, Nashville Podcast Network
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Sirin Kale and Pandora Sykes explore how the rise in cosmetic surgery collided with reality TV, and laid the foundations for our current preoccupation with self-improvement. Featuring interviews with The Swan's show creator and contestant, and many more.
Producer: Hannah HuffordExecutive Producer: Pandora SykesExecutive Editor: James Cook Content Producer: Hannah RobinsTechnical Producer: Giles Aspen
Archive credits:The Swan, Galan EntertainmentWhat Not to Wear, BBCFriday Night with Jonathan Ross, Hot Sauce Parkinson, BBC
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Pandora Sykes and Sirin Kale deep-dive into some of reality TV’s most controversial shows in the early 2000s, exploring how the explosion in the genre caused ethics to fly out of the window. Featuring interviews with There's Something About Miriam's show creator and winning contestant, and many more.
Producer: Hannah HuffordExecutive Producer: Pandora SykesExecutive Editor: James Cook Content Producer: Hannah RobinsTechnical Producer: Giles Aspen
Archive credits: There’s Something About Miriam, Brighter PicturesThe Farm, Endemol UK Shattered, Endemol UK Who’s Your Daddy, 10 by 10 EntertainmentHarsh Reality: The Story of Miriam Rivera, WonderyBig Brother, Endemol UK Have I Got News For You, Hat Trick Productions
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Sirin Kale and Pandora Sykes look at how three men called Simon are responsible for the gold rush of talent shows in the early noughties and why the format no longer feels fit for purpose.
Producer: Hannah HuffordExecutive Producer: Pandora SykesExecutive Editor: James Cook Content Producer: Hannah RobinsTechnical Producer: Giles Aspen
Archive credits:The X Factor, Fremantle Media Britain’s Got Talent, Talkback ThamesStar Search, 2929 ProductionsPopstars, Warner Bros. TelevisionPop Idol, 19 TelevisionA Better Me: The Official Autobiography, Bolinda Publishing Misha B video discussing her experiences on and after The X Factor Cher Lloyd’s video on her X Factor experience Walk The Line, Syco Entertainment
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Pandora Sykes and Sirin Kale wind back to Britain's first ‘official’ reality show, to look at how it became a global phenomenon, the importance of authenticity, and how Jade Goody created a new type of celebrity - famous for simply being herself. Featuring interviews with housemates Nick Bateman aka 'Nasty Nick' and Brian Dowling, and Big Brother's Creative Director Philip Edgar Jones, plus many more.
Producer: Hannah HuffordExecutive Producer: Pandora SykesExecutive Editor: James Cook Content Producer: Hannah RobinsTechnical Producer: Giles Aspen
Archive credits:Big Brother, Endemol UKCandid Microphone, Colombia PicturesCandid Camera, ABC TelevisionThe Family, BBCThe Late Review, BBCThe Reunion, WhistledownJade: The Reality Star Who Changed Britain, Blast! FilmsStars in Their Eyes, Granada TelevisionCelebrity Big Brother, Endemol UKPrime Ministers Questions, Parliamentary Recording Unit Bigg Boss, Endemol Shine India
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The dumbest genre in entertainment, or the one that tells us the most about ourselves? Since its conception, reality TV has divided its viewers.
Introducing Unreal: A Critical History of Reality TV, a new 10-part audio documentary written and presented by journalists Pandora Sykes and Sirin Kale. They've been fans of reality TV since they first watched Big Brother as pre-teens and they've spent a fair amount of time defending reality tv when people are snobby about it, or dismiss its importance in our wider culture. But they’ve also been troubled by what they've seen in the genre: the exploitation; the lack of aftercare; the impacts of sudden fame.
Using interviews with the creators, producers and stars of some of the most iconic reality shows of the last two decades, and leading cultural critics of today, Unreal explores how reality TV has shaped entertainment, fashion, beauty, celebrity and even politics - and some of the ethical questions raised by the format.
Producer: Hannah HuffordExecutive Producer: Pandora SykesExecutive Editor: James CookContent Producer: Hannah RobinsTechnical Producer: Giles Aspen
Archive credits:Love Island, ITV StudiosBig Brother, Endemol UKThe Only Way is Essex, Lime PicturesThe Late Review, BBCThe Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Evolution Media