Meth and Madness in Mexico: Stacey Dooley Investigates, BBC3: TV review

The most inexplicable combination of presenter and subject matter since Channel 5 chose Keith Chegwin to bare all for Naked Jungle

Ellen E. Jones
Tuesday 07 April 2015 19:04 BST
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Stacey Dooley, fronting Meth and Madness in Mexico
Stacey Dooley, fronting Meth and Madness in Mexico

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Stacey Dooley,BBC3's excuse for an investigative reporter is back, fronting Meth and Madness in Mexico, the first in a new three-part documentary on the war on drugs.

This same topic has been the springboard for much interesting public debate on, for instance, the nature of addiction and how racism informs law enforcement – not that any of these issues came up in Dooley's film. It must be the most inexplicable combination of presenter and subject matter since Channel 5 chose Keith Chegwin to bare all for Naked Jungle.

There was no analysis here, but neither were there any of those tense interview situations that can makes the similarly lightweight reporting of, say, Ross Kemp, feel at least fleetingly dangerous. She'd secured interviews with a cartel hitman, a meth cook and a range of other unsavoury characters, but it was obvious from the tone of the interactions that all the awkward conversations had already been had by a local fixer, long before the cameras rolled.

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