Roman Kemp will delve deeper into his personal trauma for second BBC documentary
ROMAN KEMP is to host a sequel to his documentary about mental health in which he discussed his own battle with severe depression.
Called Our Silent Emergency, it aired two years ago on BBC Three and focused on men, who seem to struggle with the condition more than any other section of society.
The follow-up, which has the working title of Roman Kemp: Our School Emergency, will revisit the subject but will deal solely with the impact on young people.
A TV insider said: “Roman identifies this as a very important area to explore within the wider issue of depression.
“As part of that he will be looking at the impact of mental health on young people — including schoolchildren — who are affected.
“It is believed that the issues in question often start in the very early years and that’s the point at which it is best to start assessing them.”
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The one-off documentary is currently being filmed and is expected to air early next year, again on BBC Three.
Mental Health Emergency is being filmed by Twofour, the same production company that made Our Silent Emergency with TV and radio host, Roman.
They are the same team behind Julia Bradbury‘s docu, Breast Cancer And Me, and Will.i.am’s The Blackprint, both for ITV.
In Roman’s last documentary, he revealed his personal mental health struggles and the fact he has been on antidepressants from the age of 15.
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During the show he even revealed to his mum, former Wham! backing singer Shirlie Holliman that he’d had suicidal thoughts.
In an emotional scene, he is heard saying to her: “It’s really hard and it’s hard for me to tell you this . . .
“I thought about going to the train station and jumping in front of a train. I’m sorry I never told you that.”
It also touched on the death by suicide in August 2020 of his best friend, radio producer Joe Lyons, who Roman says “was like a brother” to him.
He added: “I had no idea he was struggling.”
SOPHIE’S CHOICE IS A GEM
GAME Of Thrones star Sophie Turner has bagged a sparkling role.
She will play the UK’s most notorious jewel thief, Joan Hannington, in a six-parter set in London in the Eighties.
The powerful female drama, called Joan, will premiere on new, free streaming service ITVX and begin filming next year.
Sophie said: “I’m so excited to be bringing Joan Hannington’s fascinating life story to screen.
“She’s one of the most notorious figures in the criminal underworld of London, earning her the nickname ‘The Godmother’.
“A woman who goes about her daring career as a jewel thief, all while trying to get her daughter back from social services.
“We see a mother in despair swept up in the exhilarating world of crime.”
In Joan’s memoir she documents her rise from petty offender to highly talented diamond thief and criminal mastermind – all sparked by her determination to care for her young daughter.
Indie TV show
DISNEY is reportedly looking to develop an Indiana Jones TV show, following the heroic archaeologist’s adventures.
Variety said the series will serve as a prequel or spin-off to the film franchise – similar to the way Disney has tied its Marvel shows on Disney+ into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
GUY SPY A NEW ROLE
GUY PEARCE will have to go some way to top his cameo in the final episode of Neighbours last July.
But he’s giving it a good go in new ITV drama A Spy Among Friends alongside Damien Lewis.
The trailer, released yesterday, shows them as a pair of spies at the centre of upheaval in both British and American Intelligence during the Cold War.
The six-parter – based on Ben Macintyre’s book – airs on ITVX on December 8 and also stars Motherland’s Anna Maxwell-Martin and Adrian Edmondson from The Young Ones.
Strike series
C4 will shine a light on the 1980s miners’ strike with a new three-part series.
They aim to retell the story from a new perspective and explore how its effects are still being felt today.
Head of specialist factual Shaminder Nahal said: “The stories of those involved still feel raw and powerful in an extra- ordinary way.”
PEPPER PICK
IT may not be the Fab Four, but it’s still a fab four.
James Corden and his cast-mates in new drama Mammals got dressed up as The Beatles on the cover of their classic album Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band for a scene in the new Prime Video show.
The series marks James’s return to acting, as chef Jaimie Buckingham, after seven years of hosting The Late Late Show in the US.
Before that he made a name for himself co-writing and starring in hit BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey.
Mammals, which we are promised is about love, sex and relationships, also stars Sally Hawkins as well as Colin Morgan and Melia Kreiling.
They should have gone full retro and pulled Sixties icon Tom Jones into the picture too – after all, he also appears in the show.
ALEX IN BABY JOY
THE W Channel is so excited about Alex Jones’s new series Making Babies, they’ve added an extra episode.
The One Show host trains as a fertility assistant with the team at King’s Fertility in London, helping couples to make their baby dreams come true.
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Alex told of her own fertility struggles in 2016 documentary Fertility & Me.
And W is so happy with the ten-part series, which airs next year, it has added an 11th episode where Alex reunites with the patients and meets their babies for the very first time.