Date Published: September 18, 2024 — The acclaimed documentaries Life and Death Row and Our War are returning to BBC Three and iPlayer for special new episodes. The BAFTA winning series, Life and Death Row, told stories from the heart of death row as prisoners and victims’ families faced the final reckoning. Now, in a very changed landscape where social media and true crime podcasts vie to influence the outcomes, the series is returning for three new episodes for BBC Three and iPlayer.

In addition, the ground breaking documentary Our War, is returning for a one off episode, revisiting some of the men caught on camera during the conflict in Afghanistan and discovering how their time in the army informs their lives today.

Clare Sillery, Head of Commissioning, BBC Documentaries, says: “Both these documentaries had a huge impact when they were first broadcast, exploring powerful themes of punishment, justice, war and conflict in an innovative new way for a BBC Three audience. Now, a decade on, these subjects are just as potent as ever and so I’m really pleased that we are returning with these special new episodes, catching up with the young men who shared their experiences of the Afghanistan war and discovering how social media, celebrity culture and true crime podcasts have transformed the debate around capital punishment in the US.”

Life and Death Row

Ten years on from the original BAFTA winning series, Life and Death Row returns for three new episodes to examine the issue of capital punishment in a dramatically altered America. Old certainties no longer hold in a divided nation grappling with an uncertain political landscape and a world dominated by the influences of celebrity culture and social media.

No side in this divided nation now fully trusts the Justice System alone to deliver justice. A run of botched executions, high profile innocence campaigns and exonerations has underlined the fallibility of the current system. New science and changing moral compasses have called old judgements into question. Jurors have even gone on record to say that they regret past convictions and the uncertainty has allowed celebrities, podcasters and politicians a strong voice in the debate. But what of those for who the death penalty is the only real justice they could ever imagine receiving? Victims, or their relatives, are left feeling bewildered and failed by repeated appeals, delays and the white noise of high-profile campaigns for those trying to escape death row, as social media is weaponised to lobby for guilt or innocence, and true crime sleuths pick holes in long standing prosecutions.

Through three new, observational films, the series goes inside the cases of death row prisoners facing the ultimate penalty in very modern settings – from one attempting to prove his innocence with a podcast and celebrity backing, to another facing the death penalty at trial, in a State where a unanimous Jury vote is no longer required.

Life and Death Row (3 x 60) for BBC Three and iPlayer is made by BBC Studios’ Documentary Unit. It was commissioned by Clare Sillery, BBC Head of Commissioning Documentaries and Fiona Campbell, Controller, BBC iPlayer and Youth Audiences. The Series Director is Stuart Bernard and the Executive Producer is Kirsty Cunningham. The BBC Commissioning Editor is Emma Loach.

Our War

Marking the end of the British campaign in Helmand, the ground breaking, award winning BBC Three series Our War told the story of the Afghanistan war through the words and pictures of the soldiers themselves.

Ten years on, the BBC have commissioned BBC Studios to produce a new film to take us back into the visceral and raw stories told through footage filmed by the young soldiers fighting in Afghanistan following 9/11. Using scenes from the original films, this new documentary will revisit some of the men caught on camera during the conflict with the Taliban.

Back then they were still boys on the biggest adventure of their lives. Now they are men, some married, some single, all still defined by their experiences as soldiers. This film invites them to revisit the best of times and the worst. Some of them would go back in a flash. Most of them feel lucky that they have had the chance to grow up and live their lives as some of their friends and colleagues did not make it.

Some have never watched the original films, others recall with humour how they are recognised and remembered as ‘the one who tried to swap a pen for a chicken’.

Their testimony provides a powerful insight into the legacy of war as they reflect on how they were back then, who they are now and how their time in the army informs their lives today.

Our War (1 x 60) for BBC Three and iPlayer is made by BBC Studios Documentary Unit. It was commissioned by Clare Sillery, BBC Head of Commissioning, Documentaries and Fiona Campbell, Controller, BBC iPlayer and Youth Audiences. It is produced and directed by Sian McIlwaine, Creative Director for BBC Studios is Kirsty Cunningham, Executive Producer is Jo Abel. The Producer is Jess Boyer and the Production Manager is Gabriella James. The BBC Commissioning Editor is Emma Loach.