The new BBC podcast Stacey Dooley Revisits sees the presenter reconnect with memorable figures from her hard-hitting documentary career in some of the world’s most dangerous places.
Ever since Serial hit the airwaves back in 2014, we’ve been gripped by the power of podcasts as a storytelling medium.
Nothing quite matches the intimate connection between host and listener in a real-life narrative that shines a light on little-known characters or events.
It’s an art form that comes into its own with the approach of autumn, too: the turning of the season brings with it a need to refresh our listening list, and cosy up with a fresh new repertoire of shows.
So the timing of Stacey Dooley’s new six-part documentary podcast, Stacey Dooley Revisits, really couldn’t be better.
The BBC presenter has spent the past 10 years travelling the world to uncover eye-opening investigative stories, from underage sex slavery in Cambodia to arms dealing in the States and the mysterious disappearance of thousands of indigenous women in Canada.
Stacey Dooley Revisits sees the presenter reconnect with some of the memorable interviewees from her compelling documentary shows, asking the question “what happened next?”
Subjects will include people like the Mexican priest who helps migrants risking their lives to enter the US illegally, and so-called “preppers” who have retreated to bunkers in anticipation of the end of the world.
Dooley’s high-profile career has played out in some of the world’s most dangerous places, including Iraq, Syria and the Democratic Republic of Congo. But this new project sees her venture into unknown territory of a different kind, in the form of her first podcasting gig – as she trades her go-to hosting environment of war zones, hospitals and prisons for the relative comfort of her living room.
“Lockdown was a chance for all of us to reflect and it also gave me time to catch up with some of the people I’ve worked with over the years,” says Dooley. “People often ask me ‘what ended up happening with so and so?’ Now we have the opportunity to ask them directly. I really hope listeners love it.”
Dooley, who was awarded an MBE for services to broadcasting in 2018, is well-known for coaxing her subjects to open up with an honest yet empathetic approach. It’s this intuitive style that we can expect to see more of as the new podcast series gets underway.
“Stacey’s personal and humane interviewing style has won her fans right around the world,” says Richard Maddock, commissioning editor for BBC Radio 5 Live.
“The interviewees she will be revisiting have given us some of TV’s most breath-taking moments. Since we first watched them many of us have been desperate to discover what happened next. Now we can finally find out.”
Stacey Dooley Revisits will be released in full on BBC Sounds on September 17, and it’ll also be played on BBC Radio 5 Live.
The first episode sees Dooley catch up Cynthia Djengue, the daughter of a woman serving a life sentence without parole for murder. Djengue was last seen in Dooley’s documentary Locked Up With the Lifers, where her mum awaited a decision on whether she would be granted parole after 41 years behind bars.
We can’t wait to delve deeper into this fascinating realm of investigative journalism, and the many stories that go with it.
Images: BBC
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