By Jack Warne
Brace yourselves: Louis Theroux is back.
This time around, in the form of an one-off BBC 2 Special, The Night in Question, he travels to the US to explore the consent debate occurring at university campuses around the country.
Universities, most notably in America – Theroux’s area of expertise – have been rightly forced to clamp down on the rise in sexual assault and rape cases in recent years in the form of strict guidelines, designed to ensure that students feel safe.
Whilst these guidelines seem clearly justifiable, enforcing the bare minimum in terms of how people should treat one other, a debate has arisen between those who are strong advocates of the guidelines and those who feel that their personal and academic reputations have been wrongfully tarnished by their enforcement, with many of the accused arguing that they have been punished for actions which wouldn’t constitute a criminal offence.
This is ultimately the debate that Theroux will explore in his new BBC documentary, making it potentially his most controversial yet – despite him having previously explored subjects such as euthanasia, far-right extremism and alcoholism.
Theroux will speak to those on both sides of the debate: survivors of sexual assault who believe that guidelines are needed on campuses in order to create a safe environment on the one hand, and those who feel they’ve been wrongly punished or had their reputations ruined on the other.
Additionally, he will speak with university officials who face the task of dealing which allegations and essentially judging if they should result in the exclusion of students from the institutions in question.
Theroux most recently returned to our televisions in autumn last year with his three-part series, Altered States, in which he explored the issues of polyamory, euthanasia and open adoption in the US.
As well as this one-off special, Theroux has teased the return of his much-loved early 2000s series, When Louis Met, in which he met such controversial figures as Anne Widdecombe and famously attempted to prod Jimmy Saville with allegations of sexual abuse many years before he was eventually exposed.
Details are scarce, but Theroux has hinted towards potential interviewee subjects: “I’m more interested in stories about people who maybe are not riding as high as they once were — maybe Nigel Farage or Julian Assange. Farage seems to be more in the wings, more in the margins.”
At present, the air date for The Night In Question is unconfirmed. Further details are to be announced.
Featured image and gallery: Hoang Phan Notebooks were carried from one workshop to another. Writers from different generations sat around tables, sharing manuscripts and listening to each other. Outdoors, small groups strolled along Oxford Road, pausing before buildings steeped in literary history. This was the scene during the Manchester Writing School Summer Festival 2026, held…
Featured image: Katja Ogrin With many sore heads and limbs this morning after the most hardcore day of the festival taking place yesterday, many are recovering from the moshing and pit brutality of the previous day’s antics. As the tradition of a morning movie in the Serpents Lair prevails, the crowd sprawls out onto the plush,…
Featured image: Abbi Draper After an electrifying start to the weekend, with temperatures slowly climbing, many lather themselves in suncream, shed their band shirts and rise from their tents to trek towards the arena. Saturday has big things incoming for the humans of Bloodstock 2026. Some pace themselves for the day and hide from the early…
Featured image: Abbi Draper After a memorable Thursday opener, Bloodstock 2026 opens its gates once again onto the Hallowed Grounds of Catton Park, kicking off day two of its 25th-anniversary celebration of metal. As the sun rises on Catton Park, festivalgoers emerge from their tents to prepare for another day of mayhem. The morning brings…
1 Comment
Critical Project: An In Depth Report of My Time As An Editorial Assistant at Aah! Magazine by Jack Warne | Critical Project