A World of Trouble

- Sean Marland

In his 13 years of documentary-making, Ross Kemp has reported from some of the most dangerous places on the planet. But as he meets TV&Satellite Week to talk about his latest series of Extreme World, he’s still visibly shaken by the events he encountered in Texas for this week’s first episode.

During filming, Kemp, 52, found himself trapped between armed white supremacists and a mass of furious anti-racism protesters during a march in Austin. With the National Guard struggling to keep order and police snipers lining the rooftops, things rapidly escalated.

‘Being in the centre of that riot was just as dangerous as being in Afghanistan,’ he says. ‘The white nationalists were all carrying loaded weapons, as were the National Guard. No one pulled a trigger and thank goodness they didn’t.’