Ross Kemp: From soap star to hard-hitting investigator
Ross Kemp has come a long way. From his time as an actor on EastEnders as hardman mechanic Grant Mitchell, he has since forged a highly successful career as an investigative journalist.
Kemp’s work has taken him into some of the darkest and most dangerous corners of the human experience, from interviewing gang members across the globe to delving into the particulars of the drug trade. His compelling style, which is both down-to-earth and not shy of confronting the tough issues, has earned him legions of fans and a plethora of awards.
In his latest venture, Kemp teams up with Crime+Investigation on Ross Kemp: Mafia and Britain, which investigates British involvement with organised crime at home and abroad. Read on to learn more about Kemp, his astonishing body of work and his exciting new project.
An award-winning transformation
To many, Kemp is still perhaps best known for his Albert Square role, where he played Grant Mitchell from 1990 to 1999 (and sporadically ever since). However, he deserves massive plaudits for the way he has reinvented himself as a hard-hitting journalist who matches incredible bravery with a relatable nature.
It makes for fascinating TV. His first foray into this world came in the early 2000s, when he was asked to make a series exploring gang violence. Ross Kemp on Gangs ran for four series between 2004 and 2009 and shone a light on some of the biggest crime gangs in the world. It received universal acclaim and in 2007, won the BAFTA for Best Factual Series. Quite the entrance.
Since then, Kemp has gone from strength to strength. He has made intelligent, inquisitive and unflinching documentaries about all sorts of challenging subjects, including crime rates in the UK, the war in Afghanistan and Somalian pirates. He has received further accolades in the shape of an AIB Media Excellence Award (International TV Personality) and an Asian Media Award (Best Investigation).
His remarkable volte-face from soap star to investigative journalist has won him staunch supporters in unlikely places. From Charlie Brooker to Carole Cadwalladr, Kemp has stymied his critics and turned them into respecting fans in the process.
The common touch
The secret to Kemp’s success? Perhaps the biggest draw for fans of his shows is the down-to-earth chattiness of the man. Whether he’s rubbing shoulders with army veterans in war zones or interviewing members of the biggest crime gangs in Britain, he knows how to get on with people.
He’s also, quite clearly, no historian or sociologist. The fact that he is not an expert on the subject he’s investigating is an endearing point in the plus column, since we can share his enthusiasm at learning new facts and hearing new stories – as well as his abject terror at being shot at or witnessing extreme violence.
Which brings us on to the next of Kemp’s attributes: an incredible, almost unbelievable amount of courage. Kemp willingly walks into the most dangerous of environments and puts his own life at risk on innumerable occasions. That’s more than can be said of many foreign correspondents who might scoff at Kemp’s credentials as a proper investigator.
Put all of this together and you have an extremely effective (if perhaps unlikely) vessel for hard-hitting journalism. Kemp’s unique life experiences and qualities as a person give him the perfect platform upon which to look into difficult topics and digest them for a mainstream audience.
Mafia and Britain
A tireless workaholic, Kemp seems to never pause for breath and that remains true to this day. In his first series on Crime+Investigation, Kemp looks at the links between the UK and organised crime syndicates throughout history.
In order to fully understand the issue, he follows a trail of money, drugs and other illicit contraband to trace the development of the mafia in the UK as it relates to cartels and mobs across the globe. His odyssey takes him to such far-flung places as Italy, Spain, Colombia and the USA, with his journey invariably returning to British shores to discover surprising and unsettling links with these giants of organised crime.
It's a fascinating insight into how globalisation has helped develop Britain’s relationship with crime lords in other parts of the world – as well as how closely we might be living alongside them today. It’s must-watch viewing for any fans of Kemp’s inimitable style.
The five-part series is available to watch on Crime+Investigation and Crime+Investigation Play from Friday, 18th April.
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