ROSS KEMP – EXTREME WORLD: Monday 21st February, SKY1, 9pm ALERT ME
Remember Ross Kemp? Well he really hates drugs. So he spends his time doing what we all do with something we hate; searching for it relentlessly in a large city, in this case Chicago. Thatâs right; the windy city seems to be taking on a new mantle as the city of heroin. Luckily for us, Ross has decided to expose how hard drugs are ruining the lives of the 50,000 users in Chicago alone and beam his findings straight to our televisions.
The main question however, is why Ross is subjecting himself to this in the first place. Okay, the acting jobs have dried up, presumably because of his inability to display any emotion other than bug-eyed surprise and a solemn nod, but there has to be a better way to make a living than chasing drug addicts, surely? Apparently not, as we follow Kemp around from the âBrickyardâ junkie society all the way to the suburbs, via an overdose (not by Ross) to see where heroin is from and who it goes to.
One thing can be said for Ross – heâs a brave chap. Ignoring the advice of the police, he and his partner in crime-fighting Professor Greg Scott arrange to see a âchop shopâ where heroin is cut and packaged for sale. Itâs a small room with two half dressed women, a drug dealer and a table full of drugs. The situation seems tense, but Ross takes it in his stride, boldly asking questions as if he were talking about meat to his local butcher. And this is the funny thing about the programme, 50% of the time you feel that Kempâs icy demeanour lets him get the best out of difficult subjects, but for the rest of the programme he talks about how âincredibly sadâ? it all is with as much genuine emotion as a can of tuna.
But despite Kemp’s rather limited scope (check out how he glowers at some poor unfortunate above), itâs well worth watching. Unless you donât like needles of course…
