The Greatest Show Never Made

(Prime Video)

“Want to raise your profile? Reality

TV show seeks contestants June

2002-3. One year, £100,000. If you’re characterful, resourceful and energetic – email nrussian@nrussian. freeserve.co.uk”

In a United

Kingdom obsessed with programmes like Popstars, Big Brother and Survivor that turned ordinary people into overnight celebrities, it was an opportunity that proved too enticing to resist.

Carefully placed classified ads and flyers handed out in places like Millennium Bridge ensured there were hundreds of prospective contestants eager to show off their on-camera charisma and talents at the auditions on the London island of Raven’s Ait.

Put through their paces with tasks like making a cake using ingredients sourced from locals, those who attended were heartened by just how professionally everything seemed to be run and impressed by the young

impresario behind it all – Nikita Russian.

However, as this entertaining and sometimes shocking three-part documentary series recounts, the dreams of stardom immediately turned sour for the “lucky 30” selected for the programme.

Told they needed to bring only their passport, they gathered in a south-east London park on June 10, 2002, having quit their jobs, let go of their leases and bade farewell to their families ready for adventure.

But within hours, it was clear that the project was not exactly as glamorous – or even as concrete – as they’d hoped.

Told via an engaging mix of quite frankly jaw-dropping archival footage and modern-day interviews with contestants, Greatest Show Never Made details just what those then 20- and 30-somethings gave up – and endured – in their quest for small-screen fame and fortune.