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Unseen: My Journey
From Grange Hill to Top of the Pops, Reggie Yates has been on camera nearly all of his life, but it’s as a documentary filmmaker – and a pretty fearless one at that – where he has truly been making his mark, investigating everything from gun crime in Chicago, to life as a refugee in Iraq.
In his first book, Unseen, Reggie takes us behind the scenes on his journey from TV host to documentary storyteller. Using some of the key moments and extreme circumstances he has found himself in, Reggie examines what he has learned about the world, and himself as a person.
Beginning as a brief exploration of Reggie’s relationship with the camera and life growing up on screen, Unseen explores the journey Reggie has taken in the documentary world. Initially resistant to documentary making, Reggie was convinced his point of view as a young black working class man with a history in music, children’s TV and entertainment would not make his films remotely credible. Through conflict and challenges on screen, the understanding gained from the very thing once seen as a weakness would become his strength on camera, as the eye of the everyman and voice of the audience. Unseen unpicks the stories behind the fascinating characters and situations Reggie encounters across a series of films, as well as chronicling the personal growth through each testing shoot for Yates himself.
In his first book, Unseen, Reggie takes us behind the scenes on his journey from TV host to documentary storyteller. Using some of the key moments and extreme circumstances he has found himself in, Reggie examines what he has learned about the world, and himself as a person.
Beginning as a brief exploration of Reggie’s relationship with the camera and life growing up on screen, Unseen explores the journey Reggie has taken in the documentary world. Initially resistant to documentary making, Reggie was convinced his point of view as a young black working class man with a history in music, children’s TV and entertainment would not make his films remotely credible. Through conflict and challenges on screen, the understanding gained from the very thing once seen as a weakness would become his strength on camera, as the eye of the everyman and voice of the audience. Unseen unpicks the stories behind the fascinating characters and situations Reggie encounters across a series of films, as well as chronicling the personal growth through each testing shoot for Yates himself.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published October 26, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 9, 2018
Unseen is a memoir about Reggie Yates' series of documentaries. Each chapter in the book recounts a documentary, relating it to Yates' own life and childhood, and reflecting on how his own personal and professional growth was challenged by the situations he faced during filming.
Ultimately, I think it was a good book, and the subjects of the documentaries were definitely interesting. However, often Yates would slip into a basic retelling of the documentary itself, and watching the actual programme is a far better way to really experience the emotions and situations he's trying to convey. On the other hand, he does offer more analyses of the situations he comes into contact with in the book.
My main criticism throughout the book was that the editor did a pretty poor job. There were countless sentences and paragraphs structured in odd ways, missing commas, and uses of 'then' instead of 'than' in comparisons.
I'd say it's worth reading this if you're a particular fan of Yates, and/or haven't watched all of these documentaries. If you've seen all of them then I think you won't gain much more from the book, apart from (interesting) anecdotes about Yates' life which contextualise the programmes.
The documentaries explored in the book are:
Millionaire Preacher - Extreme South Africa
Far Right and Proud - Extreme Russia
Dying for a Six Pack - Extreme UK
The White Slums - Extreme South Africa
Gay and Under Attack - Extreme Russia
Knife Crime ER - Extreme South Africa
Teen Model Factory - Extreme Russia
Men at War - Extreme UK
Gay and Under Attack - Extreme UK
Race Riots USA
Life and Death in Chicago
Ultimately, I think it was a good book, and the subjects of the documentaries were definitely interesting. However, often Yates would slip into a basic retelling of the documentary itself, and watching the actual programme is a far better way to really experience the emotions and situations he's trying to convey. On the other hand, he does offer more analyses of the situations he comes into contact with in the book.
My main criticism throughout the book was that the editor did a pretty poor job. There were countless sentences and paragraphs structured in odd ways, missing commas, and uses of 'then' instead of 'than' in comparisons.
I'd say it's worth reading this if you're a particular fan of Yates, and/or haven't watched all of these documentaries. If you've seen all of them then I think you won't gain much more from the book, apart from (interesting) anecdotes about Yates' life which contextualise the programmes.
The documentaries explored in the book are:
Millionaire Preacher - Extreme South Africa
Far Right and Proud - Extreme Russia
Dying for a Six Pack - Extreme UK
The White Slums - Extreme South Africa
Gay and Under Attack - Extreme Russia
Knife Crime ER - Extreme South Africa
Teen Model Factory - Extreme Russia
Men at War - Extreme UK
Gay and Under Attack - Extreme UK
Race Riots USA
Life and Death in Chicago
June 24, 2018
A behind-the-scenes accompaniment to the great BBC documentaries covering extreme social issues. In this book, Reggie goes to Russia to cover such subjects as child models, racism and homophobia. He travels to South Africa to cover racism once more and looks into the white side of the townships and poverty also. In Britain, he tackles the same subjects, as well as knife crime and the gender equality debate.
The experiences are in some parts shocking and fuelled with violence and hate, with many disturbing opinions. Yates grows as a host and anchor during this process, often finding himself lost and frustrated but comes out well at the end. This would have gotten four stars, but he confused Rocky 2 with Rocky 4. Which is unforgivable.
The experiences are in some parts shocking and fuelled with violence and hate, with many disturbing opinions. Yates grows as a host and anchor during this process, often finding himself lost and frustrated but comes out well at the end. This would have gotten four stars, but he confused Rocky 2 with Rocky 4. Which is unforgivable.
March 1, 2018
I bought this book after watching his documentaries, hoping to get some insight to the man beyond whats seen on the screen. To find out about his journey. However, reading the book was almost like a play by play account of each documentary, it felt repetitive due to the fact that I'd just seen all the docos. There were tiny snippets of story that wasn't seen on tv, but majority of it was. Quite hard to read, considering you knew what was coming in the next sentence each time. Bit disappointed as i am a big fan of his TV shows, but the book really wasn't what i expected.
February 21, 2018
Honestly, I didn't love it. If you have seen the shows, you will likely find this book boring. It is largely a description of what you will have already seen on screen. I didn't see all the shows so there were some chapters that I found more interesting so it wasn't a complete loss. Also, it's not the best written book either which I suppose should be forgiven as he is not a writer (despite having written a book. You know what I mean.)
September 20, 2018
Fantastic book with great pace, honest and thoughtful storytelling - true to Reggie's character and candour and overall very informative on the entrails of working within media meshed with dealing the narratives of human beings.
A joy from cover to cover.
A joy from cover to cover.
February 16, 2021
I'm a huge fan of Reggie Yates' documentaries and so this book was a great insight into some of the behind the scenes of certain documentaries, how they were made, problems and issues he dealt with as well as much more. A really interesting read especially for those who are fans of Reggie's work.
November 18, 2018
This book is a written version of his show on Netflix. Interesting experiences of where he's been and people he has interviewed.
August 30, 2019
Enjoyed but probably would have enjoyed more if hadn’t seen the documentaries as a lot of repeat. Absolutely love Reggie 💕 and his documentaries are very eye-opening.
January 14, 2021
An easy to read account of Reggie rise to popularity. The book recounts alot of scenes from the documentaries so can be repetative if you have also watched the TV series.
November 25, 2017
As a self confessed fan of Reggie yates, I have loved almost all of his documentaries and think he is a really talented documentary maker. I can't deny that the book was well written and at times gave me a good chuckle. The book was split into 12 chapters each one discussing one documentary. As I have watched almost of all of Reggie Yates's documentary, I didn't hear of anything "Unseen" at all. Which was really disappointing.
I think the only people who could truly enjoy this book, would be people who have never heard of Reggie Yates before and had never seen any of his documentaries and unfortunately I don't think those people are going to pick up the book. I think if Reggie Yates had have made the book more personal and included some things that were actually unseen it would have been a more interesting read for his actual fans.
Overall I was happy that I listened to the audio book as it was narrated by Reggie Yates himself. It was a pleasant listen. But ought to have been titled My Seen Journey!!
I think the only people who could truly enjoy this book, would be people who have never heard of Reggie Yates before and had never seen any of his documentaries and unfortunately I don't think those people are going to pick up the book. I think if Reggie Yates had have made the book more personal and included some things that were actually unseen it would have been a more interesting read for his actual fans.
Overall I was happy that I listened to the audio book as it was narrated by Reggie Yates himself. It was a pleasant listen. But ought to have been titled My Seen Journey!!
September 27, 2018
After watching Reggie Yates' documentaries online, I was really interested in what else he had to say about some of the subject matters that he got involved in and how it affected him once the filming was finished.
I do truly believe he has a passion for this and making sure people's stories are heard and allowing his audience to gain a better understanding of problems happening in today's world.
However, there didn't seem to be anything new discussed and was basically just a reflection on what he discussed in his films. There was not much behind the scenes information or insight which is what I was hoping for.
I also thought it was a little one sided and he only really focused on the problems that affected him when he was growing up, instead of looking at the bigger picture and how different things will affect his audience.
But overall, it was a great read and will definitely still watch his documentaries as he continues to release them.
I do truly believe he has a passion for this and making sure people's stories are heard and allowing his audience to gain a better understanding of problems happening in today's world.
However, there didn't seem to be anything new discussed and was basically just a reflection on what he discussed in his films. There was not much behind the scenes information or insight which is what I was hoping for.
I also thought it was a little one sided and he only really focused on the problems that affected him when he was growing up, instead of looking at the bigger picture and how different things will affect his audience.
But overall, it was a great read and will definitely still watch his documentaries as he continues to release them.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews