Ashley Cain: Into The Danger Zone | Preview (BBC Three)

A brand new six part series from True North in association with House of Panthera for BBC Three and iPlayer, in which former footballer Ashley Cain visits some of the world’s most dangerous cities to explore the issues that affect young men born into a life that exists on the fringes of society.

From mercenaries in Marseilles to the gangs within a Philippine prison and poachers in South Africa, Ashley wants to know what it takes to survive in these environments and ask himself - what would he do in their shoes?

In each episode, Ashley will have to earn the trust of the men he meets as he immerses himself as an impartial observer in their worlds. Once inside, he’ll discover what life is like in the inner circle of men whose moral lines are blurred as they fight for survival.

In the first episode, Brazil’s favelas are considered extremely dangerous, making them one of the world’s most deadly places to grow up. As a result of poverty and a lack of government and police control, many young men here resort to drug dealing and gang crime under the control of the drug cartels.

In other neighbourhoods, heavily armed criminal militia groups control day-to-day life with an iron grip, extorting residents – fail to pay or cross them, and the consequences can be deadly.

Ashley meets young men living in some of Rio’s most notorious favelas to find out what it’s like to live here and what forces them to join gangs to survive. He will learn what it takes to become a lookout, foot soldier and drug dealer in a world where death could become a reality at any moment.

And he’ll come face to face with a gun-toting militia boss to uncover how these men rule the favelas through fear and intimidation.

Ashley Cain says: "I have a genuine passion for the people of this world and true compassion for every person’s situation. I am also incredibly inquisitive about the human mind and how people operate on the other side of their comfort zone. So, I’m heavily invested in this series that explores the minds and lives of fellow young men based on the hardship they face in each adverse environment. It’s not my intention to judge. It’s my intention to understand...

"I will be as deeply immersed as I can be to truly understand how they think, feel and what they choose to or have to do in their lives to provide, protect or simply just survive. And ultimately ask myself… would I do the same if I lived in their world?"

Ricky Cooper, BBC Commissioning Editor, says: “Ashley connects with young men in a truly exceptional way – with no agenda, no judgement and a ferocious desire to genuinely understand whoever he meets, no matter how shocking their lives or actions may be, or where in the world they live. It’s these qualities that make this series so exciting, and I’m delighted Ashley will be taking the BBC Three audience along for this no-holds-barred journey into some of the world’s most dangerous places to be a young man.”

Ashley Cain: Into the Danger Zone begins Tuesday 1st April on BBC Three.