BBC Three’s latest documentary opens with a man floating down a London street in a smart black turtleneck and grey suit jacket, increasingly alarmist string music swelling around him. “In a world of ever-widening economic divides,” he begins, gesticulating wildly to the camera as he walks through lavish Knightsbridge, “the BBC have asked me, Shabaz Ali, to answer one burning question: are billionaires bad?” You would be forgiven for thinking that this was another documentary of the kind the channel is known for: well-intentioned and well-made programmes, fronted by presenters such as Stacey Dooley and Zara McDermott.
Then the camera zooms out to reveal another camera pointed in Ali’s face, and the music stops: “Er, yeah,” he says. “They are!” He strides off, mock end credits playing at triple speed. As it turns out, Shabaz Asks: Are Billionaires Bad? isn’t one of those BBC Three documentaries that boils down important societal goings-on for gen Z, but rather a parody of the genre. It’s a bit of a risk to send up one of the things your channel is best known for, as if ITV started broadcasting spoof versions of those dark psychological thrillers where a heavy-drinking police detective is haunted by an unsolved case from 20 years ago.
