Simon Reeves 'genuinely shocked' to uncover Scandinavian city with higher murder rate than London
Simon Reeves 'genuinely shocked' to uncover Scandinavian city with higher murder rate than London
Simon Reeves is set to return to our TV screens in his brand new BBC Two series.
Simon Reeves has given fans an insight into his new travel series
(Image: BBC/The Garden Productions/Jackson Wardle )
Simon Reeves has given fans an insight into his new travel series as he revealed the one thing that left him 'shocked' whilst filming.
The documentary filmmaker, 52, is set to make a return to our TV screens on Sunday (May 18) night, and this time the adventurer is headed for Scandinavia.
The three-part series is a smorgasbord of Scandi adventures that will see Simon embark on an adventure across Scandinavia, travelling from the Arctic to the Baltic to uncover the secrets of this beautiful and extreme region.
The first episode will uncover the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, the frozen wilderness of Lapland, and the border with Russia, while the second will see him traverse the fjords of Norway and Iceland
Meanwhile, the third will see him 'uncover the surprising and sometimes shocking side of Sweden and Denmark, two of the happiest and wealthiest countries on earth'.
Simon Reeve is set to make a return to our TV screens on Sunday (May 18) night
(Image: BBC )
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Ahead of the new series, Simon revealed the most surprising thing he discovered while on his travels as he claimed to have uncovered a Scandinavian city with a higher murder rate than London.
The star started off by saying: 'Scandinavia kept throwing surprises at me around every corner, but if I had to pick one, it would probably be the situation in Sweden regarding gang violence. It was genuinely shocking.
'Here's a country that, for most of us, epitomises peace, stability, and liberal values. You think of Sweden, you think of ABBA, IKEA, sensible Volvos, and a really well-ordered society. And in many ways, it still is all of those things. But to discover that Stockholm has a gun murder rate thirty times that of London, and that teenage gangs are regularly using hand grenades and pipe bombs in turf wars – that was a real jolt. It's not something you associate with Scandinavia at all.'
The documentary filmmaker has given fans an insight into filming his new BBC Two series
(Image: BBC )
He continued: 'We spent time with a bomb squad in Malmo, and hearing their experiences, seeing the reality of what they're dealing with on a regular basis, was incredibly sobering. These aren't isolated incidents; it's a serious, ongoing problem that the country is struggling to get to grips with.
'The crime wave has coincided with a significant increase in immigration, particularly following conflicts in Syria and Afghanistan, and it's led to some very difficult and complex social issues in certain areas.
'We visited one of the housing estates that has been particularly affected, trying to understand the root causes and what it's like for the people living there. It's a multifaceted problem, of course, with no easy answers, involving issues of immigration, integration, poverty, social exclusion, and the international drug trade.'
Simon was 'shocked' after discovering a city with a higher murder rate than London.
(Image: BBC )
Sharing the reason why he decided to explore Scandinavia, he explained: 'It's a part of the world many of us think we know – you know, happy people, stunning landscapes, maybe a slightly eye-watering price for a pint but I've always found that the places we think we're familiar with often hold the biggest surprises.
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'And Scandinavia, or more broadly the Nordic region as we explore in the series, is absolutely packed with them. It's a region of incredible contrasts. You've got these vast, icy wildernesses in the north, places like Svalbard, which feel like the very edge of the world, and then you've got these incredibly modern, sophisticated cities.'
He added: 'What really drew me in, though, beyond the epic scenery, was this reputation they have for being some of the happiest, most equal, and progressive societies on the planet. I wanted to get under the skin of that. Is it all it's cracked up to be? What's the secret sauce? And, perhaps more importantly in these rather turbulent times, are there lessons we can learn from them.'
Scandinavia with Simon Reeve will air on Sundays at 9pm on BBC Two & BBC iPlayer
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