RUSSIAN ROULETTE (THE GREATEST SHOW NEVER MADE)

© Amazon Prime

You'd think they'd know by the name - Nik Russian. 

But never underestimate the ability of people to be duped - especially those obsessed with fame and fortune.

Amazon Prime's 'The Greatest Show Never Made' tells an extraordinary story of how hundreds of people in Britain responded in 2002 to ads and flyers about a new reality TV show.

The advert that appeared in The Stage read: 'New reality show seeks contestants. One year, £100,000."

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After auditions in Surbiton with cameramen, the contestants were whittled down to 30 people who were so mesmerised by the exotic would-be producer Nik Russian they gave up their jobs, relationships and hones to take part in the year long project.

But it didn't take long for the wheels to come off Russian's vehicle, for it to be revealed not as a Porsche but rather a Reliant Robin.

Gathering on a London housing estate and split into teams, the groups were informed the aim of the show/social experiment was to see if they could earn £1 million from absolutely nothing.

The teams had no money, nowhere to stay - just a group of strangers to rely on and a cameraman.

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The reality, of course, was that no such show existed.

In fact, it hadn't been commissioned.

It was just a vague concept in Nik's floppy haired head.

Some groups figured this out quickly.

'The Greatest Show Never Made,' though, focuses on one group who took a while for the penny to drop.

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One of those people was Jane Marshall, a 21 year old who had come from Manchester to take part with the blessing of her parents - although her dad was sceptical.

Lucie Miller, an employee in a carpet factory in Birmingham, was also seduced by the possibility of reality TV fame and fortune.

Daniel Pope had moved to London from the Carribbean two years earlier and was initially impressed by the smooth talking Nik.

Rosy Burnie and John Comyn also fell for it, while Tim Eagle, a part time clown (no, seriously), was recruited as a cameraman.

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Using footage of the group shot by Eagle and TV clips from the time, director Ashley-Francis Roy pulls together a jaw dropping but really imaginative three part documentary that harks back to a less cynical time.

At the turn of the millennium, Channel 4's 'Big Brother' detonated the concept of reality TV in the UK.

Ordinary people believed if they were fortunate to get on the show they would become instanfcelebrities.

Few succeeded, even if they did wind up onscreen.

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A handful like Nasty Nick Bateman, Craig Phillips, Anna Nolan, Brian Dowling, Jade Goody and Alison Hammond tasted fame that lasted beyond 'Big Brother'.

It was also an era where Channel 4's Friday late night youth show 'The Word' exploited that hunger for fame.

Sone will recall its "I'd do anything to be on TV" strand featuring twentysomethings doing gross things onscreen.

In this context, you can see in 'The Greatest Show Never Made' why fame obsessed twentysomethings might be so gullible to get involved in a show that never was.

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When their story went public, you can also understand why their naivete was ridiculed on satirical television shows like ITV's 'Harry Hill's TV Burp'.

As mind bogglingly dumb as the whole tale seems 21 years on, Roy neveryheless avoids turning it all into a documentary that exploits and mocks its interviewees.

The show also intriguingly explores the story of Nik Russian - real name Keith - and tries to track him down.

In doing so, the documentary becomes richer.

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It becomes a much more thoughtful and sensitive examination of the mistakes people make - especially in early adulthood.

Having shifted identities for much of his life, Nik is eventually tracked down with the help of a private investigator.

But will he face the people he duped? 

'The Greatest Show Never Made' doesn't seek to publicly crucify Nik.

However it sheds light on the motivation that led to him creating a reality TV show that never was.

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In between humourously reflective interviews with the would-be contestants and archive footage, Roy also recreates in vibrant Wes Anderson-style pastels Tim Eagle's flat where the contestants retreated to 21 years ago to wrap their heads around the concept of a reality show that was just a figment of Nick's imagination.

The director also peppers the show with cartoonish recreations of the lives of his interviewees.

This only adds to the discombobulating effect of a documentary miniseries that doesn't follows the path you'd expect.

But it also hammers home the air of unreality around this reality TV tale.

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'The Greatest Show Never Made' is undoubtedly extraordinarily entertaining.

It's also much more empathetic and illuminating than you'd expect it to be.

In our era of TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and social media influencers, it makes you weirdly nostalgic for simpler times when getting on terrestrial TV was all thatmattered to some.

But ot might also make you think that the explosion of reality TV was the tipping point for the kind of shallow, image obsessed society we have now.

('The Greatest Show Never Made' was made available for streaming on Amazon Prime on October 11, 2023)