INTO THE DANGER ZONE: ASHLEY CAIN RETURNS FOR SECOND SERIES ON BBC THREE

The BBC have commissioned a second series of Ashley Cain: Into The Danger Zone from True North in association with House of Panthera for BBC Three and iPlayer.

The series sees 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.

In the first series, the star travels 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 of last series, 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.

Ashley Cain: Into the Danger Zone is available now on BBC iPlayer.