Riots: BBC documentary cancelled after court order More than 270 people involved in the riots were interviewed anonymously. Their experiences were then turned into two documentary films. The transcripts were brought to life by playwright Alecky Blythe, who gave the actors audio files of the interviews, which they used instead of a script. They listened to the recordings through earpieces and repeated them verbatim a few seconds behind to imitate the style of the interviewees. The second episode featured interviews with police officers who were on the streets during the disorder. The riots began after Mark Duggan, 29, was shot dead by police. A peaceful protest ended in violence before spreading across the capital and then to many other parts of the country, leading to violence, looting and clashes between the public and the police. Five people died during the four-day disorder. Instead of the documentary, the BBC showed Operation Crossbow, a feature on Spitfire pilots during World War Two and their 3D photographs that helped thwart the Nazis' weapons of mass destruction.