Surviving America's Most Hated Family

Surviving America's Most Hated Family
Genre	Documentary film
Written by	Louis Theroux
Directed by	Geoffrey O'Connor
Starring	Louis Theroux Megan Phelps-Roper Shirley Phelps-Roper
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
Production
Executive producers	Arron Fellows Peter Dale
Producer	Geoffrey O'Connor
Production location	United States
Editor	Alex Muggleton
Running time	60 minutes
Production company	BBC Studios
Original release
Network	BBC Two
Release	14 July 2019 (2019-07-14)
Related
The Most Hated Family in America America's Most Hated Family in Crisis
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Surviving America's Most Hated Family is a 2019 BBC documentary film presented and written by Louis Theroux. The programme follows as Theroux revisits the family at the core of the Westboro Baptist Church and observes how its members have changed since the 2014 death of the church's founder, Fred Phelps. The documentary first aired on BBC Two in the United Kingdom on 14 July 2019, and is the third in a trilogy of documentaries Theroux has made about the church. It was preceded by 2007's The Most Hated Family in America, and 2011's America's Most Hated Family in Crisis.^[1][2][3]

While the first two documentaries focused on the controversial doctrine, cult-like atmosphere and extensive protest activities of the church, the third documentary concerns itself primarily with the lives of former members. It also covers the impact of the death of lead Pastor Fred Phelps on the church, as well as his rumored death-bed excommunication for softening his anti-homosexual rhetoric.^[4] Megan Phelps's defection from the church, from devoted follower to critic, as well as her attempts to stay in contact with her family (in particular with her mother Shirley) is covered in detail.^[5]