Louis Theroux has announced he's making a trilogy of documentaries about drugs, murder and sex trafficking for BBC Two that will air later this year.

Louis Theroux

Louis Theroux

The 46-year-old journalist has jetted off to the United States and scrutinised the seedy and "disturbing" underbellies of three cities across the pond in the docu-films titled 'Opiate City,' 'Murder in Milwaukee', and 'Sex Trafficking Houston' respectively.

Speaking about the series, Louis said: "I immerse myself in some of the most dysfunctional and disturbing aspects of American society. They combine hard-hitting actuality with intimate interviews."

'Murder in Milwaukee' sees him focus on two police shootings, in 'Sex Trafficking Houston' he examines the relationship between the prostitutes and pimps, and in 'Opiate City' he reports on the abuse of prescription painkillers and the statistic that one in 10 babies is reportedly born addicted to opiates in Huntington, West Virginia.

And Louis - who received rave reviews for his work on 'Drinking to Oblivion' and 'Saville' last year - has promised an exciting and "personal" insight into the subjects.

He explained: "I have been granted access to the police in several states; I've got to know the people affected by crime; and I've also spent time with the perpetrators of crime, with the idea of understanding the causes of it, both on a systemic level and also in a very personal way."

Last year, Louis revisited his interest in disgraced TV presenter Jimmy Saville, the late paedophile presenter who he first met in 2000 and profiled in the documentary 'When Louis Met Jimmy'.

When his depraved nature came to the surface after his death, Louis was spurred on to make a new documentary - which aired last night, in a bid to connect the revelations with the man he knew and figure out if he himself had been "played" by the former 'Top of the Pops' presenter.

He also debuted his first documentary feature, 'My Scientology Movie', which featured recreations of incidents retold by former Scientologists.