Mobeen Azhar (born 1980) is a British journalist, radio and television presenter and filmmaker. He produces investigative reports and films for the BBC exploring themes related to politics, true crime, extremism, counter terrorism and sexuality. He has presented and produced international documentaries for BBC One,

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

and BBC Three and is a regular BBC Asian Network presenter. In 2017, he won a BAFTA for producing the BBC series ''Muslims Like Us'' and in 2020, he won a Royal Television Society Award for presenting BBC documentary ''Hometown: A Killing''. In 2019, Azhar became a presenter on new BBC Three show ''Plastic Surgery Undressed''.

Early life and education

Azhar was born and raised in Huddersfield in Yorkshire and is of British Asian background. His father was a bus driver and a shop keeper who encouraged Azhar to go to university. At university, Azhar gained a law degree and then returned to study broadcast journalism at Leeds Trinity University after a gap year.

Career

In 2012, Azhar was part of a team reporting from Waziristan in Pakistan on US drone strikes on the Afghan border for a

BBC Panorama ''Panorama'' is a British BBC Television current affairs documentary programme. First broadcast in 1953, it is the world's longest-running television news magazine programme. ''Panorama'' has been presented by many well-known BBC presenters, ...

special, ''The Secret Drone War''. In August 2013, he investigated gay life in urban Pakistan for ''Assignment: Inside Gay Pakistan'' on the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...

and on BBC Radio 4. Azhar has written about and reported extensively on musician Prince. In 2015, he presented BBC documentary ''Hunting for Prince’s Vault'' and in September 2016, Azhar's debut book ''Prince Stories from the Purple Underground: 1958-2016'' was published by Welbeck Publishing. In 2016, Azhar joined a police team of "Taliban Hunters" in Karachi, Pakistan, as part of documentary reporting for BBC Panorama. During filming he was shot at by the Taliban. In February 2016, Azhar presented the BBC Three documentary ''Webcam Boys'', spending a couple of months with men who make money from performing in online sex shows. In 2019, Azhar presented BBC documentaries ''The Satanic Verses: 30 Years On,'' ''A Black and White Killing: The Case that Shook Americ''a and ''The Best Pakistani Transgender Retirement Home.'' In 2019, Azhar also presented six-part BBC documentary series ''Hometown: A Killing'', reporting on the police shooting of Yassar Yaqub in Huddersfield in 2017. Yasser Yaqub's father Mohammed Yaqub, who featured in the series, claimed Azhar had attempted to "smear" his son's name. Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman also criticized the programme, claiming it depicted the town as "a hotbed of violent crime". The docu-series went on to win several awards. During the same year, Azhar became a presenter on BBC Three show ''Plastic Surgery Undressed'', alongside Vogue Williams. In May 2021, Azhar presented a BBC Two documentary ''The Battle For Britney: Fans, Cash, And A Conservatorship'', reporting from California and Louisiana on the #FreeBritney movement who claim music star

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

is being "kept a virtual prisoner in her own home" through a conservatorship managed by her father. Spears was reported to have criticized the documentary, describing it as "hypocritical". In May 2021, Azhar presented a four-part BBC series ''Scam City: Money, Mayhem and Maseratis'', investigating the world of

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scams, forex trading and pyramid schemes. In 2022, Azhar presented a six-part true-crime series ''Santa Claus the Serial Killer'' on the relaunched BBC Three channel, exploring the case of serial killer

Bruce McArthur The English language name Bruce arrived in Scotland with the Normans, from the place name Brix, Manche in Normandy, France, meaning "the willowlands". Initially promulgated via the descendants of king Robert the Bruce (1274−1329), it has been a ...

. The series was filmed in Canada and explores themes of race, faith, culture and sexuality. The Guardian criticised the series: "At times there is a sense that this is less an investigation and more a whistlestop tour of the Bruce McArthur murder tourism industry. These people have told their stories countless times now, and there is something truly unedifying about Azhar’s (and the audience’s) willingness to rubberneck at so much well-worn trauma." Azhar was appointed a member of the Advisory Board for the 2022 Edinburgh TV Festival, led by Afua Hirsch, appointed Advisory Chair in March 2022.

Awards

In May 2017, Azhar won a BAFTA for his work as a producer on the BBC series ''Muslims Like Us''. In 2018, Azhar’s show on the BBC Asian Network won Best Radio Show at the Asian Media Awards. In June 2019, Azhar won the first Sandford St Martin Journalism Award for his BBC radio programme ''The Dawn of British Jihad''. In 2020, Azhar won the

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

'Presenter of the Year' award for ''Hometown: A Killing''. In the same year, he also won 'Best Presenter' at the Grierson Awards for the same documentary series. Azhar has won an Amnesty International award for ''Panorama: The Secret Drone War.'' He has also been nominated for a Foreign Press Association Award for his BBC Radio 4 programme ''Fatwa'' and for his documentary ''Inside Gay Pakistan''. In August 2022, Azhar received an honorary fellowship at Leeds Trinity University, where he studied journalism for the first time in 18 years.

Personal life

Azhar is openly gay; and is a Muslim. He is an avid fan of musician Prince and horror films.

References

External links

Mobeen Azhar
official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Mobeen, Azhar Living people 21st-century British journalists 21st-century English writers BBC newsreaders and journalists BBC television presenters English people of Asian descent English actors of South Asian descent English television journalists English television presenters People from Huddersfield People from West Yorkshire Television personalities from Yorkshire English radio presenters LGBT journalists from the United Kingdom LGBT broadcasters from the United Kingdom 1980 births