E4 declares an Emergency on Sunny Beach

24 August 2022

Emergency on Sunny Beach will give exclusive access to the Bulgarian emergency services

Every summer, the shores of Bulgaria’s Sunny Beach are awash with young Brits living their best lives on trips they’ll never forget. But in a place where drink, drugs and sex are never in short supply, summer can be a stressful season for those who live and work there.

In this unique 6x60’ new series, produced by Parable, E4 will take a fresh perspective on party tourism – by viewing the season through the all-knowing eyes of the Bulgarian emergency services and frontline workers as they attempt to keep Sunny Beach’s thriving tourist scene operating smoothly. What do these brave workers think of us Brits and how we choose to party and holiday, and what can we learn about ourselves through their unique perspective?

With exclusive access to the police, medical and fire services, this eye-opening series reveals the dizzying day-to-day reality of Sunny Beach in high season for the hard-working local teams during this frenzied period. What are these unpredictable, 24/7 jobs in this party-fuelled resort like, when the partying is just a bit too hard?

Cameras will follow the police as they tirelessly patrol parties and the beaches. But it’s not just the law that young Brits tussle with – the local medical clinics will be soothing scorching sunburns, nursing poolside palavers and tending to drunken accidents at sea and on land.

With the population of Sunny Beach swelling from 25,000 to 600,000 over the summer season, the heat is truly on for the staff and the hundreds of new recruits employed to keep Sunny Beach safe.

Commissioning Editor, Mel Bezalel said: “For decades, TV series have depicted young Brits in bars and clubs the world over, but this is the first series to adopt a different perspective on our adventures abroad. By asking local emergency workers to reveal their dealings with young Brits, we’re seeing ourselves through a different lens – how we party, how we graft and how we behave with our friends when we’re far from home… With unique insights from these hard-working frontline workers, this series will be funny, incisive and bring some surprising anthropology to E4 and All 4.”

David Wise, Parable's CEO and co-executive producer said: “Sunny Beach is such an extraordinary precinct in which to make a doc series. It’s so full of life, character, drama and humour and we believe that featuring the hard-working locals and looking at the hedonistic tourist scene through their eyes will be a real treat for E4 viewers”.

Emergency on Sunny Beach is produced by Parable and is executive produced by David Wise and Benjamin Leigh and series produced by Simon Davies. It was commissioned by E4 Commissioning Editor Mel Bezalel and Head of Youth and Digital Karl Warner.

It will air on E4 in 2023.            

ENDS