Dominic Littlewood: BBC host shouts in pain after being shot by taser

Shocking moment circulated on social media after being repeated on daytime TV

Dominic Littlewood fell to the floor in pain after being shot by a taser for a BBC documentary series.

The presenter agreed to be tasered by police as part of his 2019 documentary series Dom Does America, which saw him explore some of the most “dangerous jobs” in the USA.

This particular episode, which was repeated on BBC1 on Tuesday morning (17 August), saw Littlewood assist US officers in Texas.

Before he walked the streets, he agreed to be shot by the weapon to understand what it feels like.

As he prepared to be struck, the host was warned of the pain he would experience.

“Imagine a cramp throughout every muscle in your body,” an officer tells him. “That’s what this is like for five seconds,” he continues, assuring Littlewood he would still be able to “control [his] bowels, bladder, stuff like that”.

When he asks whether there was a “safety word like in 50 Shades of Grey“, the officer says: “You’re not going to have any control of what you’re saying or doing or screaming during that five seconds.”

Dominic Littlewood preparing to be tasered for BBC series ‘Dom Does America’ (BBC)

Sure enough, after he is tasered, he shouts and falls to the floor in agony in a moment that was initially broadcast in November 2019.

After being helped back to his feet, he says: “That was the most intense and quite horrible experience you’re ever going to have”.

In May, campaigners called for an urgent review of the use of tasers by police after two incidents of black men being tasered in the space of a week caused widespread outrage.

The government has been urged to stop the rollout of tasers amid concerns it has led to a “disturbing rise” in its “disproportionate” use against black people and those with mental ill health.

Dom Does America is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.