10 Film Documentaries That Accidentally Uncovered Major Scoops

8. Icarus - The Russian Government-Backed Doping Program

Gimme Shelter 1970 documentary
Netflix

Jumping ahead to a more recent event, the 2017 Netflix documentary Icarus centres on sports doping - the practice of athletes using illegal, performance-enhancing drugs, in order to boost their chances of winning.

Before filming began, the premise was for director Bryan Fogel to investigate this shady business with the aid of Russian scientist Grigory Rodchenkov, who would show Fogel a way of taking these illegal drugs that makes them difficult to detect.

However, the production then took a seriously crazy turn.

Throughout the course of shooting, Rodchenkov ended up revealing the existence of a government-backed doping program, one that was built to allow the Russian team to cheat at the 2014 Winter Olympics. This confession (which was eventually verified by the World Anti-Doping Agency) placed Rodchenkov's life in danger, forcing him to be hidden from the Russian government via protective custody.

It's a wild ride from start to end, with Fogel accidentally stumbling across the scoop of a lifetime while producing his relatively simple documentary.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.