Airdate: My Son, The Jihadi

Tomorrow night TEN screens UK documentary My Son The Jihadi, to be introduced by Carrie Bickmore and Waleed Aly.

It recounts the story of Sally Evans and her son Thomas, the only white British man known to have been recruited to Al-Shabaab.

My Son The Jihadi charts Thomas’ ordinary childhood and upbringing in a loving home to the devastation felt by his mother and younger brother Michael when they discovered he had travelled to Somalia to join the al-Qaeda affiliate.

With exclusive access and filmed over a nine-month period, the documentary explores how Thomas was radicalised in Britain and transformed from a mild-mannered “normal teenage lad” into Abdul Hakim, a murderous, Jihadi-preaching terrorist.

On Wednesday night, The Project will speak exclusively to Sally.

Waleed Aly says: “The idea that this could happen to any Australian family is perhaps one of the most confronting thoughts of our time. But it’s also one of the most important, which is why anything that can give us some insight into this experience is so immensely valuable.”

Radiotimes.com described My Son The Jihadi as “an extraordinary piece of television – an ugly story, beautifully told” and Telegraph.co.uk described the documentary as “a masterful piece of television” and “urgent and essential viewing”. Independent.co.uk touted it as “a powerful real-life story of confused identities”.

9:30pm Tuesday on TEN.