Fly on the wall is a style ofdocumentary-making used infilm andtelevision production. The name derived from the idea that events are seencandidly, as afly on a wall might see them. In the purest form of fly-on-the-wall documentary-making, the camera crew works as unobtrusively as possible; however, it is also common for participants to be interviewed, often by an off-camera voice.^[1]

Decades beforestructured reality shows became popular, theBBC had broadcast fly-on-the-wall filmRoyal Family (a 1969 documentary produced in association with ITV),^[2][3][4] while 1974'sThe Family, is said to be the earliest example of areality TV docusoap on theBBC.^[5][6][7][8] In 1978 the BBC airedLiving in the Past recreating aBritish Iron Age settlement. In the late 1990s,Chris Terrill's docusoap seriesThe Cruise^[9][10][11] made a star of singer^[12] and TV personalityJane McDonald,^[13][14][15] while Welsh cleaner Maureen Rees^[16] became popular after her appearances on BBC One's^[17]Driving School.^[18]

Other British examples includeAirline,Dynamo: Magician Impossible and Channel 4'sEducating... series, while in the United States popular examples includeAmerican Factory,Cops,Deadliest Catch,Big Brother andWeiner, a film about a political sex scandal which developed during a mayoral election in New York.^[19]

• Cinéma vérité
• Direct cinema
• Reality television
• Television documentary

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