The series saw him seizing Trafalgar Square with a platoon of abandoned soldiers, bringing a dying village from Cornwall to annex London's Islington[15] and forming a rock group made up of lonely old people, The Zimmers.
The popstar pensioners, with a 90-year-old lead singer, covered The Who song "My Generation" which then broke into the UK charts, received more than 5 million YouTube hits and saw the band appear on NBC's The Jay Leno Show alongside George Clooney.
The Great Granny Chart Invasion won Best Current Affairs documentary at the Royal Television Society awards in 2008.
On several occasions for the show, he has staged an alternative Man Booker Prize using the residents of the Scottish town of Comrie as judges.
The SNP complained after Samuels drove a car covered in St George's flags around Scotland during the 2006 World Cup, after England fans had been attacked for wearing their national shirts.
[28] The National Geographic Channel announced Samuels had joined its new current affairs show Explorer as a global correspondent, reporting on US politics and covering stories in Australia, Pakistan, Iceland, Israel, Russia and Egypt.
[29][30] Samuels published his first book, Who Stole My Spear?, a candid exploration of what it means to be a man and the state of masculinity today.
Blending the autobiographical with journalistic and anthropological research, the book examined the plight of modern men – covering relationships, work, religion, mental health, fatherhood, pornography, and rites of passage.
[31] Samuels argued that, 'Trapped in bodies barely changed since caveman days, males are now contending with corporate culture, lifelong commitment, rampant depression and crazy expectations to be a success at work and home.