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8:30pm Tuesday 24 August on BBC THREE

The boys take centre stage this week as eight-year-old Matthew explains why he wants to break into the competitive world of child modelling, as BBC Three's Adult Season continues

BBC Three's recent Adult Season has proved a huge hit with 16–34 year olds with more watching the season and the channel than ever before.

BBC Three continues to be the most watched digital channel for 16-34 year olds for the hours it broadcasts - and has grown its share of young audiences by 58% since Danny Cohen began as Controller just over three years ago.

The Adult Season has just ended and ran over four weeks with a range of documentaries and entertainment shows looking at what it is like to be a young adult in Britain today. Online, BBC Three hosted a debate where young people shared their personal experiences of what it means to become an "adult".

Following the success of last year's Adult Season, which brought BBC Three its highest-rating two weeks in its history among the target audience of 16 to 34 year olds, the season returns this summer with a host of new and returning programmes.

The season will explore the pressures on young people to grow up quickly, and what it means to be an adult.

Danny Cohen, Controller BBC Three, says: "The Adult Season brought BBC Three record-breaking audiences last summer and we're excited about returning to a territory that had such a big impact with young viewers."

Leading the season of eight documentaries will be a series of four films entitled My Mum And Me.

If your parent is physically unwell, schoolfriend sympathy and a shoulder to cry on are often at hand. But for a young person with a parent suffering from mental health problems, the stigma can be overwhelming and domestic upheaval can be an unspoken secret.

Sunday 19 July, 9.00pm (6 x 60-minutes)

In Young, Dumb And Living Off Mum, a group of 17 to 25 year olds who have been waited on hand and foot all their lives by their worn and weary parents are thrust into the adult world of responsibility, budgeting and hard work.

Living on a basic weekly budget, the overgrown children experience a new way of life, poles apart from their previously pampered lifestyles.

Most teenagers row with their parents. But what happens if you're kicked out of the family home at such a young age? And living alone when in effect you are still a child?

Tony had to leave home after his mum discovered he was gay. At the tender age of 16, he was forced to fend for himself. He's managed to survive alone for the last two years, but only just. Now 18, Tony's had it with being unemployed, useless, skint and lonely but he's too ashamed of his life to go and face his mum.

Home Alone follows his journey as he becomes a grown-up, and tries to reconcile with his family. As he begins to sort his life out, Tony makes some extraordinary discoveries that lead him in an entirely new direction. Maybe the family he's been looking for can be found somewhere else – and maybe there's a different way to go home?

When you're a teenager the last thing you want in life is your mum to be your teacher, to be told what to do and to be chaperoned on every trip out.

In a revealing rites of passage documentary, Trapped In My Own Home explores exactly what this life is like for 13-year-old Megan.

Megan is home schooled by her strict Jehovah's Witness mum and dad and leads a life structured around rules and routines. She wants to be like other girls her age though she has no idea what other girls her age do – but Megan is ready for a change.

As she's pushing the boundaries, and attempting to spread her wings, her mum and dad reluctantly realise that their first born needs to be 'socialised' and find some friends, but where and how they do this is a problem.

Most young adults take their freedom for granted. They can choose their friends, stay out late, learn to drive and decide what they want to do as a career.

For people growing up on the autistic spectrum life is very different. Stuck in a strange limbo between childhood and adulthood they are unable to make these choices.

Please Let Me Grow Up! follows three characters with autism at pivotal moments on the rocky road to being accepted as an adult. They are all fighting for independence and responsibility but being frustrated by the shackles imposed on them by their disability, their families and the preconceived ideas of mainstream society.

Britain's Most Embarrassing Parents will count down the nation's top 10 eccentric mums and dads and feature impassioned pleas from their mortified offspring as to why their parents should be crowned Britain's most embarrassing.

From a transvestite dad, to a middle-aged mum who has gone under the knife to look the double of her teenage daughter, it seems the nation's parents have a lot to learn in the art of being cool in the eyes of their kids.

Presenter Kirsten O'Brien travels the UK in this one-hour special to take a warm-hearted and irreverent look at some of the country's most unorthodox parents, whose stories will be told through interviews and documentary-style footage.

The world of celebrity isn't immune to being an embarrassment to their kids as, also featured in our top 10, Vanessa Feltz's and Shameless actress Tina Malone's kids will testify.

This is the world of the child beauty pageant, where nine year olds get fake tans and seven year olds wear contact lenses.

Baby Beauty Queens follows three girls – aged between seven and nine – and their mothers in the lead-up to Mini Miss UK, the first American-style pageant to take place in Britain.

The programme also introduces the mastermind behind the pageant, a middle-aged ex-beauty queen who plans the entire event from her stairwell in Colchester. But who would enter such a competition?

In an exploration of the reasons and desires to be crowned Mini Miss UK, we discover that these baby beauty queens have surprising aspects to their lives.

From the evangelical Christians who are convinced that God will help them win the pageant, to the disadvantaged child for whom the contest holds the key to a better life, Baby Beauty Queens is an eccentric – and at times disturbing – snapshot of modern Britain.

What do most 21 year olds want? Otto Baxter knows exactly what he wants. He wants to have sex but he's still a virgin and spends much of his time thinking about the girls he'd like to date and the type of women he'd like to have sleep with.

At 21 Otto is on the brink of 'adulthood', but how does that feel when you have Down's syndrome and society still treats you like a child?

Otto – Love, Lust & Las Vegas follows Otto throughout his 'coming of age' year as he tackles the rites of passage most men his age are grappling with: searching for a girlfriend, getting a job, travelling and finding his place in the world. For Otto, this is a journey of self discovery and great adventure.

(6 x 30-minutes)

Underage And Pregnant goes beyond the statistics and tabloid headlines to reveal the real story of life as a pregnant schoolgirl and teenage mum.

The candid six-part series follows a mix of schoolgirl mums and some dads with varied backgrounds over a six-month period. From pregnancy to the birth and life with a baby, the teens tell their own stories in an honest portrayal of how their lives are transformed.

Different girls share their individual stories in each episode. As well as sharing their hopes and fears, viewers will see how the pregnancy affects the rest of their world, from relationships with partners, friends and family to the impact on their education, body image and social life.

BBC Learning will be using footage from Underage And Pregnant to create a free Personal Social and Health Education (PSHE) pack for use with Key Stage 3 and 4 pupils.

The season kicks off with My Big Decision, a documentary series following five pairs of teenage girls facing similar and potentially life-changing decisions.

Separated by age, culture and geography, but sharing the same all-consuming desires the girls go on a very personal journey of self discovery – but they're taking their mums and grans with them.

Taking a break from everyday life, the six women embark on a five day road trip across the length and breadth of the UK, immersing themselves in the subject matter. From sex and pregnancy to binge drinking and plastic surgery, the teens are set to make a decision that could change the course of their lives.

BBC Three explores what it is like to be young and growing up in Britain in 2009 in a new season of programmes. The Adult Season takes a snapshot of young Britain, capturing the essence of what life is like as a young person in society today and follows the stories of teenagers at the frontline of becoming adults.

Danny Cohen, Controller of BBC Three, said: "This Season aims to explore the boundaries between being an adult and a child, and how these appear to be changing in Britain today. We want to start a conversation with our audience about the age of adult responsibility – and the dangers of growing up too fast."

Leading the season is My Big Decision, a five-part documentary series following teenage girls on the cusp of womanhood, facing very adult situations and decisions that will affect the rest of their lives.