Gangster

A covert entry at a lock-up garage in Essex reveals hundreds of kilos of cocaine hidden in holdalls.

After years of surveillance, coded diaries and phone-box intelligence, Operation Extend moves into its decisive phase.

The arrest of a key member of the organisation exposes encrypted contacts and overseas links, while pressure from South American suppliers forces fresh movement within the network.

Sixty-one million pounds’ worth of cocaine is seized in a covert customs operation and multiple arrests follow, including Brian Wright’s son and senior associates.

Meanwhile, Wright disappears.

As Wright remains beyond reach, the network he built begins to unravel.

Credits Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Louise Clarke Producer: Patrick Kiteley Journalism Assistants: Tim Fernley and Hattie Valentine Technical producer and sound designer: Nicky Edwards Commissioning Editor: Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Producer: Sam Proffitt Editor and Executive Producer: Tara McDermott

Acknowledgements Luis Navia is the co-author, with Jesse Fink, of Pure Narco: One Man’s True Story of 25 Years Inside the Colombian and Mexican Cartels.

Horses and gambling form the backdrop to Brian Brendan Wright’s public life. In racing circles he appears as a wealthy, well-connected owner with celebrity friends and a passion for betting. Wright’s name begins to surface in allegations of race-fixing and inside information.

As police investigate claims that horses were doped and jockeys paid for tips, Wright’s Chelsea Harbour flat is raided. Although charges do not stick, the scrutiny exposes how his racing interests provided both cover and access.

Behind the spectacle of race days and nightclub hospitality sits the operational core of the organisation and we hear the personal cost of a network that, by 1998, had moved multiple boatloads of cocaine onto British soil.

Credits Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Louise Clarke Producer: Patrick Kiteley Journalism Assistants: Tim Fernley and Hattie Valentine Technical producer and sound designer: Nicky Edwards Commissioning Editor: Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Producer: Sam Proffitt Editor and Executive Producer: Tara McDermott

Acknowledgements Luis Navia is the co-author, with Jesse Fink, of Pure Narco: One Man’s True Story of 25 Years Inside the Colombian and Mexican Cartels.

As cocaine profits multiply along the route to Europe, HMCE launches Operation Extend following the seizure of the Sea Mist.

Barry Clarke and his team monitor payphones, trace Colombian numbers and build intelligence from a London office, attempting to map the network behind Brian Brendan Wright.

Operation Extend becomes a long-term effort to understand a network that communicates cautiously and avoids direct contact.

Alongside the logistics sits the human cost. Clare Campbell describes the impact of cocaine addiction on her brother, a respected journalist whose life unraveled. For investigators, the case is not only about shipments and surveillance, but the consequences of a trade that damages families while its organisers appear untouchable.

As surveillance tightens, Wright grows suspicious, phone boxes are abandoned and tactics shift. Across the Atlantic, US agents continue to pursue the Narco whose connections help explain how bulk quantities of cocaine reached Europe.

Operation Extend becomes a test of patience - assembling fragments of intelligence in pursuit of the man known as The Milkman.

Credits Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Louise Clarke Producer: Patrick Kiteley Journalism Assistants: Tim Fernley and Hattie Valentine Technical producer and sound designer: Nicky Edwards Commissioning Editor: Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Producer: Sam Proffitt Editor and Executive Producer: Tara McDermott

Acknowledgements Luis Navia is the co-author, with Jesse Fink, of Pure Narco: One Man’s True Story of 25 Years Inside the Colombian and Mexican Cartels.

Who were the middlemen behind the cocaine flooding Britain in the 1990s? From midnight yacht transfers in the Atlantic to cartel Narcos in Miami, and US agents piecing together the network supplying Brian Brendan Wright.

Credits Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Louise Clarke Producer: Patrick Kiteley Journalism Assistants: Tim Fernley and Hattie Valentine Technical producer and sound designer: Nicky Edwards Commissioning Editor: Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Producer: Sam Proffitt Editor and Executive Producer: Tara McDermott

Acknowledgements Luis Navia is the co-author, with Jesse Fink, of Pure Narco: One Man’s True Story of 25 Years Inside the Colombian and Mexican Cartels.

A force nine gale off the coast of County Cork leads to a late-night report of a vessel behaving oddly in Cork Harbour. When Irish Customs board the Sea Mist, they uncover 600 kilos of cocaine hidden inside a dumb-waiter shaft. The seizure becomes one of the largest in Irish history and draws intense media attention as the crew appear in court in the small town of Cobh.

Evidence recovered on board - including a UK mobile phone number and a handheld GPS tracing a route from Venezuela across the Atlantic - points investigators towards Britain. Former HMCE officer Barry Clarke describes how the case begins to focus on a cautious, elusive figure with Irish roots: Brian Brendan Wright, known as The Milkman.

Set against the backdrop of 1990s Britain, where cocaine use is rising rapidly, the Sea Mist becomes the starting point for a long-running investigation into international cartels, middlemen and maritime smuggling - and the man accused of supplying industrial quantities of cocaine to the UK.

Credits Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Louise Clarke Producer: Patrick Kiteley Journalism Assistants: Tim Fernley and Hattie Valentine Technical producer and sound designer: Nicky Edwards Commissioning Editor: Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Producer: Sam Proffitt Editor and Executive Producer: Tara McDermott

Acknowledgements Luis Navia is the co-author, with Jesse Fink, of Pure Narco: One Man’s True Story of 25 Years Inside the Colombian and Mexican Cartels

In the 1990s, Brian Brendan Wright, known as The Milkman, became one of the UK’s most significant cocaine traffickers. His operation stretched from coca labs in Colombia, through Venezuelan jungles and Caribbean sea routes, to quiet marinas and racecourses in Britain. Bulk shipments crossed the Atlantic by sailboat. Cartel brokers negotiated deals in Miami. Public phone boxes carried coded conversations.

At home, Wright cultivated a different image: racehorse owner, gambler, a familiar face in elite restaurants and private boxes. Behind that public life sat an organisation moving hundreds of kilos of cocaine at a time. Couriers, skippers and middlemen handled the risk. Cocaine flooded British streets while its organiser remained largely unseen.

The investigation to dismantle the network lasted 11 years. Customs officers, DEA agents and police forces across multiple countries tracked phone numbers, cracked codes, followed boats and recruited insiders. Arrests reached from Colombian suppliers to UK logistics men. As pressure mounted, Wright fled abroad and became one of Britain’s most wanted fugitives.

Gangster: The Story of the Milkman follows the rise and fall of a transatlantic cocaine empire — the smugglers who ran it, the officers who pursued it, and the human cost left in its wake.

Credits:

Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Louise Clarke Producer: Patrick Kiteley Journalism Assistants: Tim Fernley and Hattie Valentine Technical producer and sound designer: Nicky Edwards Commissioning Editor: Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Producer: Sam Proffitt Editor and Executive Producer: Tara McDermott

Acknowledgements Luis Navia is the co-author, with Jesse Fink, of Pure Narco: One Man’s True Story of 25 Years Inside the Colombian and Mexican Cartels.

The Great Train Robber fugitive faces a stark choice: depression, debt and death in Rio ... or surrender to the UK justice system.

Twenty-five years ago, Britain Most Wanted septuagenarian ceremoniously flew home on a private jet chartered by The Sun newspaper, after 35 years on the run. Some celebrated him as a hero, others demanded he live the rest of his days in Belmarsh Prison.

As the series comes to a close, actor Daniel Mays reflects on how and why Britain built-up the Ronnie Biggs myth.

Credits: Presenter - Daniel Mays Producers - Phoebe McIndoe & Jude Shapiro Executive Producer - Jack Howson Associate Exec - Chris Pickard Mix Engineering - Will Fitzpatrick Commissioning Producer - Sam Proffitt Commissioning Executive - Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Editor - Richard Maddock

Contributors include: Ursula and Chris Crocker, ex-housemates of Biggs Professor Dick Hobbs, criminologist Colin MacKenzie, crime reporter for the Daily Express Professor Ruth Penfold-Mounce, celebrity crime expert Chris Pickard, ghostwriter for Biggs Nick Reynolds, sculptor and son of the Great Train Robbery gang leader Jim Shreim, documentarian and neighbour of Biggs Noel ‘Razor’ Smith, writer and former armed robber Brian Stone, cellmate of Biggs Mike Sullivan, crime editor for The Sun Reverend Dave Tomlinson, officiant at Biggs's funeral

A Peanut & Crumb production for Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds

Buy your ticket for ‘The Ronnie Biggs Experience’. For fifty dollars you will be entitled to Brazilian barbecue, a few beers, and an intimate audience with an international celebrity fugitive. Branded T-Shirts are available upon request.

Live music may be provided by the Sex Pistols or, otherwise, a pop band of adorable children.

Warning: the risk of a kidnap attempt occurring within the duration of this event is high. Snakes are also a known hazard.

This episode has been edited since publication.

Credits: Presenter - Daniel Mays Producers - Phoebe McIndoe & Jude Shapiro Executive Producer - Jack Howson Associate Exec - Chris Pickard Mix Engineering - Will Fitzpatrick Commissioning Producer - Sam Proffitt Commissioning Executive - Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Editor - Richard Maddock

Contributors include: Michael ‘Breiti’ Breitkopf & Bruce Henry Leitman, musical collaborators of Biggs Ursula Crocker, ex-housemate of Biggs Colin MacKenzie, crime reporter for the Daily Express Professor Ruth Penfold-Mounce, celebrity crime expert Chris Pickard, ghostwriter for Biggs Alex Popovics, son of Biggs’ partner Ulla Sopher John Robb, musician and punk critic Jim Shreim, documentarian and neighbour of Biggs

A Peanut & Crumb production for Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds

Welcome to Rio in 1970. Home to the most beautiful football team the world has ever known. Home to a brutal military dictatorship. And, now, home of the last Great Train Robber at large.

The Ronnie Biggs rollercoaster is about to crank up for another wild ride that takes in a Scotland Yard sting, samba, teenage pregnancy, the tabloid scoop of the decade, and an accidental legal loophole that defies the British government.

Credits: Presenter - Daniel Mays Producers - Phoebe McIndoe & Jude Shapiro Executive Producer - Jack Howson Associate Exec - Chris Pickard Mix Engineering - Will Fitzpatrick Commissioning Producer - Sam Proffitt Commissioning Executive - Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Editor - Richard Maddock

Contributors include: Ursula and Chris Crocker, ex-housemates of Biggs Colin MacKenzie, crime reporter for the Daily Express Chris Pickard, ghostwriter for Biggs Jim Shreim, documentarian and neighbour of Biggs Noel ‘Razor’ Smith, writer and former armed robber

A Peanut & Crumb production for Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds

What price freedom? And why should you never wear crocodile shoes when you’re on the run?!

While the rest of the Great Train Robbery gang are serving thirty-year sentences, the runaways are enjoying the delights of mid-sixties Paris and Las Vegas. But the life of an outlaw is not all about cabaret clubs, Frank Sinatra residencies, and sweet freedom … painful plastic surgery and familial misery is part of the package too.

Credits: Presenter - Daniel Mays Producers - Phoebe McIndoe & Jude Shapiro Executive Producer - Jack Howson Associate Exec - Chris Pickard Mix Engineering - Will Fitzpatrick Additional Production Support - Ashley Clivery Commissioning Producer - Sam Proffitt Commissioning Executive - Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Editor - Richard Maddock

Contributors include: Ian Dowding, nephew of Biggs Doctor Sharonna Pearl, historian and face theorist Nick Reynolds, sculptor and son of the Great Train Robbery gang leader Noel ‘Razor’ Smith, writer and former armed robber Brian Stone, cellmate of Biggs

A Peanut & Crumb production for Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds

This episode contains reference to self harm.

We’re in Wandsworth Prison, where the lights never go out. And where freedom for Ronnie Biggs might only be a chess game or a rope climb away …

Meanwhile - outside the jail walls - the British establishment is shaking under the weight of working-class anger, the Profumo affair, the Swinging Sixties, and a media frenzy at the severe sentences handed down to the Great Train Robbers.

If you or someone you know has been affected by any of the issues raised in this programme, details of organisations offering information and support can be found at bbc.co.uk/actionline

Credits: Presenter - Daniel Mays Producers - Phoebe McIndoe & Jude Shapiro Executive Producer - Jack Howson Associate Exec - Chris Pickard Mix Engineering - Will Fitzpatrick Additional Production Support - Ashley Clivery Commissioning Producer - Sam Proffitt Commissioning Executive - Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Editor - Richard Maddock

Contributors include: Professor Dick Hobbs, criminologist Noel ‘Razor’ Smith, writer and former armed robber Brian Stone, cellmate of Biggs

A Peanut & Crumb production for Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds

In 1963, a small-time South London carpenter joins the biggest robbery in British history for one reason - he knows a retired train driver who is semi-competent. And yet Ronnie Biggs will, for the next fifty years, be far more famous than the man who planned it, the rest of the gang who pulled it off, the train driver who was so brutally attacked, or the Scotland Yard detectives who solved the case.

How exactly is a criminal ‘legend’ born? Actor Daniel Mays delves into unheard Ronnie Biggs tapes and takes us back to the rubble of post-war London to find out …

Credits: Presenter - Daniel Mays Producers - Phoebe McIndoe & Jude Shapiro Executive Producer - Jack Howson Associate Exec - Chris Pickard Mix Engineering - Will Fitzpatrick Additional Production Support - Ashley Clivery Commissioning Producer - Sam Proffitt Commissioning Executive - Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Editor - Richard Maddock

Contributors include: Professor Dick Hobbs, criminologist Nick Reynolds, sculptor and son of the Great Train Robbery gang leader Noel ‘Razor’ Smith, writer and former armed robber Brian Stone, cellmate of Biggs

A Peanut & Crumb production for Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds

How did a small-time carpenter with a minor and fumbled role in a 1963 violent heist become Britain’s most famous fugitive and - for many - an unlikely folk hero? From gangland tea boy to Brazilian playboy, this series recounts the controversial rollercoaster life of Ronnie Biggs in his own words, through previously unheard recordings.

Actor Daniel Mays, who portrayed the Great Train Robber in a major ITV drama, hosts the podcast, marking the 25th anniversary of Biggs’ return to Britain to face justice after 36 years on the run.

Listen first on BBC Sounds from May 7th, 2026.

A Peanut & Crumb production for Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds

Livvy Haydock explores the extraordinary life of Linda Calvey, the woman they call "the Black Widow." She rose through the ranks of London’s criminal underworld to become the UK’s most notorious female gangster.

We follow her journey from humble beginnings in East London to time served in the infamous H Wing, alongside killers like Myra Hindley and Rose West.

It’s a story of love, loyalty, betrayal and murder, of a woman who fell for a bank robber and ended up leading a gang of her own.

Linda was a young mum living in the East End when her husband Mickey was shot dead by police during a robbery. After his death, she stepped into his world. What followed was a descent into armed robberies and organised crime, culminating in a killing that would result in a life sentence in prison.

She was nicknamed the Black Widow by a police officer, as all her husbands and lovers ended up either dead or behind bars.

Now 76, Linda tells her story in her own words. And for the first time her children, Melanie and Neil, speak out about the lasting consequences of her criminal past.

We also hear from detectives in the Metropolitan Police's Flying Squad, aka The Sweeney, the men and women who were tasked with bringing criminals like Linda to justice.

This podcast includes strong language and descriptions of violence.

Credits Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Kate West Producers: Patrick Kiteley and Matthew Bone Journalism Assistants: Tim Fernley and Ellie Dover Drama Writer: Paul Jones Sound Design: Richard Hannaford Assistant Commissioner: Lorraine Okuefuna Commissioning Editor: Richard Maddock Editors and Executive Producers: Carl Johnston and Clare Fordham

Linda Welford was raised in London's East End in the 1960s; a tight and tough community with a reputation for a thriving criminal underworld, ruled with an iron fist by gangsters like the Kray twins.

One of nine children, Linda lived a sheltered life with her family in Stepney until she met armed robber Mickey Calvey. This was the so-called golden age of armed robbery and Mickey was making a fortune sticking up banks and Post Offices with a sawn-off shotgun.

When Mickey and Linda got married, she was allowed a front seat to Mickey's 'work,' as his gang begin planning robberies around their kitchen table. Not content with just making the teas, Linda starts to make suggestions and finds she has a taste for a life of crime.

Credits Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Kate West Producers: Patrick Kiteley and Matthew Bone Journalism Assistants: Tim Fernley and Ellie Dover Drama Writer: Paul Jones Sound Design: Richard Hannaford Assistant Commissioner: Lorraine Okuefuna Commissioning Editor: Richard Maddock Editors and Executive Producers: Carl Johnston and Clare Fordham

Linda, Mickey and the kids are living the high life when he agrees to take on a job with a new gang - a raid on a cash collection at a London supermarket just before Christmas.

As Linda waits at home, armed police are lying in wait outside the supermarket. When the police rush towards them, the rest of Mickey's team flee, leaving him alone on the crowded street clutching his weapon. He is shot dead.

When Linda hears of her husband's death something inside her snaps and at his graveside she makes a vow to provide for their two young kids by carrying on his "work" as an armed robber. But before she can get started, another man comes on the scene - someone altogether more deadly and dangerous.

Credits Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Kate West Producers: Patrick Kiteley and Matthew Bone Journalism Assistants: Tim Fernley and Ellie Dover Drama Writer: Paul Jones Sound Design: Richard Hannaford Assistant Commissioner: Lorraine Okuefuna Commissioning Editor: Richard Maddock Editors and Executive Producers: Carl Johnston and Clare Fordham

Linda discovers Ronnie's dark side as he lets slip a shocking secret about the day Mickey died.

She can't leave Ronnie, because he's too dangerous. But luckily for Linda, the police solve that problem for her - catching Ronnie red handed trying to pull off a million pound heist.

With Ronnie out of the way, Linda begins her mission to become an armed robber in an underworld ruled by men.

Credits Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Kate West Producers: Patrick Kiteley and Matthew Bone Journalism Assistants: Tim Fernley and Ellie Dover Drama Writer: Paul Jones Sound Design: Richard Hannaford Assistant Commissioner: Lorraine Okuefuna Commissioning Editor: Richard Maddock Editors and Executive Producers: Carl Johnston and Clare Fordham

A partial fingerprint at the scene of a violent robbery puts the flying squad on Linda's trail. While they watch, she continues to live the high life funding by a spate of terrifying armed raids.

A team of officers recall the day they caught Linda red handed at yet another Post Office heist, and when Linda finds herself at the wrong end of the barrel of a gun, she knows her time is up.

But her time inside takes an unexpected turn, as she finds a life for herself inside Holloway.

Credits Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Kate West Producers: Patrick Kiteley and Matthew Bone Journalism Assistants: Tim Fernley and Ellie Dover Drama Writer: Paul Jones Sound Design: Richard Hannaford Assistant Commissioner: Lorraine Okuefuna Commissioning Editor: Richard Maddock Editors and Executive Producers: Carl Johnston and Clare Fordham

After being released from prison, Linda's living the quiet life catching up on lost time with her two kids.

Trouble soon finds her again as Ronnie Cook's sentence also comes to an end. When Linda brings Ronnie home for a visit, the couple are confronted by a hitman and Linda's small kitchen is turned into a brutal murder scene.

But as police begin to question Linda, they discover that the 'The Black Widow' could have her boyfriend's blood on her hands in more ways than one.

Credits Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Kate West Producers: Patrick Kiteley and Matthew Bone Journalism Assistants: Tim Fernley and Ellie Dover Drama Writer: Paul Jones Sound Design: Richard Hannaford Assistant Commissioner: Lorraine Okuefuna Commissioning Editor: Richard Maddock Editors and Executive Producers: Carl Johnston and Clare Fordham

Linda spends the next 18 years behind bars with some of the UK's most notorious female killers. She shares stories of a life inside, a shock prison wedding and returning back to reality and a life on the straight and narrow.

With her criminal past behind her, Linda reflects on the effect of her crimes both on the victims, and on her two children left to grow up without their parents.

Credits Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Kate West Producers: Patrick Kiteley and Matthew Bone Journalism Assistants: Tim Fernley and Ellie Dover Drama Writer: Paul Jones Sound Design: Richard Hannaford Assistant Commissioner: Lorraine Okuefuna Commissioning Editor: Richard Maddock Editors and Executive Producers: Carl Johnston and Clare Fordham

The story of the biggest prison smuggling plot ever busted in the UK - and the love story at the heart of it.

Journalist Amber Haque untangles what happens when mental health nurse Amy Hatfield meets convicted criminal Joe Whittingham. Her investigation leads into a world of blackmail and manipulation, where you never quite know who to trust or who's watching.

Credits Host: Amber Haque Producer: Becca Bryers Sound design: Ivor Manley and Andy Fell Story and music consultant: Emma Weatherill Development by: Rob Byrne, Rhiannon Nevada and Emma Shaw Production management: Gaelan Davis-Connolly and Debbie Wadell Executive producer: Joe Kent Commissioning producer: Sam Proffitt Commissioning executive: Louise Kattenhorn and Lorraine Okuefuna Commissioning editor: Richard Maddock A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live

The last thing mental health nurse Amy expected to encounter when she took a job at Lindholme prison was someone offering romance.

Then she met Joe - cheeky, brimming with charisma and a career criminal.

But surely she knows better than to listen to his relentless attempts to charm her….

Credits Host: Amber Haque Producer: Becca Bryers Sound design: Ivor Manley Executive producer: Joe Kent

A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live

Amy is risking it all for a relationship with career criminal Joe - but who is the boy from Bradford she’s falling in love with.

Host Amber Haque delves deep into his past and jumps down the rabbit hole of #prisontok as she attempts to make sense of the illicit affair and who’s really in control.

Credits Host: Amber Haque Producer: Becca Bryers Sound design: Andy Fell Executive producer: Joe Kent

A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live

Details of information and support with addiction is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline

Smuggle one package of drugs into prison for her boyfriend Joe and he’ll be able to pay off his debts. That’s what Amy needs to do and then she can concentrate on planning their future together, or so she thinks. It’s not long till he’ll be released and then they can have the proper relationship she dreams of.

Joe insists the smuggling is just a one-off, but will Amy do what he's asking?

Credits Host: Amber Haque Producer: Becca Bryers Sound design: Ivor Manley Executive producer: Joe Kent

A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live

Highly-addictive, relatively cheap and easy to smuggle, Spice is running rampage through Britain’s prisons.

And Spice is the reason Amy finds Joe zombie-like in his cell, eyes rolled back in his head.

The reason, he’s in debt with other prisoners.

The reason he’s asking her to smuggle something in for him. Again.

Credits Host: Amber Haque Producer: Becca Bryers Sound design: Andy Fell Executive producer: Joe Kent A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live

Details of information and support with addiction is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline

Amy knows this is the final run - just one more package of drugs to smuggle in, one more drop-off before Joe walks free and maybe they can leave crime behind.

But this time, someone is watching.

Will the couple stay loyal to each other, as a wider conspiracy begins to unravel?

Credits Host: Amber Haque Producer: Becca Bryers Sound design: Ivor Manley Executive producer: Joe Kent A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live

Details of information and support with addiction is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline

Amy and Joe had been planning a future together, outside — but now they’re stuck behind bars, facing the consequences of their actions.

In this final episode, host Amber Haque unpicks how their story ends - and finds there’s still love, but also loss.

And for Amy, the question that lingers - was any of it ever real?

Credits Host: Amber Haque Producer: Becca Bryers Sound design: Ivor Manley Story and music consultant: Emma Weatherill Development by: Rob Byrne, Rhiannon Nevada and Emma Shaw Production management: Gaelan Davis-Connolly and Debbie Wadell Executive producer: Joe Kent A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live Commissioning producer: Sam Proffitt Commissioning executive: Louise Kattenhorn and Lorraine Okuefuna Commissioning editor: Richard Maddock

A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live

From the back alleys of Hong Kong to the neon-lit Chinatowns of Britain, Georgie Pai built a nationwide criminal empire through his Triad gang Wo Shing Wo. With a network of protection rackets, gambling dens and an army of loyal followers, he controlled his turf with threats, violence and machetes. Gangster steps inside the world of the Triads. A brotherhood bound by secret handshakes and elaborate rituals, where loyalty is sworn in blood. For decades, Georgie Pai’s name alone caused absolute terror amongst Britain’s Chinese community. He was deported back to Hong Kong several times, but with police unable to pin him to a single crime, it was left to a team of journalists to bring him down.

Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford Producers: Patrick Kiteley & Matt Toulson Fixer in Hong Kong: Michelle Chan Music: Andy Simms and Reliable Source Music Journalism Assistants: Hattie Valentine & Ellie Dover Commissioning Producer: Sam Proffitt Commissioning Executive: Lorraine Okuefuna and Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Editor: Richard Maddock Editor and Executive Producer: Clare Fordham

From the neon-lit Chinatowns of Britain to the back streets of Hong Kong, we learn why the Triads were feared by so many. The secret societies were formed hundreds of years ago as resistance movements but morphed into organised crime. Triad membership has long been outlawed in Hong Kong, but for decades they were a powerful and insidious force. Their influence stretched across continents, with the groups involved in drugs, extortion, prostitution, armed robbery, kidnappings and loan sharking.

We visit Georgie Pai’s birthplace, a rural village close to the border of mainland China. Through those who knew him and the history of the region, we uncover how he was recruited into Wo Shing Wo and track his rise to the position of Red Pole – an enforcer with an army of disciples. But all that power can come at a cost.

Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford Producers: Patrick Kiteley & Matt Toulson Fixer in Hong Kong: Michelle Chan Music: Andy Simms and Reliable Source Music Journalism Assistants: Hattie Valentine & Ellie Dover Commissioning Producer: Sam Proffitt Commissioning Executive: Lorraine Okuefuna and Louise Kattenhorn

Archive: Drunken Master II: Golden Harvest, Paragon Films, Hong Kong Stuntmen Association. Directed by Chia-Liang Liu and Jackie Chan.

Two Hong Kong nationals are arrested in Southampton after guns are found in a vehicle. One of them speaks to police, revealing that a flourishing protection racket is operating right under their noses. He also provides the name of their gang leader – Georgie Pai. Hampshire Constabulary sets up a Triad squad but quickly encounters a wall of silence. The terrified community fears not only for themselves but also for their relatives back in Hong Kong.

Four hundred miles away in Glasgow, detectives hear similar reports of businesses being extorted and they hear that name again… Georgie Pai. He’s now on the radar of police across the country and under scrutiny from immigration authorities. But as his criminal empire grows, he forgets to renew his tourist visa. Georgie Pai is deported back to Hong Kong for the first time, but even in exile, he continues pulling the strings.

Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford Producers: Patrick Kiteley & Matt Toulson Fixer in Hong Kong: Michelle Chan Music: Andy Simms and Reliable Source Music Journalism Assistants: Hattie Valentine & Ellie Dover Commissioning Producer: Sam Proffitt Commissioning Executive: Lorraine Okuefuna and Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Editor: Richard Maddock Editor and Executive Producer: Clare Fordham

By the 1980s, Georgie Pai has been arrested in Glastonbury for overstaying a tourist visa, found guilty of terrorising Chinese communities in Southampton, and deported back to Hong Kong. But borders are no barrier for a man with the right connections. He slips back into Britain and continues to expand his empire.

Manchester becomes his nerve centre as police begin building a database of suspected Triad gangsters. But with Wo Shing Wo’s growing power comes a rising tide of violence. One of Georgie Pai’s associates is brutally attacked with machetes, a warning that it is far from an isolated incident. Across the UK, violent clashes between rival Triad factions are becoming alarmingly common, each gang carving up territory in a bloody, escalating turf war.

Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford Producers: Patrick Kiteley & Matt Toulson Fixer in Hong Kong: Michelle Chan Music: Andy Simms and Reliable Source Music Journalism Assistants: Hattie Valentine & Ellie Dover Commissioning Producer: Sam Proffitt Commissioning Executive: Lorraine Okuefuna and Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Editor: Richard Maddock Editor and Executive Producer: Clare Fordham

A video war is raging across Britain’s Chinatowns, fuelled by a booming market for Hong Kong films and soaps, copied and rented out for huge profit. In Manchester, Wo Shing Wo quickly seizes control, establishing a near-monopoly on the lucrative video rental trade.

But where money flows, so does violence. In Glasgow, restaurant owner Philip Wong is brutally murdered by contract killers wielding machetes. Police suspect his death came after he refused to cooperate with Wo Shing Wo, who demanded a share of his profitable Chinese video business. Despite investigations, the three men wanted for the murder have never been traced.

Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford Producers: Patrick Kiteley & Matt Toulson Fixer in Hong Kong: Michelle Chan Music: Andy Simms and Reliable Source Music Journalism Assistants: Hattie Valentine & Ellie Dover Commissioning producer: Sam Proffitt Commissioning executive: Lorraine Okuefuna and Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning editor: Richard Maddock Editor and Executive Producer: Clare Fordham

Archive: The Cook Report: Meet The Triads (Central Television, ITV)

It’s the 1990s and Wo Shing Wo gangsters think they’re untouchable. Georgie Pai is fighting yet another deportation order after being caught in the UK again. He’s granted bail on the condition that he reports weekly to a local police station.

Meanwhile, a team of television journalists set up a sting in Manchester, aiming to expose how the Triads operate. The broadcast is devastating, a huge ‘loss of face’, which in the eyes of many in the Chinese community turns Georgie Pai from a feared villain to laughingstock overnight. Georgie Pai ends up fleeing to Cheltenham, leaving the Triad life behind him. But in the gang world, there’s always someone waiting in the wings to become top dog.

Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford Producers: Patrick Kiteley & Matt Toulson Fixer in Hong Kong: Michelle Chan Music: Andy Simms and Reliable Source Music Journalism Assistants: Hattie Valentine & Ellie Dover Commissioning Producer: Sam Proffitt Commissioning Executive: Lorraine Okuefuna and Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Editor: Richard Maddock Editor and Executive Producer: Clare Fordham

Archive: The Cook Report: Meet The Triads (Central Television, ITV)

The story of Curtis Warren - one of Britain's biggest and wealthiest drug barons.

Against a backdrop of unemployment and racism, Curtis Warren starts to make his mark on the streets of Toxteth. But a botched robbery lands him in prison for the first time.

This podcast includes strong language and descriptions of violence.

Presenter: Livvy Haydock. Series producer: Paul Grant Producer: Scott Hesketh Technical production and sound design: Matthew Dempsey and Richard Hannaford. Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley Production Manager: Cathy Clark Commissioning editor: Richard Maddock. Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston

Curtis Warren begins his remarkable rise from lowly street dealer to dealing directly with the notorious Colombian cocaine cartels. His first £100m shipment gets through - right under the noses of customs.

This podcast includes strong language and descriptions of violence.

Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series producer: Paul Grant Producer: Scott Hesketh Technical production and sound design: Matthew Dempsey and Richard Hannaford. Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley Production Manager: Cathy Clark Commissioning editor: Richard Maddock. Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston

After walking free from a major drugs trial, Curtis Warren steps up his international drug dealing operation. He’s introduced to world of unimaginable wealth, excess and extravagance.

This podcast includes strong language and descriptions of violence.

Presenter: Livvy Haydock. Series producer: Paul Grant Producer: Scott Hesketh Technical production and sound design: Matthew Dempsey and Richard Hannaford. Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley Production Manager: Cathy Clark Commissioning editor: Richard Maddock. Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston

A bloody gang war breaks out on the streets of Liverpool. Curtis Warren is in the firing line. He moves his operation to Holland, but the police are closing in.

This podcast includes strong language and descriptions of violence.

Presenter: Livvy Haydock. Series producer: Paul Grant Producer: Scott Hesketh Technical production and sound design: Matthew Dempsey and Richard Hannaford. Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley Production Manager: Cathy Clark Commissioning editor: Richard Maddock. Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston

Curtis Warren looks to bribe a corrupt police officer to get a mate off the hook. But he’s got major troubles of his own as police finally catch up with their target number one.

This podcast includes strong language and some descriptions of violence.

Presenter: Livvy Haydock. Series producer: Paul Grant Producer: Scott Hesketh Technical production and sound design: Matthew Dempsey and Richard Hannaford. Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley Production Manager: Cathy Clark Commissioning editor: Richard Maddock. Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston

Just weeks after being released from jail, Warren finds himself back inside after his latest million pound drug deal is busted by police. He indulges in illicit sexual encounters behind bars.

This podcast includes strong language and some descriptions of violence.

Presenter: Livvy Haydock. Series producer: Paul Grant Producer: Scott Hesketh Technical production and sound design: Matthew Dempsey and Richard Hannaford. Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley Production Manager: Cathy Clark Commissioning editor: Richard Maddock. Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston

Livvy Haydock travels from the streets of post-war Birmingham to the sun-kissed beaches of Tenerife - following the rise and fall of one of Britain’s richest, and most wanted, serious organised criminals.

It’s a story of violence, mystery, murder and police corruption - of how an illiterate lad from a broken home went on to become as rich as the Queen - leaving a trail of destruction in his wake.

Palmer owned a Learjet, a yacht, helicopters, a collection of fast cars and a chateau in France. A wheeler-dealer jeweller who started by selling paraffin from the back of a lorry and was catapulted to the top of the criminal world after the Brink’s-Mat heist in 1983 - the largest armed robbery in British history. He smelted millions of pounds worth of the gold, earning himself the moniker ‘Goldfinger.’ He then went on to mastermind a multi-million-pound timeshare fraud on Tenerife, scamming thousands of innocent victims who lost their life savings.

In a series of exclusive interviews, Livvy hears from his associates and his victims - many of whom have never spoken before. And she meets the detectives who were tasked with bringing him to justice.

This podcast includes strong language and descriptions of violence.

Presenter: Livvy Haydock

Series producer: Mick Tucker

Producer: Patrick Kiteley

Technical production and sound design: Nicky Edwards and Richard Hannaford

Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley

Production Manager: Sarah Payton

Commissioning editors: Richard Maddock and Dylan Haskins

Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston

From the streets of post-war Birmingham, a young John Palmer - unable to read or write - starts to make a name for himself in the criminal underworld, wheeler-dealing jewellery and smelting gold. But it’s the Brink’s-Mat gold heist - the biggest armed robbery of all time - that provides him with the opportunity of a lifetime.

This podcast includes strong language and descriptions of violence.

Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series producer: Mick Tucker Producer: Patrick Kiteley Technical production and sound design: Nicky Edwards Additional technical production: Richard Hannaford Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley Production Manager: Sarah Payton Commissioning editors: Richard Maddock and Dylan Haskins Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston.

John Palmer heads to Tenerife where he starts to build a timeshare empire with the money made from the Brink’s Mat gold bullion robbery. But Scotland Yard are on his tail. His Somerset home is raided and there’s evidence to link him to ‘the crime of the century.’ Palmer is now a fugitive - but his options are running out.

This podcast includes strong language and descriptions of violence.

Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series producer: Mick Tucker Producer: Patrick Kiteley Technical production and sound design: Nicky Edwards Additional technical production: Richard Hannaford Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley Production Manager: Sarah Payton Commissioning editors: Richard Maddock and Dylan Haskins Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston.

John Palmer’s empire in the sun starts to make him some serious money, but back in England, he has to face the music in court for smelting Brink’s Mat gold. As he scams more and more people on Tenerife, he brings in a motley crew of henchmen to help keep things under control - and he develops and unhealthy appetite for cocaine.

This podcast includes strong language and descriptions of violence.

Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series producer: Mick Tucker Producer: Patrick Kiteley Technical production and sound design: Nicky Edwards Additional technical production: Richard Hannaford Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley Production Manager: Sarah Payton Commissioning editors: Richard Maddock and Dylan Haskins Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston

As the violence on Tenerife escalates, the police gather more and more evidence against John Palmer. Back in the UK his pal Kenneth Noye stabs a man to death in a brutal road rage incident - and Palmer helps him escape to his chateau in France.

This podcast includes strong language and descriptions of violence.

Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series producer: Mick Tucker Producer: Patrick Kiteley Technical production and sound design: Nicky Edwards Additional technical production: Richard Hannaford Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley Production Manager: Sarah Payton Commissioning editors: Richard Maddock and Dylan Haskins Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston

John Palmer is up in the dock for his timeshare fraud - and his decision to represent himself doesn’t go to plan. As he spends time in prison, his timeshare business on empire on Tenerife splinters and two of his former employees are brutally murdered.

This podcast includes strong language and descriptions of violence.

Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series producer: Mick Tucker Producer: Patrick Kiteley Technical production and sound design: Nicky Edwards Additional technical production: Richard Hannaford Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley Production Manager: Sarah Payton Commissioning editors: Richard Maddock and Dylan Haskins Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston

John Palmer is out of jail - but detectives are following his every move. They’re holed up in a secret underground hideout 300 miles from London, after its revealed Palmer has some of Scotland Yard’s top cops in his pocket. Then, he makes himself a target after he threatens to turn super grass.

This podcast includes strong language and descriptions of violence.

Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series producer: Mick Tucker Producer: Patrick Kiteley Technical production and sound design: Nicky Edwards Additional technical production: Richard Hannaford Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley Production Manager: Sarah Payton Commissioning editors: Richard Maddock and Dylan Haskins Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston

Join Livvy Haydock as she takes us deep into Death Row in the USA. While support for the Death Penalty in the US remains at over 50 per cent, there’s been a steady decline in the number of executions – from the modern era peak of 98 in 1999 to just 18 in 2023 so far. Only a handful of states actually carry out the killings. It’s even become more difficult for executioners to get hold of the drugs used in lethal injections, which is what led Livvy Haydock to a surreal story about a man in Acton, West London, who was supplying these lethal drugs to state penitentiaries in the US, and on to the macabre world of Death Row – and the people who live, work, and die on it.

Whether it’s the bizarre hunt for new lethal injection supplies, or the tip of the glasses that mark an executioner’s signal, Livvy goes right behind the scenes into the chamber itself to examine the pressures on the system that have left just 5 US states actively carrying out executions this year and around 2,400 Death Row prisoners in limbo. We’ll hear from an inmate waiting to die, and one saved at the last moment. We’ll chat to the wardens who make it happen, and the campaigners who want to stop it. And throughout it all, we’ll discover the possible future for Death Row in the only western democracy still carrying out capital punishment.

Listen first on BBC Sounds from Friday 13 October 2023.

Join Livvy Haydock as she takes us deep into Death Row in the USA. While support for the Death Penalty in the US remains at over 50 per cent, there’s been a steady decline in the number of executions – from the modern era peak of 98 in 1999 to just 20 in 2023 so far. Only a handful of states actually carry out the killings. It’s even become more difficult for executioners to get hold of the drugs used in lethal injections, which is what led Livvy Haydock to a surreal story about a man in Acton, West London, who was supplying these lethal drugs to state penitentiaries in the US, and on to the macabre world of Death Row – and the people who live, work, and die on it. Whether it’s the bizarre hunt for new lethal injection supplies, or the tip of the glasses that mark an executioner’s signal, Livvy goes right behind the scenes into the chamber itself to examine the pressures on the system that have left just 5 US states actively carrying out executions this year and around 2,400 Death Row prisoners in limbo. We’ll hear from an inmate waiting to die, and one saved at the last moment. We’ll chat to the wardens who make it happen, and the campaigners who want to stop it. And throughout it all, we’ll discover the possible future for Death Row in the only western democracy still carrying out capital punishment.

New episodes released weekly. If you’re in the UK, listen to Gangster Presents… Killing Death Row first on BBC Sounds: bbc.in/40W5Chz

Archive: KTVT-TV

Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series producer: Anna Meisel Sounds design and mix: Richard Hannaford Editor: Clare Fordham Production coordinator: Janet Staples

Welcome to the Allan Polunsky unit in Huntsville, Texas, where Livvy Haydock meets a murderer with three weeks to live. This killer will die by lethal injection; we talk to the inventor of that jab, and learn how it was hailed by some as a humane solution for a modern death penalty.

Join Livvy Haydock as she takes us deep into Death Row in the USA. While support for the Death Penalty in the US remains at over 50 per cent, there’s been a steady decline in the number of executions – from the modern era peak of 98 in 1999 to just 20 in 2023 so far. Only a handful of states actually carry out the killings. It’s even become more difficult for executioners to get hold of the drugs used in lethal injections, which is what led Livvy Haydock to a surreal story about a man in Acton, West London, who was supplying these lethal drugs to state penitentiaries in the US, and on to the macabre world of Death Row – and the people who live, work, and die on it. Whether it’s the bizarre hunt for new lethal injection supplies, or the tip of the glasses that mark an executioner’s signal, Livvy goes right behind the scenes into the chamber itself to examine the pressures on the system that have left just 5 US states actively carrying out executions this year and around 2,400 Death Row prisoners in limbo. We’ll hear from an inmate waiting to die, and one saved at the last moment. We’ll chat to the wardens who make it happen, and the campaigners who want to stop it. And throughout it all, we’ll discover the possible future for Death Row in the only western democracy still carrying out capital punishment.

Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series producer: Anna Meisel Sounds design and mix: Richard Hannaford Editor: Clare Fordham Production coordinator: Janet Staples

What happens in the death chamber is a push and pull between the desire of a victim’s family for justice, and the need to follow the letter of the constitution. In this episode we’ll see how the system tried to balance those needs. Former prison guards show us the final hours of a prisoner’s life. What does that tell us about the future of the US death penalty? Join Livvy Haydock as she takes us deep into Death Row in the USA. While support for the Death Penalty in the US remains at over 50 per cent, there’s been a steady decline in the number of executions – from the modern era peak of 98 in 1999 to just 20 in 2023 so far. Only a handful of states actually carry out the killings. It’s even become more difficult to get hold of lethal injection drugs, which is what led Livvy to a surreal story about a man in West London, who was supplying these ingredients to state penitentiaries in the US, and on to the macabre world of Death Row – and the people who live, work, and die on it. Whether it’s the bizarre hunt for new lethal injection supplies, or the tip of the glasses that mark an executioner’s signal, Livvy goes behind the scenes into the chamber itself to examine the pressures on the system that have left just 5 US states actively carrying out executions this year and around 2,400 Death Row prisoners in limbo. We’ll hear from an inmate waiting to die, and one saved at the last moment. We’ll chat to the wardens who make it happen, and campaigners who want to stop it. And throughout, we’ll discover the possible future for Death Row in the only western democracy still carrying out capital punishment.

New episodes released weekly. If you’re in the UK, listen to Gangster Presents… Killing Death Row first on BBC Sounds: bbc.in/40W5Chz

Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series producer: Anna Meisel Sounds design and mix: Richard Hannaford Editor: Clare Fordham Production coordinator: Janet Staples

If a lethal injection death is considered to be painful, that could make it vulnerable to a legal challenge as unconstitutional. What can the death of Corey Johnson tell us about the pain of a lethal injection, and does proof of pain hold sway in any US court, or indeed in the court of public opinion? Livvy Haydock heads out on the road to talk to Texans., and deep into Death Row in the USA. While support for the Death Penalty in the US remains at over 50 per cent, there’s been a steady decline in the number of executions – from the modern era peak of 98 in 1999 to just 20 in 2023 so far. Only a handful of states actually carry out the killings. It’s even become more difficult for executioners to get hold of the drugs used in lethal injections, which is what led Livvy Haydock to a surreal story about a man in West London, who was supplying these drugs to state penitentiaries in the US, and on to the macabre world of Death Row – and the people who live, work, and die on it. Whether it’s the hunt for new lethal injection supplies, or the tip of the glasses that mark an executioner’s signal, Livvy goes right behind the scenes into the chamber itself to examine the pressures on the system that have left just 5 US states actively carrying out executions this year and around 2,400 Death Row prisoners in limbo. We’ll hear from an inmate waiting to die, and one saved at the last moment. We’ll chat to the wardens who make it happen, and the campaigners who want to stop it. And throughout, we’ll discover the possible future for Death Row in the only western democracy still carrying out capital punishment.

New episodes released weekly. If you’re in the UK, listen to Gangster Presents… Killing Death Row first on BBC Sounds: bbc.in/40W5Chz

Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series producer: Anna Meisel Sounds design and mix: Richard Hannaford Editor: Clare Fordham Production coordinator: Janet Staples

The people of Jasper sought the death penalty for the brutal men who murdered James Byrd. But the cost of the trial was crippling and served as a warning to other small districts. In this episode, we’ll examine how cost plays a part in the number of US executions, as does a better understanding of institutional racism. Join Livvy Haydock as she takes us deep into Death Row in the USA. While support for the Death Penalty in the US remains at over 50 per cent, there’s been a steady decline in executions – from the modern era peak of 98 in 1999 to just 20 in 2023 so far. Only a handful of states actually carry out the killings. It’s even become more difficult for executioners to get hold of the drugs used in lethal injections, which is what led Livvy Haydock to a surreal story about a man in Acton, West London, who was supplying these lethal drugs to state penitentiaries in the US, and on to the macabre world of Death Row – and the people who live, work, and die on it. Whether it’s the hunt for new lethal injection supplies, or the tip of the glasses that mark an executioner’s signal, Livvy goes right behind the scenes into the chamber itself to examine the pressures on the system that have left just 5 US states actively carrying out executions this year and around 2,400 Death Row prisoners in limbo. We’ll hear from an inmate waiting to die, and one saved at the last moment. We’ll chat to the wardens who make it happen, and the campaigners who want to stop it. And throughout it all, we’ll discover the possible future for Death Row in the only western democracy still carrying out capital punishment.

New episodes released weekly. If you’re in the UK, listen to Gangster Presents… Killing Death Row first on BBC Sounds: bbc.in/40W5Chz

Archive: KTVT-TV

Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series producer: Anna Meisel Researcher: Ella Rule Sounds design and mix: Richard Hannaford Editor: Clare Fordham Production coordinator: Janet Staples

An execution and the story of an exoneration. Livvy Haydock hears about the final moments of one life, and the relief and joy of release when a different case is overturned. In this final episode she considers the impact of a changing political landscape on the future of the death chamber. Join Livvy as she takes us deep into Death Row in the USA. While support for the Death Penalty in the US remains at over 50 per cent, there’s been a steady decline in the number of executions – from the modern era peak of 98 in 1999 to just 20 in 2023 so far. Only a handful of states actually carry out the killings. It’s even become more difficult for executioners to get hold of the drugs used in lethal injections, which is what led Livvy Haydock to a surreal story about a man in Acton, West London, who was supplying these lethal drugs to state penitentiaries in the US, and on to the macabre world of Death Row – and the people who live, work, and die on it. Whether it’s the bizarre hunt for new lethal injection supplies, or the tip of the glasses that mark an executioner’s signal, Livvy goes right behind the scenes into the chamber itself to examine the pressures on the system that have left just 5 US states actively carrying out executions this year and around 2,400 Death Row prisoners in limbo. We’ll hear from an inmate waiting to die, and one saved at the last moment. We’ll chat to the wardens who make it happen, and the campaigners who want to stop it. And throughout it all, we’ll discover the possible future for Death Row in the only western democracy still carrying out capital punishment.

New episodes released weekly. If you’re in the UK, listen to Gangster Presents… Killing Death Row first on BBC Sounds: bbc.in/40W5Chz

Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series producer: Anna Meisel Sounds design and mix: Richard Hannaford Editor: Clare Fordham Production coordinator: Janet Staples

A brand new series of Gangster tells the story of Birmingham’s notorious Burger Bar Boys - a gang born out of the Handsworth riots in 1985.

Named after the fast food joint where they met, they were described as more ruthless than the Jamaican Yardies. They fought a bitter and bloody war with their rivals the Johnson Crew for control of the crack cocaine trade in the West Midlands. They controlled their turf in the suburb of Handsworth with threats, intimidation and sub machine guns. But when they killed two innocent girls in a drive-by shooting, they were brought down by their own community and a team of fearless detectives determined to stem the body count.

Presenter – Livvy Haydock Series Producer – Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer – Nicky Edwards Producer – Patrick Kiteley Researcher – Megan Jones Archive Researcher – Nicola Han Fixer in Jamaica – Nick Davies Journalism Assistant – Tim Fernley Commissioning Executive – Louise Kattenhorn Assistant Commissioners – Lorraine Okuefuna and Natasha Johansson Editor and Executive Producer – Carl Johnston

January 2, 2003: The senseless murders of two teenage girls thrust a vicious West Midlands gang into the national spotlight. The girls' deaths mark the culmination of the Burger Bar Boys' long-simmering feud with their rivals, the Johnson Crew - a conflict that threatens to engulf the city of Birmingham in an all-out gang war. But how did this hatred fester and grow, and what were the decades-long origins of this bloodshed in the city? In this podcast, Livvy Haydock will unravel the complicated history of violence, telling a story that traces back to the post-war arrival of the Caribbean Windrush generation and the often-betrayed promises made to them.

In the 1960s, Enoch Powell delivered his incendiary "Rivers of Blood" speech in Birmingham, reflecting the racial tension in the area at the time. Two decades later, in the mid-1980s, the build-up of tension, along with friction between the police and Black and Asian communities, led to the Handworth Riots, resulting in parts of the city burning for two days.

In this opening episode, you will hear from those who lived through these decades, those who lost loved ones in the turmoil, those who fought for peace, and those who have had close encounters with one of the most brutal gangs to have ever existed in the UK. This is the story of the rise and fall of the Burger Bar Boys...

Presenter – Livvy Haydock Series Producer – Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer – Nicky Edwards Producer – Patrick Kiteley Researcher – Megan Jones Archive Researcher – Nicola Han Fixer in Jamaica – Nick Davies Journalism Assistant – Tim Fernley Commissioning Executive – Louise Kattenhorn Assistant Commissioners – Lorraine Okuefuna and Natasha Johansson Editor and Executive Producer – Carl Johnston

The story now takes us from the aftermath of the Handsworth riots in 1985 to the streets of Kingston, Jamaica, where we learn how violence in Birmingham was about to escalate to a whole new level. As the fires were extinguished and the shattered glass was repaired, there was relative calm for the remainder of that decade. The local homeboys of the Handsworth and Lozells districts of Birmingham quietly made their living through low-level crimes such as dealing weed and selling stolen car stereos. At the same time, the younger generation united to combat racism in their respective districts, but a new threat loomed on the horizon. A band of ruthless, fearless gangsters, who shared the same roots as the homeboys, were arriving in the UK, starting in London and then spreading to areas like Handsworth. They were the Yardies, and they aimed to muscle in on the action. Their brutality knew no limits, and with a life expectancy of less than 30, they were in a hurry. To counter this new threat, the homeboys decided to fight fire with fire and began to take up arms.

In this episode, we will take you from the streets of Handsworth to the infamous Tivoli Gardens district of Kingston, Jamaica, as we reveal just how terrifying the Yardies' methods were. We will also explore how the police, through their newly formed Operation Trident, and the homeboys of Birmingham responded. It was during this period that the fledgling Johnson Crew began to emerge. Simultaneously, a more ruthless offshoot of the homeboys was taking shape, and one brutal murder ignited the fuse for the war that would follow, as the Burger Bar Boys first flexed their muscles. With crack cocaine flooding the streets, the sound of gunfire began to fill the city nights...

Presenter – Livvy Haydock Series Producer – Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer – Nicky Edwards Producer – Patrick Kiteley Researcher – Megan Jones Archive Researcher – Nicola Han Fixer in Jamaica – Nick Davies Journalism Assistant – Tim Fernley Commissioning Executive – Louise Kattenhorn Assistant Commissioners – Lorraine Okuefuna and Natasha Johansson Editor and Executive Producer – Carl Johnston

With the Yardie threat receding, the Johnson Crew and the Burger Bar Boys vied for dominance in the city. Guns became the weapon of choice, and nowhere felt safe; even the celebratory Handsworth Carnival turned into a scene of extreme gang violence. Territorial battle lines were drawn, with the Johnsons claiming the B6 postcodes of Lozells & Aston, and the Burgers controlling the B21 Handsworth area. It was in the 1990s that the names of key players began to emerge through the smoke of gun barrels. Known by their street names, the powerful and intelligent leader of the Burgers was dubbed 'the Godfather,' while others like S1, Little Dee, Charmer, and Honey Monster struck fear into the hearts of their rivals. Rumors circulated that S1 was so powerful that he was impervious to bullets due to a witchdoctor's protection spell, allowing him to survive multiple gunshot wounds.

At the heart of the Burgers' operation was Raleigh Close in Handsworth, a maze of alleys and connecting ring-roads offering multiple escape routes from their rivals and the West Midlands police. As the millennium came and went, tit-for-tat murders increased, putting a strain on the area's City Hospital, which constantly dealt with new types of trauma injuries and tried to keep the body count down. Crucially, it was the murders during this period that revealed the power of the rival gang leaders. Not only were they capable of cold-blooded murder, often in broad daylight, but they could be seen by multiple witnesses, and still, the public was too terrified to step forward and secure a conviction. As their rivalry escalated into all-out war, the gangs intensified their recruitment efforts, targeting neighbourhood schools to bolster their growing number of foot soldiers and street dealers. For the Burgers and the Johnnies, what would happen next would have global repercussions...

Presenter – Livvy Haydock Series Producer – Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer – Nicky Edwards Producer – Patrick Kiteley Researcher – Megan Jones Archive Researcher – Nicola Han Fixer in Jamaica – Nick Davies Journalism Assistant – Tim Fernley Commissioning Executive – Louise Kattenhorn Assistant Commissioners – Lorraine Okuefuna and Natasha Johansson Editor and Executive Producer – Carl Johnston

As the new century begins, the gang war in Birmingham intensifies. Bloody retaliation follows each shooting and we eventually reach the point where there is no longer any trace of mutual respect between the gangs.

A gang war that began with vintage and adapted firearms had reached the point where submachine guns were the go-to weapon of choice. On January 1 in 2003, a group of innocent teenage girls were getting ready to celebrate the arrival of the new year together at a party in the heart of the Johnson Crew’s territory. Meanwhile, the Burgers were after revenge following the death of member Yohanne Martin and the failed attempt on the life of their ‘Godfather’, and they knew there would be Johnsons at the party.

The tragedy that would unfold was to draw the world’s attention to the city of Birmingham. It was now 4am, the party was in full swing, and the girls had stepped out for air. A car pulled up and a 9mm pistol and MAC-10 machine gun - a weapon capable of firing a thousand rounds a minute - were fired into the crowd. Letisha Shakespeare and Charlene Ellis were killed instantly. Charlene’s sister Sophie was seriously injured and their friend Cheryl also suffered a bullet wound.

In this episode we will hear the powerful and heart-breaking testimony of those closest to the girls and we hear how the girls’ senseless deaths became the turning point in the government’s response to gang violence. With the spotlight on Birmingham, the pressure was mounting on West Midlands police to bring those responsible to justice…

Presenter – Livvy Haydock Series Producer – Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer – Nicky Edwards Producer – Patrick Kiteley Researcher – Megan Jones Archive Researcher – Nicola Han Fixer in Jamaica – Nick Davies Journalism Assistant – Tim Fernley Commissioning Executive – Louise Kattenhorn Assistant Commissioners – Lorraine Okuefuna and Natasha Johansson Editor and Executive Producer – Carl Johnston

It’s late 2004 and the buzz of police helicopters and sea of armed police around Leicester Crown Court creates a tense, intimidating atmosphere as one of the biggest murder trials of the decade gets underway. West Midlands police have the men they believe responsible for the deaths of Charlene Ellis and Letisha Shakespeare ready to stand trial for their crimes. But this was not going to be an easy conviction. Detectives had identified 75 people they believed could provide key evidence - yet all of them refused to testify. Then a break came from a man in prison who told prison officers he had seen some of the men in the car involved in the shooting. The problem was - he needed to remain anonymous, and this would involve a legal first.

The trial would go on to last the best part of six months - at that point it was the longest trial in British history and there were several times when it threatened to collapse. Meanwhile, the Burgers were doing everything they could to find out the identity of the secret witness, using extreme violence and intimidation to uncover the name of this faceless man trying to put them behind bars. For the families of Letisha and Sophie and West Midlands police - would they get to witness the killers being put behind bars and finally bring the Burger Bar Boys’ reign of terror to an end?

New episodes are released on Fridays. If you’re in the UK, listen to Gangster: The Burger Bar Boys first on BBC Sounds. bbc.in/40W5Chz

Presenter – Livvy Haydock Series Producer – Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer – Nicky Edwards Producer – Patrick Kiteley Researcher – Megan Jones Archive Researcher – Nicola Han Fixer in Jamaica – Nick Davies Journalism Assistant – Tim Fernley Commissioning Executive – Louise Kattenhorn Assistant Commissioners – Lorraine Okuefuna and Natasha Johansson Editor and Executive Producer – Carl Johnston

Despite the landmark trial of 2004-05 leading to several convictions for the murder of Charlene and Letisha - the gang murders in the city continued. What more could be done to tackle the violence?

In the final episode in the series, we look at how a combination of one man’s brilliant gang mediation and West Midlands police’s Operation Ventara slowly started to turn the tide and begin the process of restoring peace to the city of Birmingham. At the same time as the police were making inroads into dismantling the Burger Bar Boys’ operation in the city, the gang’s ambitions had begun to stretch to neighbouring cities – even as far as Aberdeen. The absence of crack cocaine and lack of rivals in other cities made spreading their net wider an easy task, but law enforcement continued to fight back.

We’ll hear from an undercover police officer who was sent into Northampton to join the city’s Burger Bar Boys offshoot there, and how developments in ballistics allowed police to trace the movement of guns like the MAC-10 as they were passed around the country from one gang member to another.

We conclude the series by looking at where things stand now in the city. What became of the convicted gang members, and how the Burger Bar Boys name still echoes around the streets of Handsworth to this day. We will hear how the families who lost loved ones feel as they reflect on the events of the last few decades, and how back in the Burgers’ home territory of Handsworth, there is at last some optimism.

New episodes are released on Fridays. If you’re in the UK, listen to Gangster: The Burger Bar Boys first on BBC Sounds. bbc.in/40W5Chz

Presenter – Livvy Haydock Series Producer – Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer – Nicky Edwards Producer – Patrick Kiteley Researcher – Megan Jones Archive Researcher – Nicola Han Fixer in Jamaica – Nick Davies Journalism Assistant – Tim Fernley Commissioning Executive – Louise Kattenhorn Assistant Commissioners – Lorraine Okuefuna and Natasha Johansson Editor and Executive Producer – Carl Johnston

A 6-part true crime podcast documenting the biggest organised crime bust in British policing history. It happens in 2020 when police in France penetrate an encrypted phone network called EncroChat. According to police, the phones were used exclusively by criminals. For over two months, police forces across Europe were reading the secret communications of major league criminal networks. The Metropolitan Police, working with the National Crime Agency and other forces, used this information to uncover the workings of organised crime groups. “It was like being in a room with them and they are talking freely, and they don't see you there,” says DCI Driss Hayoukane, the Senior Investigating Officer who led the Met’s EncroChat operation. Police went public about the EncroChat hack in July 2020. This is the first time that the inside story of some of the Met’s biggest EncroChat cases has been told to a broadcaster. Talking exclusively to BBC Sounds, police officers reveal how they used the gangsters’ messages to uncover arms dealing and expose murder plots as well as major drug trafficking and money laundering operations. Stories featured in the series include:

- A murder plot unearthed by the Met in a joint operation with South Wales police. - Two apparently legitimate businessmen, living in a Buckinghamshire village, whose wealth really came from cocaine trafficking and major league money laundering, - A corrupt police officer who was working for a notorious London crime group.

At a time when the Metropolitan Police Service has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, it’s a story of an extraordinary success: nearly 1000 arrests; over 400 convictions; the seizure of £19 million in cash, three tonnes of Class A and B drugs and 49 guns. Presenter Mobeen Azhar does not shy away from what have been difficult issues for the Met police: an officer from the Met’s anti-corruption unit speaks for the first time about how hacked EncroChat messages helped to expose the worst case of police corruption he had ever seen; and Mobeen asks the officer leading the Met’s EncroChat investigation about the experience of being an ethnic minority officer in a force found to be institutionally racist. Catching the Kingpins is a BBC Studios Production for BBC Sounds. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Series Producer: Andrew Hosken Editor and Executive Producer: Innes Bowen Sound designer: Peregrine Andrews Assistant Commissioner: Lorraine Okuefuna Commissioning Editor: Louise Kattenhorn Production Executive: Laura Jordan-Rowell Creative Director for BBC Studios: Georgia Moseley Unit Manager: Lucy Bannister Production manager: Elaina Boateng Development Executive: Anya Saunders Editorial Policy Advice: Su Pennington Legal advice: Hashim Mude and Andrew Downey Consulting editor: Steve Boulton Production Co-ordinator: Juliette Harvey

Thanks also to Beena Khetani, Adele Humbert, Hugh Levinson, Ali Rezakhani, Rhiannon Cobb, and Jack Griffith.

Police across Europe prepare for a top-secret operation: the hacking of EncroChat, an encrypted phone network favoured by organised crime groups.

EncroChat’s server has been discovered in northern France. The French police are planning to secretly inject some code into the users’ next software update. If it works, police could be reading the criminals’ messages for weeks.

At the Metropolitan Police in London, DCI Driss Hayoukane is summoned to a confidential meeting where he hears about the plan. He realises this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and decides to put his retirement on hold.

Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Series Producer: Andrew Hosken Editor and Executive Producer: Innes Bowen Catching the Kingpins is a BBC Studios Production for BBC Sounds.

It's April 2020, and the Metropolitan Police are overwhelmed with messages hacked from the EncroChat network.

Buried among the millions of texts and photographs, are the outlines of a murder plot. An anonymous EncroChat user is trying to source a gun and some ammunition for a drive by shooting.

Will the police discover the messages before it’s too late? And will they be willing to risk the secrecy of the entire EncroChat operation by arresting someone on EncroChat evidence alone?

Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Series Producer: Andrew Hosken Editor and Executive Producer: Innes Bowen

Catching the Kingpins is a BBC Studios Production for BBC Sounds.

In the wealthy village of Denham in Buckinghamshire, Lee Hannigan and Harry Hicks-Samuels play the part of successful businessmen really well. Hannigan has a car garage, a mansion with a Ferrari on the drive and a place in Dubai. Hicks-Samuels is only 27 but has a watch business and flat in a luxury development.

But the secrets of where their money really comes from are on their EncroChat phones.

Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Series Producer: Andrew Hosken Editor and Executive Producer: Innes Bowen Catching the Kingpins is a BBC Studios Production for BBC Sounds.

Little is known about who invented the EncroChat network and who owned it. Even the police who investigated the criminals using the network, know little about who’s behind it.

Journalists David James Smith and Joseph Cox explain what their investigations into the company reveal.

Plus, why an expert in cryptography thinks the whole EncroChat operation could fall apart on a legal technicality.

Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Series Producer: Andrew Hosken Editor and Executive Producer: Innes Bowen Catching the Kingpins is a BBC Studios Production for BBC Sounds.

The truth unearthed about Met police officer PC Kashif Mahmood is stranger than an episode of the fictional drama Line of Duty. And it was evidence unearthed in the EncroChat operation which made him plead guilty.

PC Kashif Mahmood had won five awards for his outstanding service as a police officer. But he was secretly working for an OCG in east London.

A detective from the Met police’s anti-corruption unit talks publicly for the first time about the most brazen case of corruption he’s ever seen.

Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Series Producer: Andrew Hosken Editor and Executive Producer: Innes Bowen Catching the Kingpins is a BBC Studios Production for BBC Sounds.

The EncroChat hack has given the police unprecedented access to the secrets of organised crime. Nearly four years on from the hack, the detective who led the Met’s EncroChat investigation, DCI Driss Hayoukane, reveals what the police have learnt about OCGs which they didn’t know before.

Presenter Mobeen Azhar hears about the impact of the EncroChat operation from Driss and from the National Crime Agency. There have been thousands of arrests, 200 threats to life averted and tonnes of drugs seized. But has taking out the kingpins cut crime? Catching the Kingpins is a BBC Studios Production for BBC Sounds. Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Series Producer: Andrew Hosken Editor and Executive Producer: Innes Bowen Sound designer: Peregrine Andrews Assistant Commissioner: Lorraine Okuefuna Commissioning Editor: Louise Kattenhorn Production Executive: Laura Jordan-Rowell Creative Director for BBC Studios: Georgia Moseley Unit Manager: Lucy Bannister Production manager: Elaina Boateng Production coordinator: Juliette Harvey Development Executive: Anya Saunders Editorial Policy Advice: Su Pennington Legal advice: Hashim Mude and Andrew Downey Consulting editor: Steve Boulton Studio recording: Aaron Cazzola

Thanks also to Beena Khetani, Adele Humbert, Hugh Levinson, Ali Rezakhani, Rhiannon Cobb, and Jack Griffith.

A new series of Gangster tells the story of Viv Graham, a man who ran a protection empire which spanned Newcastle and beyond.

Viv Graham, a 17-stone man mountain, a man feared and revered in equal measure, came to dominate Tyneside’s nightlife through brutal and uncompromising violence.

His murder, in an organised hit on New Year’s Eve 1993, sparked recriminations and repercussions which echo to this day. It remains one of the country’s most notorious unsolved murders.

Presenter – Livvy Haydock Series Producer – Ben Robinson Technical Producer – Richard Hannaford Producer – Patrick Kiteley Archive Researcher – Jackie Mccoy Journalism Assistant – Tim Fernley With assistance from Jamie Boyle Commissioning Executive – Louise Kattenhorn Assistant Commissioner – Lorraine Okuefuna & Sarah Green Editor and Executive Producer – Clare Fordham

On New Year's Eve 1993, Viv Graham, a 17-stone man mountain, stepped out of a Tyneside pub and walked a few yards towards his Ford Sierra Cosworth. But he never made it. Lurking in the shadows was a gunman who fired three shots at him from close range. Viv, who ran a pub and club protection empire which spanned Newcastle and beyond, dragged himself back to the pub but his life was slipping away. The murder of Viv Graham, right in the middle of his heartland territory, sent shockwaves through Tyneside which echo to this day. In this podcast series Livvy Haydock delves into one of the country’s most notorious unsolved murders. It’s a story of brutal violence, drugs, guns, love, loyalty and betrayal. She investigates how a charming boy from a village in the country, grew to become one of the most fearsome enforcers in the country, ruling over Newcastle’s nightlife with an iron fist. What made Viv Graham stand out? How did he rise to the top? And who was he really? In episode one, Livvy travels back to Viv Graham’s roots and discovers a young man trying to find his way in an era when the heavy industries, which had dominated the North East for generations, were fast dying out. Employment opportunities and future prospects looked bleak and many people were leaving the North East in search of work. But Viv Graham took a very different approach. Through a relentless regime of boxing and weightlifting, he set about transforming himself into a one-man wrecking machine. The sort of person who could come in very handy on the doors in Newcastle at the very moment the city was emerging as one of Europe’s party capitals.

Presenter - Livvy Haydock Series Producer - Ben Robinson Technical Producer - Richard Hannaford Producer - Patrick Kiteley Archive Researcher - Jackie Mccoy Journalism Assistant - Tim Fernley With assistance from Jamie Boyle Commissioning Executive - Louise Kattenhorn Assistant Commissioner - Lorraine Okuefuna & Sarah Green Editor and Executive Producer - Clare Fordham

Archive credits: Get Carter - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer British Studios. Auf Wiedersehen Pet - Central Independent Television and Witzend Productions. Discovery Museum, Newcastle Upon Tyne.

Viv Graham, a young man from the country, is about to land in the city and make a very big impression. In fact he’s going to take over the town. This episode charts Viv Graham’s meteoric rise. It follows in his footsteps as he went from being a complete unknown, to single-handedly controlling a pub and club door protection empire, which spanned Newcastle and beyond. Viv’s first move was to approach one of the city’s most colourful characters – Paul Tucker Grant – a doorman and boxer, who’d later go on to have a glittering acting career. With Paul’s help Viv got his first door – a nightclub in Gateshead. Viv quickly grew a reputation for ruthless efficiency. Troublemakers would be removed and dispatched and no matter who they were they wouldn’t cross Viv Graham. He became known, feared and revered in equal measure. This was a man who would never pick up a weapon but nor would he shy away from dealing with anyone who crossed his path. More and more pub and club owners sought out Viv’s services and an empire formed – right at the moment Newcastle was exploding as a party capital. The city’s historic Bigg Market was transformed with dozens of trendy new bars and restaurants, while the Tuxedo Princess, a ferry turned nightclub moored on the Tyne, drew in revellers from far and wide. Viv was well on his way to dominating the city’s bouncing nightlife and anyone who crossed him would face the consequences.

Presenter – Livvy Haydock Series Producer – Ben Robinson Technical Producer – Richard Hannaford Producer – Patrick Kiteley Archive Researcher – Jackie Mccoy Journalism Assistant - Tim Fernley With assistance from Jamie Boyle Commissioning Executive - Louise Kattenhorn Assistant Commissioner – Lorraine Okuefuna Editor and Executive Producer – Clare Fordham

Archive credits Emmerdale - Yorkshire Television. Byker Grove - Zenith Entertainment. The Tube - Tyne Tees Television.

Viv Graham is right at the peak of his powers.

After starting as a nightclub doorman in Gateshead, he has grown to become the most powerful figure in Tyneside’s booming nightlife, with a vast pub and club protection empire. But trouble is brewing because a new party drug is landing and it’s going to turn his world upside down.

This episode charts the arrival of ecstasy in the North East and the dramatic changes it had on the region’s nightlife. A prominent DJ in Newcastle, Tom Caulker, remembers it all like it was yesterday - especially when the criminal gangs launched vicious battles to try to control the lucrative supplies of ecstasy in to clubs. The problem? Viv Graham had swathes of Tyneside’s most lucrative clubs and pubs sewn up - and he played by his own rules. These were dangerous times for Viv Graham and anyone associated with him. Guns were freely available among the criminal underworld and they were pointing at Viv Graham.

Presenter – Livvy Haydock Series Producer – Ben Robinson Technical Producer – Richard Hannaford Producer – Patrick Kiteley Archive Researcher – Jackie Mccoy Journalism Assistant – Tim Fernley With assistance from Jamie Boyle Commissioning Executive – Louise Kattenhorn Assistant Commissioner – Lorraine Okuefuna & Sarah Green Editor and Executive Producer – Clare Fordham

Archive Credits: Zulu - Diamond Films

It’s the summer of 1989 and the atmosphere on Tyneside is febrile. The economy is shrinking and tumbling towards recession but at the same time the nightlife is bouncing. And among the criminal underworld battles are raging to control the supply of drugs into pubs and clubs. Viv Graham is right in the firing line and danger lurks on every corner.

This episode tracks Viv Graham as he linked up with a member of the notorious Sayers crime firm. Graham was recruited to lead a vicious gang attack on another nightclub bouncer called Stu Watson. Graham pounded Watson with a relentless barrage of punches which left his victim bloodied and dazed. Stu Watson told presenter Livvy Haydock he was powerless to defend himself because he feared he would have been killed if he did. What nobody knew was the club was under police surveillance as part of a drugs operation. The whole savage incident was recorded on CCTV and witnessed by undercover officers. Moments after the attack, Graham was arrested and later sentenced to three years in jail. Graham’s spell inside was every bit as colourful as his life on the streets of Tyneside. On one occasion he earned widespread acclaim for single-handedly quelling a riot but on another he swallowed a lump of cannabis which had been smuggled in to the prison. Viv Graham was said to have slept for days. It would be the only respite he’d be getting because dark clouds were forming.

Presenter – Livvy Haydock Series Producer – Ben Robinson Technical Producer – Richard Hannaford Producer – Patrick Kiteley Archive Researcher – Jackie Mccoy Journalism Assistant – Tim Fernley With assistance from Jamie Boyle Commissioning Executive – Louise Kattenhorn Assistant Commissioner – Lorraine Okuefuna & Sarah Green Editor and Executive Producer – Clare Fordham

Archive credits: Nick Manners v Joe Calzaghe boxing commentary - Eurosport.

Viv Graham is released from prison following a vicious assault on rival bouncer Stu Watson. He needs to make up for lost time and remind everyone who is boss. But while he’s been away in jail, Tyneside’s nightlife has been transformed in an explosion of ecstasy. This is one fight Viv Graham won’t be able to win.

In this episode, we follow Viv Graham as he tried to reassert his dominance on Tyneside’s nightlife, following his spell in prison. His services were in just as much demand as ever among pub and club owners but the arrival of ecstasy had raised the stakes. Now controlling nightclub doors was more lucrative than ever because it meant criminal gangs could also control the supply of the drugs into the venues. The problem for the gangs was Viv Graham protected many of the most lucrative bars and clubs and he played by his own rules. With every week that passed the threats to Viv Graham’s life were getting more serious. Graham himself knew he didn’t have long left and told his partner Anna he wouldn’t live to see 40. And he was right. On New Year’s Eve 1993, Viv Graham stepped out of the Queen’s Head pub in Wallsend and walked a few yards to a corner shop. Moments after leaving and walking towards his car, a gunman fired three shots at him from close range. He staggered back to the pub but his life was slipping away. Those three shots rang out across the city and through the decades.

Presenter - Livvy Haydock Series Producer - Ben Robinson Technical Producer - Richard Hannaford Producer - Patrick Kiteley Archive Researcher - Jackie Mccoy Journalism Assistant - Tim Fernley With assistance from Jamie Boyle Commissioning Executive - Louise Kattenhorn Assistant Commissioner - Lorraine Okuefuna & Sarah Green Editor and Executive Producer - Clare Fordham

It’s New Year’s Day 1994 and Tyneside is waking up to the news of Viv Graham’s brutal murder. There is tension in the air and nobody knows what is going to happen next. What follows is a spiral of repercussions and tragedies which have spanned the decades and are still being felt to this day.

In the final episode, presenter Livvy Haydock meets pathologist Dr John McCarthy, who walked the scene of Viv Graham’s murder hours after his death, before carrying out his autopsy. It was the start of one of the most high profile murder investigations in Northumbria Police’s history. The killing happened just off a bustling street on one of the busiest nights of the year. Hopes were high that someone must have seen what had happened. More than 1,000 people were interviewed, hundreds of homes were searched and there were countless arrests but they couldn’t make a breakthrough. Meanwhile, Tyneside’s criminal underworld was manoeuvring to capitalise on the opportunities which had opened up to them. Racketeers began trying to move in on some of Viv Graham’s former pubs while his lucrative clubs were unguarded and up for grabs too. For Viv Graham’s family, his murder had catastrophic consequences and sparked a spiral of tragedy, which is still being felt to this day.

Presenter – Livvy Haydock Series Producer – Ben Robinson Technical Producer – Richard Hannaford Producer – Patrick Kiteley Archive Researcher – Jackie Mccoy Journalism Assistant – Tim Fernley With assistance from Jamie Boyle Commissioning Executive – Louise Kattenhorn Assistant Commissioner – Lorraine Okuefuna & Sarah Green Editor and Executive Producer – Clare Fordham

A bloody and bitter feud between two of Glasgow's most notorious crime families which has raged for more than two decades, leading to violence and murder.

Why the Daniel crime group and the Lyons crime group fell out isn’t clear. The story goes it was linked to the theft of a stash of drugs – or because the Lyons were encroaching on Daniel territory. Whatever the cause, the dispute exploded into a series of astonishingly violent tit for tat attacks which have cast a dark shadow over the city of Glasgow. The most high profile – the very public assassination of Daniel’s enforcer Kevin “Gerbil” Carroll. He was shot dead in a hail of bullets in front of terrified shoppers in an Asda carpark in 2010.

Delving into Glasgow’s gangland past and it’s history of violent crime, the series hears from former gangsters, ordinary members of the public caught up in this vicious turf war and the police officers fighting to take down the mobsters.

Many of those at the heart of the violence are now locked up in prison – or dead. But the fear is that this is a feud which is so ingrained it could go on for generations to come.

For a who's who, please visit this BBC article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4Czgw23hf0tqsb855CcPKPJ/who-s-who-in-the-story-of-the-daniels-and-the-lyons

Presenter Livvy Haydock Series producer: Paul Grant Producer: Patrick Kiteley Journalism assistant: Tim Fernley Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston

Jamie Daniel begins his rise from the tough streets of Possil in north Glasgow - first as a scrap metal dealer and then as a major player in the city's flourishing drug trade.

One of ten children, Jamie followed his brothers into the family scrap metal business. But as heroin took hold in the city, he spotted a business opportunity that would catapult him into the big league - importing large quanitities of the drug into the country.

The city's underworld was changing too. From the razor wielding street gangs of the 1930s to the postcode turf wars, drugs would mark a step change in the criminal landscape. But as business boomed for Jamie, danger was on the horizon.

Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Paul Grant Producer: Patrick Kiteley Technical Producer: Craig Boardman Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley Editor and Executive Producer: Carl Johnston

As Jamie Daniels' drug empire continues to grow, a violent feud begins with a rival crime family - one that will lead to an all out bloody war on the streets of Glasgow.

After serving time for heroin smuggling, Jamie Daniel is back in business. But a road rage incident involving a family member and a rival leads to a murder unlike any seen before in Glasgow. And there's more trouble on the horizon, this time with a family from the neighbouring Milton estate - the Lyons. What starts as a dispute over drugs leads to a series of increasingly violent tit-for-tat attacks and shootings. At its centre is a Daniel enforcer with his own vicious crew - someone who is known in the underworld as Gerbil.

For a who's who, please visit this BBC article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4Czgw23hf0tqsb855CcPKPJ/who-s-who-in-the-story-of-the-daniels-and-the-lyons

Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series producer: Paul Grant Producer: Patrick Kiteley Journalism assistant: Tim Fernley Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston

Gerbil is on the warpath after being seriously injured in a drive-by shooting. What followed next takes the feud to another level of violence, with the police searching for answers.

Kevin Carroll is out for revenge, but seriously injured, he has to enlist others to exact retribution. This time, however, innocents are caught in the crossfire, and detectives have to employ all the tricks in the book to catch those responsible. The lid is lifted on the murky world of hitmen for hire.

For a who's who, please visit this BBC article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4Czgw23hf0tqsb855CcPKPJ/who-s-who-in-the-story-of-the-daniels-and-the-lyons

Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series producer: Paul Grant Producer: Patrick Kiteley Journalism assistant: Tim Fernley Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston

Gerbil is recruited for a kidnapping plot which doesn't go to plan. Meanwhile, he continues his reign of terror as he seeks to build his drug empire - leading to a growing number of enemies out to get him.

Gerbil's reputation is such that he is recruited to carry out a kidnapping by a Liverpool drug gang. Meanwhile, he doubles down on his efforts to take control of the drug trade in parts of Glasgow - taking dealers hostage and threatening them with violence. He gives one dealer an ultimatum and arranges a meet in a supermarket car park. But things take an unexpected and deadly turn.

For a who's who, please visit this BBC article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4Czgw23hf0tqsb855CcPKPJ/who-s-who-in-the-story-of-the-daniels-and-the-lyons

Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series producer: Paul Grant Producer: Patrick Kiteley Journalism assistant: Tim Fernley Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston

After his public assassination in a supermarket car park, the hunt for Gerbil's killers begins. A death in the Daniel family heralds a brutal new chapter in the never-ending feud.

With such a high-profile murder, police are under pressure to catch Kevin Carroll's killers, and the manhunt takes an international twist. A high-profile member of the Daniel family dies and after a period of relative calm, the dispute between the two crime groups reignites in a series of brutal attacks. One man is even targeted as he drops his child off at school.

For a who's who, please visit this BBC article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4Czgw23hf0tqsb855CcPKPJ/who-s-who-in-the-story-of-the-daniels-and-the-lyons

Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series producer: Paul Grant Producer: Patrick Kiteley Journalism assistant: Tim Fernley Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston

A brutal attack on a Daniel family member results in lengthy jail sentences for a number of Lyons associates. The feud continues in prison and there are fears it could go on for generations to come.

It was an attack so brutal that police initially thought the victim - a Daniel family member - had been shot in the face or injured by an explosive device. The attack was the culmination of the latest wave of violence in the bitter dispute. A police crackdown on the ongoing feud results in lengthy jail terms for a number of Lyons associates. Meanwhile, presenter Livvy Haydock discovers how Glasgow is successfully fighting back against the violence, with murders and killings now at an all-time low and community groups helping to steer young people away from gangs and crime. But there are still fears that the feud has become so ingrained that it could go on for generations to come.

For a who's who, please visit this BBC article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4Czgw23hf0tqsb855CcPKPJ/who-s-who-in-the-story-of-the-daniels-and-the-lyons

Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series producer: Paul Grant Producer: Patrick Kiteley Journalism assistant: Tim Fernley Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston

Former boxing champion and proud Evertonian Tony Bellew delves into the brutal world of football hooliganism. At its height in the 1970s and 1980s, it was labelled ‘the English Disease,’ a time when violence on the terraces was as much a part of the game as a half-time Bovril. Bellew hears from those who lived for the trouble, the men and women whose Saturdays weren’t complete without a brutal punch-up.

He speaks to the innocent victims caught up in the mayhem, the families of those who lost their lives at the hands of thugs, and the undercover police officers who risked everything to infiltrate some of England’s most notorious firms.

He also explores how government crackdowns, tougher laws, and the introduction of all-seater stadiums helped bring an end to widespread hooliganism.

Presenter: Tony Bellew Series Producer: Emma Forde Producer: Patrick Kiteley Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards Development Producer: Holly Clemens Production Co-ordinator: Ellie Dover Assistant Commissioner: Lorraine Okuefuna & Sarah Green Commissioning Editor: Louise Kattenhorn Editor and Executive Producer: Carl Johnston

What turns a fan into a fighter? When faced with a choice, do you turn and run, or stand and fight?

We meet the men who found themselves drawn into a world of running battles and riots during the 1970s and 80s. For some, joining a firm and fighting gave them a new identity. For others, it was the first time they truly felt they belonged.

From a young age, Bill Gardner, also known as Mr West Ham, found a home and a family he never had on the terraces of Upton Park, one he would fight for. For adopted Brummie Cockney Al, the early firms in Birmingham took him under their wing, but it was not long before he was up to his neck in it. In Manchester, a childhood plagued by bullying and racism led Fireman Sam to become part of United's hooligan mob, and for Chelsea fan Mark Alleway, being a football hooligan became an addiction.

But not everyone was signing up. Most fans just wanted to go to the game in peace, but trouble was never far away. Football writer Amy Lawrence and DJ Trevor Nelson recall how getting out unscathed on matchdays was not always easy.

The police and politicians soon realised they had a serious problem on their hands. But despite their best efforts, the mobs ruled the terraces. And for a while, it was chaos.

Presenter: Tony Bellew Series Producer: Emma Forde Producer: Patrick Kiteley Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards Editor and Executive Producer: Carl Johnston Development Producer: Holly Clemens With research assistance from Abe Atchia Production Co-ordinator: Ellie Dover Assistant Commissioner: Lorraine Okuefuna & Sarah Green Commissioning Editor: Louise Kattenhorn

1985 saw some of the biggest and bloodiest hooligan riots in British football history. In March, Luton hosted Millwall in an FA Cup tie. Millwall’s notorious mobs rioted before, during and after the game. The Kenilworth Road ground was ripped to pieces, and the town was trashed. Police officer Andy Clarke was left fearing for his life as pieces of concrete and plastic seats were used as missiles.

Just two months later, Leeds and Birmingham’s mobs clashed at St Andrews. Hundreds were injured, and a 15-year-old football fan later lost his life.

But then came one of the darkest nights in football history. On 29 May 1985, 39 people were killed at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels during the European Cup final between Liverpool and Juventus. The tragedy led to English clubs being banned from European football for five years.

Presenter: Tony Bellew Series Producer: Emma Forde Producer: Patrick Kiteley Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards Development Producer: Holly Clemens Production Co-ordinator: Ellie Dover Assistant Commissioner: Lorraine Okuefuna & Sarah Green Commissioning Editor: Louise Kattenhorn Editor and Executive Producer: Carl Johnston

In the aftermath of the Heysel tragedy, Margaret Thatcher declared war on the hooligans. It was a watershed moment for English football. Tough new laws were called for - and the incident led to English clubs being banned from Europe for 5 years. But there was more trouble on the horizon. The mobs had found a loophole. Friendlies. And in August 1986, that led to a full blown riot on a ferry in the middle of the North Sea.

Some of those onboard the ferry that night tell their side of the story. When the law caught up with those involved, it came down hard.

Presenter: Tony Bellew Series Producer: Emma Forde Producer: Patrick Kiteley Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards Development Producer: Holly Clemens Production Co-ordinator: Ellie Dover Assistant Commissioner: Lorraine Okuefuna & Sarah Green Commissioning Editor: Louise Kattenhorn Editor and Executive Producer: Carl Johnston

With firms doing battle up and down the country, it was only a matter of time before innocent people got hurt. Even some players were attacked as the hooligans went looking for their weekly adrenaline rush. Ordinary football fans were also caught up in the violence. Darts, bottles, fireworks, even sharpened coins would be thrown on the terraces.

This episode also hears from the families of those who died at the hands of thugs. 21 year old Wolves fan Gerald Comerford went to watch his team and never came home. His family describe the devastation of losing their brother. Tony Bellew also hears about the racism that was rife on the terraces. Black players were regularly subjected to vile, racist abuse, often coming from their own fans. Former Chelsea player, Paul Canoville describes the abuse he endured during his early career.

Presenter: Tony Bellew Series Producer: Emma Forde Producer: Patrick Kiteley Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards Development Producer: Holly Clemens Production Co-ordinator: Ellie Dover Assistant Commissioner: Lorraine Okuefuna & Sarah Green Commissioning Editor: Louise Kattenhorn Editor and Executive Producer: Carl Johnston

With the police under pressure to get a grip on the hooligan epidemic, an ambitious young copper comes up with a plan. To infiltrate the firms and go undercover. Covert police operations in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds soon get underway. Michael Layton is a former detective with West Midlands Police. In the mid-80s, he set up an undercover unit which infiltrated the Zulu Warriors, a firm who followed Birmingham City FC. Michael describes how Operation Red Card gathered evidence against the top targets, the danger his undercover officers faced and the constant threat of exposure and reprisals.

For the coppers recruited, it was a terrifying, head-ache inducing, chain-smoking and dangerous life. Two of the officers who risked their lives and infiltrated the Zulu Warriors and another who worked among Arsenal's mobs, tell their stories for the first time.

Presenter: Tony Bellew Series Producer: Emma Forde Producer: Patrick Kiteley Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards Development Producer: Holly Clemens Production Co-ordinator: Ellie Dover Assistant Commissioner: Lorraine Okuefuna & Sarah Green Commissioning Editor: Louise Kattenhorn Editor and Executive Producer: Carl Johnston

After months of undercover work, the police in London start moving in their targets and claim their first victory against the hooligan mobs. But the celebrations are short lived. A new piece of science raises doubts over the evidence gathered as part of the police operations. Trials begin to collapse. The police and prosecutors are rattled and start scrutinising other cases yet to go to court. Dozens of cases are eventually dropped and fans previously jailed, have their convictions quashed. After 17 months working undercover among Arsenal’s firms, David is left holding his breath. Meanwhile, for Jim and Andy, the undercover officers in Birmingham, a chance encounter almost blows their cover and sees them running for their lives.

But with the police and politicians breathing down their necks, hooligans across the country are left looking over their shoulders. Is it time to walk away from the fighting and the firms once and for all?

Presenter: Tony Bellew Series Producer: Emma Forde Producer: Patrick Kiteley Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards Development Producer: Holly Clemens Production Co-ordinator: Ellie Dover Assistant Commissioner: Lorraine Okuefuna & Sarah Green Commissioning Editor: Louise Kattenhorn Editor and Executive Producer: Carl Johnston

Livvy Haydock examines the recent deaths of Eddie Lyons Jr. and Ross Monaghan, who were shot dead outside Monaghan’s Bar in Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol, on 31 May 2025. Spanish police believe the killing was a targeted gangland hit linked to the decades-long conflict between the Daniels and Lyons crime families in Glasgow. Livvy tracks down eyewitnesses to the double shooting, retraces the getaway route used by the killer and speaks to detectives who give their expert insight into how the murders were carried out. We investigate how the violent feud between the Lyons and Daniel crime families has travelled so far and ask; who is actually pulling the strings? For a who's who, please visit this BBC article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4Czgw23hf0tqsb855CcPKPJ/who-s-who-in-the-story-of-the-daniels-and-the-lyons Presenter Livvy Haydock Series producer: Paul Grant Researchers: Matt Toulson and Kaya Black Production coordinator: Tim Fernley Technical Producer: Craig Boardman Editor: Tara McDermott

In 1970s Britain, Chinese-heritage migrants worked long hours in restaurants and takeaways to build their new lives. But as the diaspora established itself, the gangs they thought they’d left behind in Hong Kong began to follow, quietly feeding off the very people they claimed to protect.

Back in Hong Kong, Georgie Pai was already a senior member of Wo Shing Wo, one of the most feared Triad societies operating in the region's underworld. Triads are known for their rigid hierarchy, blood-sworn loyalty and reputation for ruthless enforcement. Georgie Pai travelled to the UK on a tourist visa and began working at his parents’ takeaway in Glastonbury. From there, he united scattered Triad factions around the country and recruited loyal foot soldiers. He built an extortion network targeting Chinese communities, with business owners ordered to pay protection cash. Those who refused were brutally punished.

Presenter - Livvy Haydock Series Producer - Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer – Richard Hannaford Producers – Patrick Kiteley & Matt Toulson Fixer in Hong Kong – Michelle Chan Music – Andy Simms and Reliable Source Music Journalism Assistants – Hattie Valentine & Ellie Dover Commissioning producer: Sam Proffitt Commissioning executive: Lorraine Okuefuna and Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning editor: Richard Maddock Editor and Executive Producer – Clare Fordham

Archive – The Cook Report: Meet The Triads (Central Television, ITV)

Gangster is the extraordinary story of Paul Massey - labelled Salford's Mr Big. It charts his rise and inevitable fall from a young tearaway on the streets of Salford to the head of an organised crime group controlling drugs, security and nightclub doors in Manchester.

It’s a story told not only by some of those close to him – but uniquely by Massey himself – though excerpts from an interview most of which has never been broadcast before.

Presenter Livvy Haydock enters the secretive underworld to speak to hardened criminals who reveal how Massey climbed his way to the top through violence and extortion.

But Massey was unlike many other gangland bosses. He wasn’t just in it for the money, he also saw himself as a community leader. To many in his neighbourhood, he was seen as a Robin Hood figure – looking after their interests, promising to keep hard drugs off the streets and enforcing his own style of street justice.

From the tough streets of Salford, Paul Massey begins his rise in the criminal underworld. While in jail, he hatches a plan to bring the gangs together and take over the city.

This podcast includes strong language and descriptions of violence.

Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Paul Grant Producer: Oliver Newlan Assistant Editor: Ciaran Tracey Technical Production and Sound Design: Craig Boardman Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston

Manchester is at the centre of a cultural revolution. The Hacienda. Acid house. Ecstasy. Paul Massey makes a moves on the drug scene and enforces his own style of justice on the streets.

This podcast contains strong language and descriptions of violence.

Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Paul Grant Producer: Oliver Newlan Assistant Editor: Ciaran Tracey Technical Production and sound design: Craig Boardman Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston

Paul Massey is on a wild night out. He's being filmed by a TV crew, but the evening will change his life forever. A rival threatens to muscle in on his territory, but Massey is having none of it. And he spots a new money making venture.

This podcast contains strong language and descriptions of violence.

Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Paul Grant Producer: Oliver Newlan Assistant Editor: Ciaran Tracey Technical Production and sound design: Craig Boardman Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston

Massey sets his sights on the top political job in Salford, but he's facing pressure on all sides. The police are out to get their man and he finds himself caught up in a violent gangland feud.

This podcast contains strong language and descriptions of violence.

Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Paul Grant Producer: Oliver Newlan Assistant Editor: Ciaran Tracey Technical Production and sound design: Craig Boardman Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston

An assassin lays in wait. The aftermath takes the gang war to new levels of violence, leaving a young innocent victim seriously hurt and hardened criminals shocked at the callous brutality.

This podcast contains strong language and descriptions of violence.

Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Paul Grant Producer: Oliver Newlan Assistant Editor: Ciaran Tracey Technical Production and sound design: Craig Boardman Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston