Intrigue

Before a new series of Intrigue arrives, we’re sharing a story from another BBC podcast.

Killer On The Ward is the latest series in Disclosure Investigates, the award-winning investigations podcast from the Disclosure team in Scotland. It’s the story of Colin Norris, a former staff nurse, who, in 2008, was convicted of killing four elderly patients and attempting to murder a fifth. The legal case has given investigative journalist Louise Shorter more sleepless nights than any other story. Did Colin Norris kill his patients? Or has the UK spent two decades believing the wrong story?

Th...

I'm Not A Monster Presents... Where is Austin Tice?

Josh Baker investigates one of the biggest missing-person cases of our time. American journalist Austin Tice vanished in Syria, but the US president says he’s alive. For more than a decade Austin's mother Debra has been leading the search for her son. As Josh Baker and Sara Obeidat travel to Syria to help Austin’s mother’s search, a source gives Josh information that might unlock where he is - and a simple instruction: “Find Austin.”

Josh - creator of two of the BBC's most award-winn...

Terry Strada spies the FBI Director in a VIP area. Can she get to him to make her case before time runs out? A new generation is preparing to step into the fight for answers.

A BBC News Long Form Audio production.

Host: Jane McMullen

Series producer: Neal Razzell

Additional production: Sally Abrahams, Keiligh Baker, Nik Sindle

Editor: Matt Willis

Music: Thomas Ross-Fitzsimons

Sound design: Charlie Brandon-King

Production management: Phoebe Lomas

Radio 4 commissioning executive: Tracy Williams

Radio 4 commissioning editor...

Decades of arguments and evidence land before a judge. Terry Strada’s hopes hang on how he pieces it all together: an airplane sketch, a video from Washington, and call records between Saudi officials in the US. FBI Special Agent Danny Gonzalez is confident: “Put all these little pieces together and make one big puzzle and you'll see it.”

A BBC News Long Form Audio production.

Host: Jane McMullen

Series producer: Neal Razzell

Additional production: Sally Abrahams, Keiligh Baker, Nik Sindle

Editor: Matt Willis

Music: Thomas Ross-Fitzsimons

S...

When one of Omar Al-Bayoumi’s home videos contains more than was first thought, FBI Special Agent Danny Gonzalez is shocked. Decades after he should have seen it, can it make a difference? A BBC News Long Form Audio production.

Host: Jane McMullen

Series producer: Neal Razzell

Additional production: Sally Abrahams, Keiligh Baker, Nik Sindle

Editor: Matt Willis

Music: Thomas Ross-Fitzsimons

Sound design: Charlie Brandon-King

Production management: Phoebe Lomas

Radio 4 commissioning executive: Tracy Williams

Radio 4 commissioning editor: Dan Clarke

To keep a promise to her kids, Terry Strada must master an unknown world and defy a president...all in uncomfortable shoes. She’s pounding the corridors of power in Washington, but a decisive moment comes at an opulent party on Long Island. A BBC News Long Form Audio production.

Host: Jane McMullen

Series producer: Neal Razzell

Additional production: Sally Abrahams, Keiligh Baker, Nik Sindle

Editor: Matt Willis

Music: Thomas Ross-Fitzsimons

Sound design: Charlie Brandon-King

Production management: Phoebe Lomas

Radio 4 commissioning executive: Tracy Wi...

The FBI’s Danny Gonzalez suffers setbacks professional and personal after British police release the man at the centre of his investigation: Omar Al-Bayoumi. And official inquiries fail to provide Terry Strada the answers she so badly needs. A BBC News Long Form Audio production.

Host: Jane McMullen

Series producer: Neal Razzell

Additional production: Sally Abrahams, Keiligh Baker, Nik Sindle

Editor: Matt Willis

Music: Thomas Ross-Fitzsimons

Sound design: Charlie Brandon-King

Production management: Phoebe Lomas

Radio 4 commissioning executive: Tracy Williams

Radio 4 commissioning ed...

Terry Strada joins a lawsuit on behalf of 9/11 families, while Special Agent Danny Gonzalez and the FBI continue their investigation in secret. A BBC News Long Form Audio production.

Host: Jane McMullen

Series producer: Neal Razzell

Additional production: Sally Abrahams, Keiligh Baker, Nik Sindle

Editor: Matt Willis

Music: Thomas Ross-Fitzsimons

Sound design: Charlie Brandon-King

Production management: Phoebe Lomas

Radio 4 commissioning executive: Tracy Williams

Radio 4 commissioning editor: Dan Clarke

Inside Britain's most secure interrogation room, Detective Constable David Campbell of Scotland Yard's anti-terror branch has just seven days to question the hijackers’ neighbour from San Diego. A BBC News Long Form Audio production.

Host: Jane McMullen

Series producer: Neal Razzell

Additional production: Sally Abrahams, Keiligh Baker, Nik Sindle

Editor: Matt Willis

Music: Thomas Ross-Fitzsimons

Sound design: Charlie Brandon-King

Production management: Phoebe Lomas

Radio 4 commissioning executive: Tracy Williams

Radio 4 commissioning editor: Dan Clarke

After 9/11, FBI Special Agent Danny Gonzalez is chasing leads in San Diego, where two of the hijackers once lived. But another name keeps coming up. A BBC News Long Form Audio production.

Host: Jane McMullen

Series producer: Neal Razzell

Additional production: Sally Abrahams, Keiligh Baker, Nik Sindle

Editor: Matt Willis

Music: Thomas Ross-Fitzsimons

Sound design: Charlie Brandon-King

Production management: Phoebe Lomas

Radio 4 commissioning executive: Tracy Williams

Radio 4 commissioning editor: Dan Clarke

With the phone to her ear and her eyes on the TV, Terry Strada is unable to comprehend how her life is about to change. Her husband is on the 104th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center and their four-year-old is supposed to start nursery school. A BBC News Long Form Audio production.

Host: Jane McMullen

Series producer: Neal Razzell

Additional production: Sally Abrahams, Keiligh Baker, Nik Sindle

Editor: Matt Willis

Music: Thomas Ross-Fitzsimons

Sound design: Charlie Brandon-King

Production management: Phoebe...

In early 2000, two young Saudis arrive in San Diego. They had never been to America, speak almost no English, and have no idea how to open a bank account or rent a flat.

But one Arabic-speaking neighbour offers help, putting his name on the lease to secure their tenancy.

A BBC News Long Form Audio production.

Host: Jane McMullen

Series producer: Neal Razzell

Additional production: Sally Abrahams, Keiligh Baker, Nik Sindle

Editor: Matt Willis

Music: Thomas Ross-Fitzsimons

Sound design: Charlie Brandon-King

...

Twenty-five years on from the deadliest terror attack in history, BBC investigative journalist Jane McMullen asks why thousands of grieving families are still fighting for answers.

In early 2000, two young Saudis arrived in San Diego. They had never been to America, spoke almost no English, and had no idea how to open a bank account or rent a flat. Within weeks they had done all of it. Twenty months later they hijacked a plane and crashed it into the Pentagon.

Jane McMullen investigates a man who helped two of the hijackers – and reveals a story th...

Despite a global investigation Megrahi’s conviction, and the failed appeals that followed, remain tainted- for some- by doubt and conspiracy theory.

After almost four decades, a new Lockerbie trial. Abu Agila Masud is due to go on trial in August. He denies any involvement and says a video confession he made in 2011 was forced.

Will the new trial finally put an end to it all?

Myles Bonnar revisits relatives of the victims and investigators, as new evidence challenges long held beliefs.

Lockerbie is produced by Caitlin Smith Additional production by Ro...

Secret documents are recovered from the wreckage of Libyan intelligence agency.

Myles Bonnar is given access to copies of secret Libyan files which raise fresh questions about Megrahi and his alleged co-conspirators.

These documents have been dubbed the Senussi Files, after Abdullah Senussi – head of intelligence in Libya and Colonel Gaddafi’s brother-in-law.

The files were found in Tripoli, in the rubble of the Libyan intelligence agency, the JSO (or ESO) destroyed by Nato bombs following the 2011 Arab Spring uprising.

If verified, it links Megrahi, and others, to the Pan Am expl...

Secret agent or fantasist?

Jim Swire first met David BenAryeah at a gathering of the Lockerbie relatives in 1989. BenAryeah soon began passing him secret files from classified sources. So where did he get this information from and who was BenAryeah really?

It’s not just BenAryeah who emerged as a mysterious figure in this case, there’s another mysterious character Myles wants to find out more about.

Was Abdul Majid Giaka, aka Puzzle Piece, a double agent or a fantasist?

Myles manages to get hold of secret cables between Giaka and his...

A grieving father is convinced the police investigation into Lockerbie got it wrong.

Myles Bonnar speaks with Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora died in the explosion. He tells Myles he believes the real culprit is Iran.

Jim has always been outspoken about his theories. He claims his rising profile attracted unwanted attention from intelligence agencies, both in Britain and abroad. But what did they want with him?

Jim tells Myles about David BenAryeah – a supporter of the Lockerbie group who Jim believed was a member of Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad. But Myles knows hi...

In 1988, Dumfries and Galloway police is the smallest force in the UK: only 310 officers. Now they’re dealing with the world’s biggest crime scene.

Detectives from all over Scotland are bussed into Lockerbie overnight. Within days, American intelligence agents make an appearance. They hole up in Lockerbie Academy, each claiming a classroom.

Scottish police are determined to recover every single piece of evidence from the 845-mile crime scene. They bag everything that looks like plane debris before sending it off for forensic evaluation.

The investigation rolls on for two years, spanning Germany, Swed...

Myles Bonnar pieces together the original police investigation.

He goes back to the night of the explosion; tracking down three sources, each with unique insight into how the police investigation unfolded.

From the very early days it’s clear confusion and conspiracy are taking hold.

Rumours circulate. Why are American special agents on board the flight? Was the plane used to smuggle drugs? Who are those mysterious figures in the woods in Lockerbie?

The police investigation narrows in on a Palestinian militant group. But are they the real culprits?

Lo...

One of the world’s longest running conspiracies. Who was really behind the Lockerbie bombing?

On 21 December 1988, a plane explodes over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people. A Libyan man, Abdelbaset al Megrahi, is convicted.

Despite a global investigation, Megrahi’s conviction, and the failed appeals that followed, are still tainted- for some- with doubt and conspiracy theory. Myles Bonnar wants to find out why.

Now, almost four decades on; fresh evidence and a new trial. The alleged bomb maker Abu Agila Masud is in custody, with a trial expected to begin any day. He deni...

The search for a convicted people smuggler who put money in the UK planning for retirement.

This investigation stems from a tip-off: a convicted smuggler once dubbed the most successful in history, is currently living in the UK and running a string of businesses here. Could it be true?

Sue and Rob go on the hunt for Twana Jamal – a smuggler who had so many aliases he had to write them on his baseball cap to remind himself which he was using. In court, prosecutors said he and his gang were making £4 million a year and...

A late night phone call: have Sue and Rob finally unmasked the people-smuggling king pin?

A journalist and an ex-soldier search for the identity of a people smuggler believed to be responsible for thousands of illegal crossings to the UK by small boats and lorries.

They start with a false name: Kardo Ranya. A man who has evaded arrest for several years by keeping his real identity a closely guarded secret. It makes it near impossible for law enforcement agencies to issue and international arrest warrant.

Sue and Rob know what he looks...

Sue and Rob head to the Iraqi town that’s become a hotbed of smuggling and the starting point for many migrant journeys – Ranya.

There, they unravel what's happened to scores of missing boys taken hostage and tortured as they try to reach the UK.

A journalist and an ex-soldier search for the identity of a people smuggler believed to be responsible for thousands of illegal crossings to the UK by small boats and lorries.

They start with a false name: Kardo Ranya. A man who has evaded arrest for several years by keep...

A Turkish smuggler and his money man reveal more about alliances between criminal gangs.

A journalist and an ex-soldier search for the identity of a people smuggler believed to be responsible for thousands of illegal crossings to the UK by small boats and lorries.

They start with a false name: Kardo Ranya. A man who has evaded arrest for several years by keeping his real identity a closely guarded secret. It makes it near impossible for law enforcement agencies to issue and international arrest warrant.

Sue and Rob know what he looks like...

A hidden location. Migrants awaiting a boat crossing. Who helps them to reach the UK?

A journalist and an ex-soldier search for the identity of a people smuggler believed to be responsible for thousands of illegal crossings to the UK by small boats and lorries.

They start with a false name: Kardo Ranya. A man who has evaded arrest for several years by keeping his real identity a closely guarded secret. It makes it near impossible for law enforcement agencies to issue and international arrest warrant.

Sue and Rob know what he looks...

A pause in small boat crossings and a coincidence that reveals how boats are delivered.

A journalist and an ex-soldier search for the identity of a people smuggler believed to be responsible for thousands of illegal crossings to the UK by small boats and lorries.

They start with a false name: Kardo Ranya. A man who has evaded arrest for several years by keeping his real identity a closely guarded secret. It makes it near impossible for law enforcement agencies to issue and international arrest warrant.

Sue and Rob know what he looks...

Gangs exert power through fear, but where are they getting weapons from?

A journalist and an ex-soldier search for the identity of a people smuggler believed to be responsible for thousands of illegal crossings to the UK by small boats and lorries.

They start with a false name: Kardo Ranya. A man who has evaded arrest for several years by keeping his real identity a closely guarded secret. It makes it near impossible for law enforcement agencies to issue and international arrest warrant.

Sue and Rob know what he looks like from social...

A journalist and an ex-soldier search for the identity of a people smuggler believed to be responsible for thousands of illegal crossings to the UK by small boats and lorries.

They start with a false name: Kardo Ranya. A man who has evaded arrest for several years by keeping his real identity a closely guarded secret. It makes it near impossible for law enforcement agencies to issue and international arrest warrant.

Sue and Rob know what he looks like from social media posts advertising his crossings and lifestyle. Their search takes them across Europe and...

A new people smuggling boss is running routes into the UK. Who is he, and can his true identity be revealed? To Catch a Scorpion duo Sue Mitchell and Rob Lawrie investigate.

Crossing the road between interviews, Jenny receives the opportunity she has been waiting for. A chance to meet Julius Kivimäki and finally seek answers from him.

She heads to Turku prison in Western Finland, where Kivimäki is serving his sentence.

Written and presented by Jenny Kleeman. Producer: Sam Peach. Executive Producer: Georgia Catt. Sound Design: Sam Peach Original music composed, performed and produced by Echo Collective: Neil Leiter, Margaret Hermant and Fabien Leseure. A BBC Studios Production Commissioning Executive is Tracy Williams Commissioner: Dan Clarke

Within a month of the Vastaamo data breach, Tomi Haustola, a Finnish stand up comedian, is on stage making jokes about it.

But Tomi himself is one of the thousands of victims. He tells Jenny how he went to Vastaamo because he was burnt-out and anxious and couldn’t tell anyone - except his therapist.

When he discovers a hacker had stolen his therapy notes, Tomi decides to share his story with the audience. Many of them are victims themselves.

But he doesn’t expect a letter to arrive for him, years after the...

Authorities think Julius Kivimäki could be responsible for the Vastaamo data breach and the leaking of patient records.

They want to bring him in for questioning, but he’s disappeared. Kivimäki is known to brag about his international lifestyle. He could be anywhere.

Jenny meets Pasi Vainio, the prosecutor who places Kivimäki on Europol’s Most Wanted List. Pasi takes Jenny through the evidence that he and his colleagues have painstakingly gathered, trying to figure out who is ransom_man.

What they find is shocking and surprising, and takes Jenny closer...

ransom_man’s final post contained clues to his identity. In those clues, former cybercrime detective Antti Kurittu recognises similarities to of the biggest hacker he ever investigated, a Finnish teenager called Julius Kivimäki.

So who is Julius Kivimäki, and could he be the person who held a nation’s darkest secrets to ransom?

Jenny’s search for answers leads her away from Finland, to meet a man in Illinois named Blair. Blair grew up in the hacking scene, and his time in the same circles as Kivimäki would shape his life forever.<...

After a shocking data breach at the Finnish psychotherapy service Vastaamo, a nation’s secrets are being held to ransom by a faceless hacker. Jenny Kleeman traces the story.

After negotiations with Vastaamo fail, ransom_man begins publishing 100 patient records a day on the dark web. He posts a link to the records on popular sites like Reddit and Ylilauta, Finland’s version of 4chan.

He ends the post with one word. “Enjoy!” .

Finland is a nation in panic.

One victim, Meri-Tuuli, heads to the dark web to find out if her note...

A shocking data breach at a Finnish psychotherapy service. Jenny Kleeman traces the story of a nation’s secrets held to ransom by a faceless hacker. We all have some thoughts we’d never write down. Now, just imagine that someone had got hold of those thoughts, and was threatening to publish them for all the world to see - if you didn’t pay to stop them.

This is what happened to Tiina, a Headteacher living near Helsinki. When decades of stress and anxiety overwhelmed her, she sought support through a therapy service called Vastaamo.

Vast...

What would you do if your deepest secrets were held to ransom? Jenny Kleeman investigates one of the world's most audacious hacks.

When a shocking data breach takes place at a Finnish psychotherapy service, the nation's darkest secrets are held to ransom by a faceless hacker. He calls himself ransom_man. Award-winning journalist Jenny Kleeman (BBC Radio 4's The Gift) traces the story from the first extortion email to the hunt to find the hacker and bring him to justice.

We all have some thoughts we'd never write down. Now, just imagine that a criminal...

A dark, cold morning in February 2025. Hundreds are filing into the Museum of the Bible - evangelical leaders, gospel singers, and over 30 members of Congress including Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. They've gathered just three blocks from the US Capitol for an annual event of fervent prayer about what they see as America's most pressing problems.

Meanwhile, journalist Ben Lewis explores how an institution that once dreamed of becoming a centre for biblical scholarship has transformed after losing some 17,000 artefacts - nearly 40% of its entire collection.

Through revealing interviews with museum officials and its...

In April 2019, Dr Roberta Mazza receives an email from an academic in charge of Research at the Museum of the Bible which leads to the exposure of one of the most extraordinary breaches of trust in biblical scholarship. Through exclusive interviews, Ben Lewis reveals how the Museum of the Bible discovered that precious gospel fragments they had purchased for hundreds of thousands of dollars may have been stolen from a collection at Oxford University.

The episode follows the museum's quest to verify their collection's legitimacy, leading to a devastating discovery that a renowned Oxford professor had allegedly...

Federal investigators uncover a shadowy scheme to smuggle ancient clay tablets into America.

When customs officers in Memphis inspect a package labelled "tile samples" in January 2011, they discover something far more precious - delicate clay tablets covered in cuneiform, one of humanity's earliest forms of writing. Through exclusive interviews with former US prosecutor Karin Orenstein and special agent Brenton Easter, Lewis reveals how this discovery led to one of the largest antiquities investigations in recent history.

The episode reconstructs how Hobby Lobby President Steve Green attended a meeting in an apartment in the United Arab...

A biblical scholar's dramatic last-minute announcement at a packed debate hints at a fragment that could rewrite history.

On a winter's night in 2012, an extraordinary claim electrifies a university auditorium in North Carolina - the discovery of what could be the earliest known Christian text, written within decades of Jesus's life.

Through exclusive interviews, investigative journalist Ben Lewis reveals how this announcement connects to a meeting one night in an Oxford professor's chambers, where precious gospel fragments were laid out on a pool table.

He uncovers how the Green family's fervent quest for...