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BBC Radio 5 Live

Sport's Strangest Crimes

Rugby union was rocked to its core by an episode that involved deception, cover-ups, recriminations and life-changing consequences for those involved. 

Hosted by actor and award-winning documentary maker Ross Kemp, with reporting by BBC rugby union correspondent Chris Jones, this series uncovers new details and untold stories about the infamous ‘Bloodgate’ scandal.

Kemp takes listeners on an intense journey into how a simple blood capsule triggered a series of events that shook the sport. 

At the heart of this story is Tom Williams, the young Harlequins player who found himself caught up in a scheme to cheat during a critical match. 
He opens up about his role in the cover-ups and the decision to blow the whistle on the whole operation, revealing the conspiracies, secret deals, and the aftermath. 

The podcast not only features interviews with rugby icons like Brian O’Driscoll, Shane Horgan, Ugo Monye, Nick Easter and referee Nigel Owens, who were on the pitch on that fateful day, but also esteemed journalists and investigators, who reveal how they exposed the plot and covered the messy consequences.

Introducing…Bloodgate

Ross Kemp visits the Clapham joke shop at the origin of the Bloodgate cheating scandal that brought rugby union to its knees.

We learn how the advent of professionalism in the 1990s brought a new win-at-all-costs mentality to the sport.

And Harlequins players Tom Williams, Ugo Monye and Nick Easter explain how new coach Dean Richards transformed the club from entertaining also-rans into ruthless winners who began to push the rules to their limits and beyond.

Could a loophole in the laws around blood injuries boost their chances of European silverware?

Narrator: Ross Kemp
Reporter/Interviewer: Chris Jones
Writer/Producer: Sam Sheringham
Story editor: Tom Fuller
Sound design/production: Jesse Howard
Digital Producers: Sam Huxley and Stephen Trenchard
Assistant producers: Metin Yilmaz, Jack Wood, Mujtaba Ali and Victoria Turner
BBC 5 Live Sport podcast editor: Matt Smith
Commissioner: Stevie Middleton

1. Dandies to Dark Arts

The story of one rugby's most notorious matches, told by those who were there.

A European Cup quarter-final between Harlequins and Leinster was always going to be big - but nobody knew how big.

Players from both sides including Ugo Monye and Brian O’Driscoll, commentators, coaches and referee Nigel Owens recall how events unfolded before, during and after the moment that Tom Williams staggered from the field with fake blood dripping from his mouth.

The Leinster officials see through the plot straight away - but can they expose the wrongdoing?

Narrator: Ross Kemp
Reporter/Interviewer: Chris Jones
Writer/Producer: Sam Sheringham
Story editor: Tom Fuller
Sound design/production: Jesse Howard
Digital Producers: Sam Huxley and Stephen Trenchard
Assistant producers: Metin Yilmaz, Jack Wood, Mujtaba Ali and Victoria Turner
BBC 5 Live Sport podcast editor: Matt Smith
Commissioner: Stevie Middleton

2. It’s Not Real Blood

Gripping testimony from the Harlequins dressing-room as Tom Williams persuades club doctor Wendy Chapman to help cover up his act of cheating.

But when new footage emerges of Tom appearing to chew on a fake blood capsule, European Rugby prosecutors decide to press charges against the player, his coach and the club.

Quins agree a cover story - but will it hold water when matters come to a head at a Bloodgate hearing in central London?

Narrator: Ross Kemp
Reporter/Interviewer: Chris Jones
Writer/Producer: Sam Sheringham
Story editor: Tom Fuller
Sound design/production: Jesse Howard
Digital Producers: Sam Huxley and Stephen Trenchard
Assistant producers: Metin Yilmaz, Jack Wood, Mujtaba Ali and Victoria Turner
BBC 5 Live Sport podcast editor: Matt Smith
Commissioner: Stevie Middleton

3. The Cover-ups

After receiving his 12-month ban, Tom Williams faces pressure from the club and his team-mates as he considers blowing the whistle on the Bloodgate plot. 

We hear about secret meetings between Tom and the club’s board and horse-trading over what level of financial incentive might persuade him not to reveal the truth.

It leads to a showdown at a board member’s house in Cobham, a decisive intervention from Tom’s girlfriend Alex and a shock resignation.

Narrator: Ross Kemp
Reporter/Interviewer: Chris Jones
Writer/Producer: Sam Sheringham
Story editor: Tom Fuller
Sound design/production: Jesse Howard
Digital Producers: Sam Huxley and Stephen Trenchard
Assistant producers: Metin Yilmaz, Jack Wood, Mujtaba Ali and Victoria Turner
BBC 5 Live Sport podcast editor: Matt Smith
Commissioner: Stevie Middleton

4. Downfall

Bloodgate is big news - and it’s about to get even bigger…

Dean Richards’ resignation has thrust Bloodgate onto the front and back pages - but details of the cover-ups remain outside the public domain.

That’s until Paul Kelso, sports news correspondent for the Daily Telegraph, arrives on the scene. 

While Kelso, now a Sky news correspondent, starts to release details of the murky aftermath to the cheating plot, Tom Williams prepares to reveal all.

Everything comes to a head at a hearing in Glasgow, with life-changing consequences for some of the key figures in the Bloodgate plot.

Narrator: Ross Kemp
Reporter/Interviewer: Chris Jones
Writer/Producer: Sam Sheringham
Story editor: Tom Fuller
Sound design/production: Jesse Howard
Digital Producers: Sam Huxley and Stephen Trenchard
Assistant producers: Metin Yilmaz, Jack Wood, Mujtaba Ali and Victoria Turner
BBC 5 Live Sport podcast editor: Matt Smith
Commissioner: Stevie Middleton

5. The Biggest Beast in The Jungle

medium: As Richards alleges blood cheating is rife, Williams has a difficult return to rugby.

Long: With the full Bloodgate scandal now exposed, rugby enters a period of soul-searching.

Fallen Harlequins coach Dean Richards makes allegations that blood cheating goes to the very top of the game, while Ugo Monye adds his weight to the argument that other teams are culpable.

And when Tom Williams returns to the rugby pitch, he’s given a less than warm welcome by opponent Chris Ashton.

Narrator: Ross Kemp
Reporter/Interviewer: Chris Jones
Writer/Producer: Sam Sheringham
Story editor: Tom Fuller
Sound design/production: Jesse Howard
Digital Producers: Sam Huxley and Stephen Trenchard
Assistant producers: Metin Yilmaz, Jack Wood, Mujtaba Ali and Victoria Turner
BBC 5 Live Sport podcast editor: Matt Smith
Commissioner: Stevie Middleton

6. Rugby’s Reckoning

New coach Conor O’Shea sets about transforming Harlequins’ fortunes and restoring their reputation.

Tom Williams rediscovers his form and helps the club to the Premiership final - the ultimate opportunity for redemption.

Dean Richards returns to rugby with Newcastle and reflects on the Bloodgate episode, while some of the key figures in the series offer opinions on the legacy of the scandal.

Narrator: Ross Kemp
Reporter/Interviewer: Chris Jones
Writer/Producer: Sam Sheringham
Story editor: Tom Fuller
Sound design/production: Jesse Howard
Assistant producers: Metin Yilmaz, Jack Wood, Mujtaba Ali and Victoria Turner
BBC 5 Live Sport podcast editor: Matt Smith
Commissioner: Stevie Middleton

7. Redemption and Beyond

The police used many methods to locate Shergar and most interestingly they sought help from psychics, diviners and the mysterious Mobius group. They claimed to be able to locate Shergar and used parts of his saddle to sniff him out.

A supergrass emerges claiming he knows the identity of the masked men. Is this the end?

Not for Shergar’s legacy, his sporting achievements are still adored and his name used widely today to symbolise something we may never see again.

7. The Final Furlong

Whilst the horse wasn’t just owned by the Aga Khan, but in fact a syndicate of many shareholders, this episode focuses on one shareholder that had a lot to lose. Stan Cosgrove. The Vet.

He was keen to get his insurance payout, but the only way to do so was to prove that Shergar was in fact dead. Coordinating with the kidnappers he organised to get a polaroid to prove the horse was still alive.

6. Proof of Life

In February 2004, 20,000 mourners lined the streets to pay their respects at the funeral of superstar cyclist, Marco Pantani.

In November 2021, a new inquiry into Pantani’s death was announced - this time investigating the theory that the Italian mafia might have been involved in his murder.

But in episode one, it’s 1990, and promising amateur Marco Pantani is just beginning to make his mark… With the help of Marco’s biographer, Matt Rendell, we meet the man behind the legend.

New episodes released Thursday. If you’re in the UK, listen to the full series of Sport’s Strangest Crimes - first on BBC Sounds - bbc.in/3PbXQxv

Narrated by Hugh Dennis, with the voices of Iain Ferrier and Helen Roper

Sound design: Rich Evans
Additional production: Lorenzo Bodrero, Matt Kenyon and Ed Morrish

Writer and producer: Katie Sayer
Executive producer: Jon Holmes

1. The Cursed Champion

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