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BBC Radio 4

News-making original journalism documentary series, investigating stories at home and abroad.

File on 4

Psychedelics are having a moment — hailed as miracle cures for depression, PTSD and addiction. But what happens when the trip doesn’t end?

In Trip Shocked, writer and researcher Ed Prideaux takes a hard look at the risks lurking in the psychedelic renaissance. Drawing on his own long-term side effects from LSD, Ed explores a hidden history of harms: from persistent hallucinations and underground support groups to therapy sessions that crossed the line.

As billionaires, biotech firms and media stars race to mainstream psychedelics, are we ignoring inconvenient truths about safety, science and consent?

Producer: Nadia Mehdi
A Tempo+Talker production for BBC Radio 4

Trip Shocked

In We Are Not A Conspiracy School, Darryl Morris sets out to meet the people behind HOPE Sussex, a community of home educators founded during the pandemic. 

On a sprawling site in the East Sussex countryside, a number of families gather to learn together, away from the mainstream. What’s taught there is contested. The media has called it a “conspiracy school", but the founders say it’s a community centre that encourages critical thinking. 

What are people actually doing there? And in a world where shared beliefs have fractured, and more are turning away from the mainstream, why do they feel a community like theirs is needed? 

Producer: Louisa Adams
Sound Design: Craig Edmondson
Executive Producer: Ailsa Rochester
An Audio Always production for BBC Radio 4

We Are Not a Conspiracy School

When the parent of a patient in a psychiatric hospital questioned why he couldn’t see CCTV footage of an incident involving his son it led to a series of extraordinary discoveries.
Glynn Brown was told that cameras had never been switched on despite being present throughout wards at Muckamore Abbey Hospital, in Northern Ireland.
In fact, the cameras had been recording for six months without staff knowing. In all, they captured 300,000 hours of footage which is reported to show appalling abuse and cruelty against patients – many of whom are non-verbal and have complex needs. File on 4 Investigates has spent months examining what happened and highlights how – eight years on from the discovery – no criminal cases have yet come to trial. It also considers why the scandal has not drawn more public outrage, and what lessons are being learned to protect patients elsewhere?

Reporter: Noel Titheradge
Producer: Fergus Hewison
Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards
Production Coordinator: Tim Fernley
Editor: Richard Vadon

Hospital abuse caught on camera

Nine in ten people in the UK who buy a car use finance. The sector is the second largest lender to consumers in the UK after mortgages. But the industry is bracing itself for a Supreme Court judgement which could see lenders forced to pay out tens of billions in compensation for selling deals with 'secret' commissions. File on 4 Investigates hears from industry insiders and those who tried to raise the alarm on a scandal that some believe could rival PPI.

Reporter: Helen Catt
Producer: Phil Kemp
Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards
Production Coordinator: Tim Fernley
Editor: Lisa Baxter

Car finance

A deep-dive into the new generation of get-rich-quick gurus and the social media smoke and mirrors some use to shield themselves from criticism. This investigation uncovers the tactics used by some TikTok landlords and online ‘finfluencers’ who use the promise of property riches to sell advice and training to people hungry to make fast money and break free of the rat race.

Thriving in a largely unregulated social media ecosystem, it highlights the intersection of disinformation, influencer culture and power dynamics, showing how unchecked behaviour has far-reaching implications for society and democracy.

When journalist Will Coldwell wrote a long form article about his investigation into property trainer Samuel Leeds, he had hoped that highlighting some of what he saw as the guru’s hard sell tactics and sharing the stories of some of his unhappy customers might lead to him having to change his methods.

But Samuel Leeds, ever keen to tell his own story, co-opted the article and claimed it as a victory - amplifying his own name and brand further.

The report incorporates a full response from Samuel Leeds - who strenuously denies using hard sell tactics or that he seeks to suppress criticism – and maintains that his methods are legitimate and work for his many happy customers.

This is the story of the immersive power of the influencer ecosystem and the invincibility of the personalities that dominate it. It is a story about the limitations of traditional journalism to cut through the content. It is a story about why this investigation isn’t going to work.

Producer: Louise Orchard 
Presenter: Will Coldwell 
An ITN production for BBC Radio 4

The Invincible TikTok Gurus

When a Church of England volunteer in Leicester rejected a proposal to go on a date, it started a (sinister) stalking campaign against him. His stalker was a female preacher. As her harassment worsened, her victim pleaded for help to the police and the Church, including to a cleric tipped to be the Church’s next leader. File on 4 Investigates reveals how their mistakes left the victim feeling they had failed to protect him…

File on 4 Investigates: Stalker in the Church

High street gambling venues, known as adult gaming centres, promise a safe and sociable experience; the chance to have a chat, a coffee and a flutter, under the supervision of trained staff. And they’re proving to be popular, with an increasing number springing up across the country, some of which are open 24 hours a day.
But File on 4 Investigates hears concerns some venues are failing to protect people struggling with gambling addictions - with devastating consequences. AGC's are supposed to ensure staff are trained to spot problem gamblers and intervene. They also operate a self-exclusion scheme which allows problem gamblers to self-exclude from AGC's. Staff should intervene if they spot somebody who has self-exlcuded and should ask them to leave the premises. It's a sensible plan - but does it actually work? 

Reporter: Alastair Fee
Producer: Ben Robinson
Researcher: Michael Gaughan
Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards
Production Coordinator: Tim Fernley
Editor: Carl Johnston

Adult Gaming Centres

Ketamine was designed as an anaesthetic but its use as a recreational drug is growing fast, particularly among young people. It can have life-changing health consequences, yet the use of the drug increased by 85 per cent between 2023 and 2024. Paul Kenyon investigates the ketamine trade and discovers how tonnes of the drug are able to find their way into the UK undetected. 

Reporter: Paul Kenyon
Producer: Paul Grant
Technical producer: James Bradshaw
Production coordinator: Tim Fernley
Editor: Carl Johnston

Details of organisations offering support and information with addiction are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline

The Ketamine Trail

The market where carbon offsets are bought and sold has been projected to grow and grow, as big companies look to prove they can reach net zero. But where achieving reductions in emissions is impossible or expensive, an alternative is to try and arrange for carbon to be taken out of the atmosphere instead. The markets have thrived on linking buyers of carbon offsets - big firms, and even governments - to development projects in poorer countries, where land and labour for tree planting are cheap.

But can these projects be safely verified and measured? Are local communities being exploited to try and make the maths add up? And can the industry afford to admit when a project is underperforming the expectations according to which carbon credits have been sold?

Investigative reporter Max de Haldevang hears from experts and individuals directly involved in high profile carbon offset projects to find out.

CORRECTION:
A contributor to this programme states that sales of Plan Vivo credits generated about $100m in 2023-24. In fact, the correct figure is $8.7m. 
It is also stated by a contributor that “Plan Vivo is relatively niche in terms of registries. They have a market share of about 1%”. To clarify, while Plan Vivo’s market share is about 1%, it is incorrect to refer to the company as a registry; Plan Vivo uses a third party registry to issue Plan Vivo Certificates.

Producer: Robert Nicholson

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4

The Carbon Offset Trap

Nicola Packer went to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for help after she delivered a 26-week-old foetus in her bathroom. But she was reported to the police - and arrested as she lay in bed recovering from major surgery. She was then escorted to a waiting police van and forced to spend the night in a police cell. File on 4 Investigates hears her story and reveals how, behind the scenes of the investigation, police had serious concerns over her controversial arrest. She believed she was only six weeks pregnant when she took abortion medication during lockdown - but she was prosecuted anyway. Her ordeal lasted nearly half a decade and, she says, it has had life-changing consequences for her. The case has also led to renewed calls from MP's and health professionals for a change in the law. 

Reporter: Kate West
Producer: Anna Meisel
Assistant producers: Jim Booth and Ben Robinson 
Techincal producer: Richard Hannaford
:Production coordinator: Tim Fernley
Editor: Carl Johnston

Abortion on Trial: The Nicola Packer Story

Next month the National Audit Office is due to report on the outcomes for young people leaving care. There are claims that, under financial pressure, local authorities are pushing too many teenagers into independent living before they're ready. File on 4 investigates new figures that suggest many young care leavers are failing to cope - with large numbers ending up in custody, homeless, sexually exploited or pregnant. Social services chiefs say the welfare of care-leavers must be a key priority for the new government. But who holds them to account when they fail those they are meant to have looked after? And, with more cuts on the way, can the system cope? Fran Abrams reveals how hands-off caring can have tragic consequences.

Abandoned to their Fate

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