In Dark Corners

BBC Radio 4
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Campaigning journalist, broadcaster and historian Alex Renton shines a light into the dark corners of British society.

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  1. EPISODE 1

    1. The List

    Journalist Alex Renton is shown a secret document, containing the names and addresses of people signed up to a pro-paedophile group called the Paedophile Information Exchange, or PIE, which was active in the 1970s and 80s. That’s not all: weeks after getting the membership list Alex meets a contact who gives him bags full of documents, crammed with reports, contact details, letters. As Alex starts following up on leads; detail of the criminal activities committed by some of PIE’s members, and those connected with them, begins to emerge. It’s a lot to take in. Alex is not only a journalist, he’s a survivor of child sexual abuse. All of this information about PIE; it feels like a heavy weight to carry. Are children still at risk? Alex sets off on a dizzying journey into the dark history of the Paedophile Information Exchange and uncovers abuses committed by PIE's members: teachers, clergy, social workers, government advisors. As Alex finds out more, he starts to wonder: where are all those hundreds of members now? He meets the former deputy editor of Private Eye, journalist Francis Wheen: he has a long memory for news and a nose for stories that people in power want to keep secret. What does he know about PIE? Archive credits: Newsnight, BBC, August 1983 Details of organisations offering information and support for victims of child sexual abuse are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline Presenter: Alex Renton Producer: Caitlin Smith Researchers: Claire Harris and Marisha Currie Executive producers: Gail Champion and Gillian Wheelan Written by Alex Renton, Caitlin Smith, Jack Kibble White and Kirsty Williams Sound designer: Jon Nicholls Theme tune composed by Jeremy Warmsley

    29 min

  2. EPISODE 2

    2. They Groom Everyone

    Alex Renton has letters and documentation passed to him by a secret source. He tries to track down a former member of the defunct pro-paedophile group, the Paedophile Information Exchange, or PIE. He delves into the group's origins and discovers that figures within PIE didn’t just groom the people around them, they attempted to groom whole movements. The group formed in 1974; a time when marginalised groups were campaigning for equality and legal change. PIE took heed, that’s what they wanted. So they aligned themselves with minority rights groups. And, these groups, whose ethos was to be open hearted, trusting - bought into it. They were fooled. Alex Renton speaks with men who were part of gay youth groups in the 1970s that were targeted and manipulated by PIE and its members. And he makes a breakthrough with the membership list. Presenter: Alex Renton Producer: Caitlin Smith Executive Producers: Gail Champion and Gillian Wheelan Story Consultants: Jack Kibble-White and Kirsty Williams Sound design: Jon Nicholls Theme Tune: Jeremy Warmsley Details of organisations offering information and support for victims of child sexual abuse are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

    29 min

  3. EPISODE 3

    3. The Dirty Squad

    Alex Renton tries to find out more about the notes scribbled in the margins of the PIE membership list. It looks like they were written by police, who were going door to door visiting the members listed in the document. But this active investigation appears to stop suddenly in 1985. Why? Alex starts piecing together the police investigation into the Paedophile Information Exchange. He discovers the PIE List was seized by the Metropolitan Police in the late seventies and passed to a unit called the Obscene Publications Branch or as it was known internally 'the Dirty Squad'. Presenter: Alex Renton Producer: Caitlin Smith Executive Producers: Gail Champion and Gillian Wheelan Story Consultants: Jack Kibble-White and Kirsty Williams Sound design: Jon Nicholls Theme Tune: Jeremy Warmsley Actor readings: David Hounslow and Samuel James. Archive: Newsnight, 1983 BBC; Mary Whitehouse film archive, Huntly Film Archive 1964; Mastermind 1979 , BBC. Details of organisations offering information and support for victims of child sexual abuse are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline

    33 min

  4. EPISODE 4

    4. Member 51

    A social care consultant who advises the government on children in care, is raided by police in 1992. A detective finds evidence linking him to the Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE). A local social worker is called in. He and the detective search through seven boxes of documents, brought from the home of the suspect. They discover that not only was he a member of PIE, but a central figure and high up in establishment circles. Alex Renton sits down with the social worker, and hears about his decades long quest: to expose members of the Paedophile Information Exchange within social care and stop them from harming children. In their public literature, the leaders of PIE members had always claimed their relationships with children were consensual. Alex Renton tracks down one of the boys, now a man in his fifties, who was abused by the childcare expert and his partner. Archive: Inside Story- The Secret Life of a Paeophile, 1994, BBC. News report on the White Inquiry into Islington Children's Homes child abuse scandal, 1995, BBC; The Scandal of Crookham Court, That's Life!, 1991, BBC. Presenter: Alex Renton Producer: Caitlin Smith Executive Producers: Gail Champion and Gillian Wheelan Story Consultants: Jack Kibble-White and Kirsty Williams Sound design: Jon Nicholls Theme Tune: Jeremy Warmsley Details of organisations offering information and support for victims of child sexual abuse are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline

    30 min

  5. EPISODE 5

    5. This Evil Thing

    Journalist Alex Renton is sent a secret membership list of a pro-paedophile group active in the 1970s and 80s. It’s a lot to take in. Alex is not only a journalist, he’s a survivor of child sexual abuse. The Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE) campaigned to 'normalise' sex between children and adults. Their spokesmen claimed that adult members always sought consent. But from the moment Alex was passed the list he knew that was a lie. He recognised some of those names and he knew they had convictions for child sexual abuse. The List set Alex off on a dizzying journey into the dark history of PIE. As he uncovered more, he started to wonder: where were all those hundreds of members now? Could children still be at risk? 316 names. Most with UK addresses. All but a handful are men. In this final episode Alex makes contact with some of the former members of PIE; people he believes may still come into contact with children. Archive credits: BBC, Nationwide 1981; BBC, Newsnight 1983; BBC Parliament, 2025. Presenter: Alex Renton Producer: Caitlin Smith Executive Producers: Gillian Wheelan and Gail Champion Story Consultants: Jack Kibble-White and Kirsty Williams Sound design: Jon Nicholls Theme Tune: Jeremy Warmsley Details of organisations offering information and support for victims of child sexual abuse are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline

    30 min

  6. EPISODE 6

    This is In Dark Corners, series 2

    In 2022, journalist Alex Renton told the story of sexual abuse and cover up in Britain’s elite schools, including his own. After the Radio 4 series aired, his inbox exploded; with people sharing their personal accounts of abuse. Last spring, and anothr email. This one came with an attachment: a scanned copy of a membership list for a pro-paedophile campaign group active in the 1970s and 80s. The group's name was the Paedophile Information Exchange, or PIE for short. The PIE List sets Alex - himself a survivor of child sexual abuse - on a dizzying journey into the group’s dark history. As he digs further, a source gets in touch; could Alex travel to meet him? During that meeting he hands him other secret documents, which build a picture of the criminal activities of some of PIE’s members: teachers, clergymen, social workers, government advisors. Alex begins to wonder: where are all those hundreds of PIE members now? Are children still at risk? Presenter: Alex Renton Producer: Caitlin Smith Researchers: Claire Harris and Marisha Currie Executive producers: Gail Champion and Gillian Wheelan Story Consultants: Jack Kibble White and Kirsty Williams Written by Alex Renton, Caitlin Smith, Jack Kibble White and Kirsty Williams Sound designer: Jon Nicholls Theme tune composed by Jeremy Warmsley Commissioning executive: Tracy Williams Commissioner: Dan Clarke

    3 min
See All Season 2 (6)

About

Campaigning journalist, broadcaster and historian Alex Renton shines a light into the dark corners of British society.

Information

  • Creator
    BBC Radio 4
  • Episodes
    10
  • Seasons
    2
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © (C) BBC 2025
  • Show Website
    In Dark Corners

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