Twenty years ago Barnie Choudhury was reporting for BBC Radio 4's Today programme when he was sent to the the frontline of the worst rioting Britain had seen for generations.

The violence over a six-week period in the summer of 2001 in Oldham, Burnley and Bradford, saw communities split along racial lines. Hundreds of police officers were injured and repair costs ran into the millions.

Over three episodes Barnie returns to his previously unaired recordings and interviews made on those febrile, frightening nights to ask: "Why did this happen?"

He finds answers from the people behind the groundbreaking report commissioned to find out how northern communities had become so devastatingly segregated - and discovers why a workable plan to transform race relations in the UK got sidelined.

Presented by Barnie Choudhury
Produced by Kevin Core
Assistant Producer Emb Hashmi Show less