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Buried: The Last Witness

BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

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Buried: The Last Witness: The Last Witness - 3. Discredit Gowan

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Buried

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Factual: Life Stories

Factual: Crime & Justice: True Crime

Two reporters and a film star dig into a witness's lost files on a toxic chemical secret.

A husband and wife team up with the film star Michael Sheen to dig into a witness's lost files on a toxic chemical secret. What really happened to the witness?

From a deathbed tape to a witness in protection, Buried is the award-winning true-crime series digging into some of the most disturbing environmental stories in history.

"It's buried isn't it? But it's coming back." The haunting words of a witness who claimed he'd discovered a toxic chemical secret half a century ago that would affect us all. 

In this thrilling new investigation, Buried: The Last Witness, Dan Ashby and Lucy Taylor team up with the film star Michael Sheen, who recorded the witness before he died. Together, they dig into the unseen files of a man who said he was beaten up and put under police protection, after alleging that a chemical had contaminated the food chain.


It is a story straight out of a Hollywood drama: an opera-loving British gentleman clashes with an American corporate giant, claiming there was a conspiracy to silence him. Was the witness right? Science and shadows collide in this true-crime epic, as the hosts search for the truth, testing soil, food and even their own blood - to uncover what one chemical can do at its worst.

Buried is a bingeable, fast-paced true-crime series exposing urgent environmental stories you've almost certainly never heard of. Husband-and-wife investigative duo Dan Ashby and Lucy Taylor delve into thrilling mysteries - bringing to light never-before-heard recordings or boxes of explosive legal documents, inviting the audience to unpick crimes or scandals with them. 

Their stories throw them - and us - into secret worlds, be it the organised crime unfolding in our waste, or trails of toxic chemicals that go right to our plates.

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

The Last Witness

Two reporters and a film star dig into a witness's lost files on a toxic chemical secret.

"It's buried isn't it? But it's coming back." The haunting words of a witness who claimed he'd discovered a toxic chemical secret half a century ago that would affect us all. 

In this thrilling new investigation, husband and wife team Dan Ashby and Lucy Taylor team up with the film star Michael Sheen, who recorded the witness before he died. Together, they dig into the unseen files of a man who said he was beaten up and put under police protection, after alleging that a chemical had contaminated the food chain. 

It is a story straight out of a Hollywood drama: an opera-loving British gentleman clashes with an American corporate giant, claiming there was a conspiracy to silence him. Was the witness right? Science and shadows collide in this true-crime epic, as the hosts search for the truth, testing soil, food and even their own blood - to uncover what one chemical can do at its worst.

From a deathbed tape to a witness in protection, Buried is the award-winning true-crime series digging into some of the most disturbing environmental stories in history. Husband-and-wife investigative duo Dan Ashby and Lucy Taylor delve into thrilling mysteries - bringing to light never-before-heard recordings or boxes of explosive legal documents, inviting the audience to unpick crimes or scandals with them. 

Their stories throw them - and us - into secret worlds, be it the organised crime unfolding in our waste, or trails of toxic chemicals that go right to our plates. 

Buried is always packed full of twists, a bingeable fast-paced series exposing urgent environmental stories you've almost certainly never heard of.

The Last Witness - 3. Discredit Gowan

BBC Radio 4 - Buried, The Last Witness, The Last Witness - 3. Discredit Gowan

'They would have killed me.' Was there a conspiracy to silence the witness?

'They would have killed me.' Douglas says he was denounced, impersonated and attacked to keep him silent. Dan and Lucy dig into his explosive story, and uncover an intriguing memo.

“They would have killed me.” 

Douglas Gowan says he was denounced in Parliament, impersonated and attacked - all to keep him silent. Dan and Lucy dig further into his explosive story, until they uncover an intriguing memo. 

Buried is the award-winning true-crime series digging into some of the most disturbing environmental stories in history. In this new investigation, reporters Dan Ashby and Lucy Taylor team up with the film star Michael Sheen. Together, they dig into the unseen files of a man who said he was beaten up and put under police protection, after alleging that a chemical had contaminated the food chain. 

Produced and presented by Dan Ashby and Lucy Taylor
Research by Georgie Styles
Sound design and mixing by Jarek Zaba
Original music and sounds by Phil Channell
Executive Producers: Philip Abrams and Anita Elash
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Smoke Trail production for BBC Radio 4

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