Shadow World – Details, episodes & analysis
Podcast details
Technical and general information from the podcast's RSS feed.
Shadow World
BBC Radio 4
Frequency: 1 episode/13d. Total Eps: 35
Gripping stories from the shadows - BBC investigations from across the UK
It should be impossible to steal a home, but Sue Mitchell reveals it's all too easy. The multi-award winning investigative journalist (Intrigue: To Catch a Scorpion, Million Dollar Lover) is on the trail of an East European crime group using forged wills to 'take' the homes of the dead , stealing millions from rightful heirs and denying the Government valuable tax revenue.
Sue Mitchell starts her original investigation when two sisters are denied their rightful inheritance following the death of their estranged aunt, but soon finds herself tracking a gang that are not only conning people out of property but also linked to cannabis farms, money laundering and the sale of UK work visas.
Over five episodes, she goes in search of the gang members behind this elaborate scam and web of false companies, exposing the shortfalls of a creaking system which places countless others at risk.
Recent rankings
Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.
Apple Podcasts
🇬🇧 Great Britain - trueCrime
03/08/2025#41🇬🇧 Great Britain - trueCrime
02/08/2025#34🇬🇧 Great Britain - trueCrime
01/08/2025#26🇬🇧 Great Britain - trueCrime
31/07/2025#20🇬🇧 Great Britain - trueCrime
30/07/2025#23🇬🇧 Great Britain - trueCrime
29/07/2025#19🇬🇧 Great Britain - trueCrime
28/07/2025#22🇬🇧 Great Britain - trueCrime
27/07/2025#25🇬🇧 Great Britain - trueCrime
26/07/2025#22🇬🇧 Great Britain - trueCrime
25/07/2025#21
Spotify
No recent rankings available
Shared links between episodes and podcasts
Links found in episode descriptions and other podcasts that share them.
See allRSS feed quality and score
Technical evaluation of the podcast's RSS feed quality and structure.
See allScore global : 59%
Publication history
Monthly episode publishing history over the past years.
Thief at the British Museum: 9. An Ending, a Beginning
Season 1 · Episode 9
lundi 27 mai 2024 • Duration 18:07
Ittai hands over his gems and the Museum launches a recovery process to try and find more of the missing items. But will it ever get back what has been lost?
Presenter: Katie Razzall Producers: Darin Graham, Ben Henderson and Larissa Kennelly Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman Mix and sound design : James Beard Composer: Jenny Plant Exec-producer: Joe Kent Investigations Editor: Ed Campbell Series Editor: Matt Willis Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
Thief at the British Museum: 8. Stateside
Season 1 · Episode 8
lundi 27 mai 2024 • Duration 16:23
Katie receives a tip-off that sultan1966 has been selling gems in the US.
After speaking to a buyer in New Orleans, she learns about an even bigger collection of gems offered by the same seller that have ended up in the Washington DC area.
Presenter: Katie Razzall Producers: Darin Graham, Ben Henderson and Larissa Kennelly Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman Mix and sound design : James Beard Composer: Jenny Plant Exec-producer: Joe Kent Investigations Editor: Ed Campbell Series Editor: Matt Willis Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
Thief at the British Museum: 7. Treasure Hunt
Season 1 · Episode 7
lundi 27 mai 2024 • Duration 15:00
Ittai Gradel says he sold on some of the gems he thinks came from the British Museum.
A mission to hunt them down leads the team through the backstreets of Paris and to a small town in Germany.
Presenter: Katie Razzall Producers: Darin Graham, Ben Henderson and Larissa Kennelly Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman Mix and sound design : James Beard Composer: Jenny Plant Exec-producer: Joe Kent Investigations Editor: Ed Campbell Series Editor: Matt Willis Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
Thief at the British Museum: 6. Lone Wolf or Scapegoat?
Season 1 · Episode 6
lundi 27 mai 2024 • Duration 18:48
As news of the thefts breaks around the world, the boss of the British Museum turns on Ittai. Now he has to fight to clear his name.
And what of the thief? The museum shares details about how they think the thief covered their tracks. Peter Higgs is sacked and when Katie tries to learn more about him she discovers something unexpected.
Presenter: Katie Razzall Producers: Darin Graham, Ben Henderson and Larissa Kennelly Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman Mix and sound design : James Beard Composer: Jenny Plant Exec-producer: Joe Kent Investigations Editor: Ed Campbell Series Editor: Matt Willis Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
Archive: Sky News
Thief at the British Museum: 5. Secret Missions
Season 1 · Episode 5
lundi 27 mai 2024 • Duration 17:42
The inside story of how ancient treasures were stolen from one of the world’s most renowned institutions. And how one man believes he caught a thief. Omnibus edition part one of two.
Presenter: Katie Razzall Producers: Darin Graham, Ben Henderson and Larissa Kennelly Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman Mix and sound design : James Beard Composer: Jenny Plant Exec-producer: Joe Kent Investigations Editor: Ed Campbell Series Editor: Matt Willis Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
Thief at the British Museum: 4. Seeds of Doubt
Season 1 · Episode 4
lundi 27 mai 2024 • Duration 15:04
Ittai is convinced he’s found his thief, but not everyone is so sure. “I mean, to me, it just sounds like a setup. It sounds like he’s being framed”, one former museum insider tells us.
Peter Higgs is a well respected curator, highly regarded for his expertise on the ancient world and known for helping to return stolen antiquities, not selling them on eBay.
When Ittai shares his evidence with the British Museum, laying out why he thinks Higgs is a thief, no one seems interested. Has he missed something?
Presenter: Katie Razzall Producers: Darin Graham, Ben Henderson and Larissa Kennelly Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman Mix and sound design : James Beard Composer: Jenny Plant Exec-producer: Joe Kent Investigations Editor: Ed Campbell Series Editor: Matt Willis Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
Archive: Galleries of the British Museum
Thief at the British Museum: 3. Lightbulb Moment
Season 1 · Episode 3
lundi 27 mai 2024 • Duration 14:48
For Ittai, the clues finally fall into place. Has he identified the thief?
Ittai Gradel long suspected someone was selling ancient gems that once belonged to the British Museum. But he had no idea when they were stolen or by whom.
Now a startling discovery leads him to believe the thefts are recent and that the thief is someone in a position of trust.
Presenter: Katie Razzall Producers: Darin Graham, Ben Henderson and Larissa Kennelly Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman Mix and sound design : James Beard Composer: Jenny Plant Exec-producer: Joe Kent Investigations Editor: Ed Campbell Series Editor: Matt Willis Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
Thief at the British Museum: 2. White Paper Dots
Season 1 · Episode 2
lundi 27 mai 2024 • Duration 16:58
A mysterious seller appears with a seemingly endless supply of ancient, precious gems at bargain prices. Collector and dealer Ittai Gradel snaps them up. But then a strange series of events starts to unfold.
From his home in rural Denmark, Ittai becomes suspicious about what is happening hundreds of miles away at the heart of the British Museum.
Presenter: Katie Razzall Producers: Darin Graham, Ben Henderson and Larissa Kennelly Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman Mix and sound design: James Beard Composer: Jenny Plant Exec-producer: Joe Kent Investigations Editor: Ed Campbell Series Editor: Matt Willis Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
Thief at the British Museum: 1. The Man with the Cardboard Box
Season 1 · Episode 1
lundi 27 mai 2024 • Duration 14:36
People have called Dr Ittai Gradel a kind of Sherlock Holmes, if Holmes were Danish and obsessed with gems. He’s an antiquities dealer with an eye for stolen goods who will help unlock the mystery at the heart of this story.
When Katie meets him in London, he’s got something to show her - two ancient gemstones he believes belong to the British Museum.
But this whodunnit begins more than a decade ago as a man with a cardboard box wanders into an antiques market. He has some valuable treasure to sell.
Presenter: Katie Razzall Producers: Darin Graham, Ben Henderson and Larissa Kennelly Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman Mix and sound design : James Beard Composer: Jenny Plant Exec-producer: Joe Kent Investigations Editor: Ed Campbell Series Editor: Matt Willis Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
Archive: Sky News Australia
Thief at the British Museum: Trailer
Season 1 · Episode 1
lundi 20 mai 2024 • Duration 02:46
The inside story of how ancient treasures disappeared from one of the world’s most famous museums. And how one man believes he uncovered a thief. BBC Culture Editor Katie Razzall reveals how a Danish gem dealer almost single-handedly identified a man he believes had been stealing precious artefacts from inside the British Museum. She looks at why thefts went unnoticed for so long.
What begins as a whodunnit turns into a global treasure hunt as Katie tries to track down the missing gems.
Archive: Sky News Australia