Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4 - The Naked Week: Ep4: Spies, Uncanny Ghosts, and Christmas Crackers
Episode Date: December 27, 2024The team give the news a hard stare as they try to recruit a spy and steal some of the Uncanny podcast's listening figures by contacting Nigel Farage with a ouija board.From The Skewer’s Jon Holmes ...comes The Naked Week, a fresh way of dressing the week’s news in the altogether and parading it around for everyone to laugh at.Host Andrew Hunter Murray and chief correspondent Amy Hoggart will strip away the curtain and dive into not only the big stories, but also the way the news is packaged and presented.From award-winning writers and a crack team of contemporary satirists - and recorded in front of a live audience - The Naked Week delivers a topical news nude straight to your ears.Written by: Jon Holmes Katie Sayer Sarah Dempster Gareth Ceredig Jason Hazeley Adam Macqueen Louis MianGuests: Neil Frost and Chris Banatvala.Production Team: Laura Grimshaw, Tony Churnside, Jerry Peal, Katie Sayer, Phoebe ButlerProduced and Directed by Jon Holmes Executive Producer: Philip AbramsAn unusual production for BBC Radio 4
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Hello, I'm Andrew Hunter-Murray, and this is The Naked Week, Radio 4's brand new topical
comedy.
Imagine newscast if Elon Musk had given it a hundred million quid.
On The Naked Week this week, after years of being laughed at and called names, Rudolph
finally snaps and deals with all of the other reindeer.
They had all been decapitated.
Evan Davis' Christmas list has gotten way out of hand.
Banana, sunrise, table, season, leader chair.
What's wrong with sock seven?
And Tuesday was Michelle Hussein's last day on the Today program.
And towards the end of her final show, she had the greatest opportunity of her broadcasting career so far. And yet, instead, she said...
Jeremy Hunt, thank you very much.
Michelle! What a wasted opportunity. Completely bobbled up.
Now the other big story this week is the revelation that yet another Chinese spy has been discovered
trying to infiltrate the heart of government or more accurately given Prince Andrew's involvement the ass of
Windsor
The names six
H6 or at least it was until an anonymity order was lifted on Monday
And we now know him to be yang teng bo who was reported to have successfully gained the confidence of Prince Andrew
Which let's be honest, is not difficult.
Anyone with a well-thumbed copy of Lolita could probably have done the same.
Now, Yang Tengbo denies being a spy, but it is all a bit embarrassing,
so much so that the former head of MI6 Sir Sir Richard Dearlove, genuinely said on Sky News this week...
Well, I'm a bit sorry for Prince Patrick, in a way.
Quite right, Richard, quite right.
He might be a sex scandal-implicated waste of resources who's jeopardising national security...
...but he's OUR sex scandal-implicated waste of resources jeopardising national security.
APPLAUSE ways to resources jeopardizing national security. As much as we joke though, Chinese infiltration in the British government and British cultural
institutions is serious and ominous.
This is just one high profile example we know about.
A Chinese government intelligence agency called the United Front Work Department currently
has an estimated 40,000 agents tasked with attempting to infiltrate governments including
ours.
And it's not even just Chinese expats accused of spying for China.
Last year, 29-year-old Scott Chris Cash was charged with spying offenses,
which he denies, and he was an employee of...
Parliament's China Research Group.
As in the people who are supposed to be keeping an eye on this situation.
It's clear that when it comes to espionage, China is wiping the floor with us.
And then cleaning the floor. And then polishing the floor.
Because they've also infiltrated the housekeeping team.
And that got us at the Naked Week thinking, how could we, a lowly Radio 4 show, do our bit for Britain's national security?
If this week's media is to be believed, China has thousands of spies in the UK.
So it's high time we started recruiting some spies of our own and play them at their own
game.
So in another Radio First, The Naked Week is going to recruit a spy now from our studio
audience.
But what does it take?
To find out, we genuinely asked a real-life spy, and he wasn't hard to find because it's
someone the controller of Radio 4 was at Oxford with. And we asked him what does make a good spy.
Now, we have had to disguise his voice so he can't be identified.
I'm afraid the disguise was a bit too good, so we couldn't identify any words.
So instead we just looked at the intelligence services website.
And what we're going to do is find our spy the classic old fashioned way with a convoluted
parlor game and process of elimination.
So everyone in the audience who can, please if you could stand up now.
And listeners at home you can do this too.
Not if you're driving.
Okay, so here we go.
Criteria number one.
Field operatives need to be able to blend into a crowd.
They can't be too distinctive, and so the intelligence services have strict rules on height.
Amy Hoggart is here with us.
Men, if you're over 6 foot 2, and we mean in real life, not in a hinge sense,
you're going to need to sit down.
OK.
Lots of confident men.
OK, congratulations.
But I'm sorry, you're sitting down too.
Okay, everyone who's still standing,
not appearing too distinctive is crucial for a field agent.
So if you have tattoos that you can't easily cover
or brightly coloured dyed hair, please sit down now.
And this is a Radio 4 audience.
Almost nobody has been affected.
Also, you cannot draw too much attention to yourself in public.
There are strict rules about drugs, being sexually promiscuous,
and getting too drunk in public.
So, if you've ever been to a bottomless brunch at all bar one,
please sit down now.
Wow, this is horrible. And there are still quite a few people standing. We have a large pool of potential candidates now.
I think we're going to have to pick someone. Amy, can you window it down a bit further?
I'm looking for someone with a really fine
but boring face. I'm looking in the front row.
I'm seeing you, sir. He's trying to avoid eye contact.
He's trying to avoid eye contact, which is what a perfect spy would do.
Yes.
What's your name, sir?
Hi, I'm Dan.
Dan?
Perfect.
Good spy name.
And what's your surname, please?
Riaz.
OK, well, you've immediately ruled yourself out by giving us your first and surname, Dan.
So, I'm afraid you're fired.
Thank you very much.
You can sit down too.
There he is, ladies and gentlemen.
And President Xi, if you are listening, they bought it.
Prepare for phase two, double COVID.
Too soon.
Now, just in time for Christmas,
the Naked Week has been sent a box of personalised crackers.
Amy is still with me. Amy, let's get into the festive spirit. Let's open some of these up.
Now, who are these from? OK, shall we pull one now? OK, here we go.
This one is from Kemi Badenoch.
What do you call a penguin in the Sahara Desert?
An invasion.
Very nice.
Thank you, Kemi.
Here's another one.
Now, this one is from Wes Streeting.
Oh, I love this one.
Why did Santa get stuck up the chimney?
The answer?
Obesity costs the NHS £11 billion a year.
And government trials of weight loss drugs such as Zezempic are part of Labour's long-term
strategy to get overweight fictional characters back into employment to ease the pressure on
working people. And government trials of weight loss drugs such as Zezempic are part of Labour's long-term strategy
To get overweight fictional characters back into employment to ease the pressure on working people's chimneys
Very nice. Okay, let's have another
No bang. That's an odd one. What does it say here? Send more ammo you cheap bastards
That's from President Zelensky. Very nice.
Now, the Naked Week has been hovering at the top of the BBC podcast chart since our first show. And while it's mostly fans of dead ringers doing a hate listen, this week...
This week we were toppled like a sort of comedy assad by the powerhouse that is Radio 4's
Uncanny podcast as it barged into the chart with a sheet over its head for a Christmas
special.
Christmas is, of course, a time traditionally for spooky stories.
So we at The Naked Week thought we'd jump on the bandwagon and thus back to the top
with a ghost story that we have been investigating.
In the last few weeks, many
Naked Whig listeners have been in touch with tales of mysterious sightings in a town on
the East Coast of England. Audience, when there's something strange in the neighborhood, who
are you going to call? Ghostbusters! That is exactly what we did. We called a ghost bus
tour. Please, welcome to the stage a paranormal expert who has worked with London's
ghost bus tour company, it's Neil Frost. So, Neil, this is a strange and haunting tale,
isn't it? Tell us all about it. Well, the story begins in a small seaside town on the Essex coast back in the summer of this year.
Children play on the pebble beaches,
wave crash languidly on the shore,
and the distant melody of an ice cream van
dances delicately on the breeze.
But the events of 2024 would change
the little town of Clackton-on-Sea forever.
Oh.
So, listeners from Clackton are reporting a presence in their town.
Well, yeah, this is what's odd, Andy.
It's more a lack of a presence that's haunting the residents.
This is really weird.
So I have some of the witness accounts of the phenomenon here.
People say this strange manifestation just appeared one day
and was seen shaking hands with local residents,
cropping up in photos, complaining about boats.
And here's the really odd thing, Andy,
attempts to contact the ghouls since have been met with nothing.
Ah!
Ah!
Ah!
Ah!
Sorry about that.
I think the sound engineer pressed the wrong button.
As regular listeners to The Naked Week, no, by now, we pride ourselves on being incredibly
helpful so we thought we would try to contact this entity ourselves on behalf of the people
of Clacton who are also being haunted by low employment,
high levels of economic inactivity and a lack of investment in local infrastructure.
I'm gonna have to fire that sound engineer. Anyway, what we've got here to help is this.
It is the Naked Week board. Ooh. Great.
So we have an upturned glass here.
Now to further attract the apparition,
it's a pint glass with a Spitfire painted on it.
Could we please, for a better connection to the other side,
could we dim the studio lights a little?
I don't know about you, I think something special
could be about to happen here
Okay, now if you would like to you can hold hands
Although as a BBC presenter, I'd like to make very clear. You don't have to
All right, we're gonna see if we can make contact now so
Mysterious vanished figure are you there? Oh
Disappearing entity what is your name? The glass is moving, ladies and gentlemen.
It's N-I-G.
I think we can all see where this is going.
E-L.
Nigel, Nigel, I'm going to ask you a question on behalf of the people of Clacton.
Why have you been to America six times in the five months that you've been an MP?
I think we've angered it.
Ladies and gentlemen, Neil Frost and, ghosting the people of Clacton, Nigel Farage! Hi-Coo!
You're listening to The Naked Week on Radio 4,
where it's time once again to take a quiet stroll
in the topical garden of current affairs contemplation.
It's the news in Hi-Coo's.
in Haikus. Royal Mail bought by Czechoslovakian.
The Czech is in the post.
The news in Haikus.
On Thursday this week, Parliament sat for the last time before the festive break.
To celebrate, Kemmy Badenock brought in her favourite lunch, the traditional Christmas
steak.
And meanwhile, over in the House of Lords, the peers conducted their seasonal sweepstake
to see which of them would survive the winter.
But Christmas is also the time of year to remember absent friends.
And none are more absent in Westminster than MPs who've lost their seats.
And right now, if you're thinking, hang on, is this going to be another swan dive into
a vat of mulled wine marked Chateau de Lobbying? Yes it is.
In previous episodes we have looked at gambling companies, financial consultancy firms, civil service appointments,
and labour think tanks.
And now it's time to shine a festive light
on former parliamentarians.
So I'm joined once again by The Naked Week's very own Krampus,
Adam McQueen.
APPLAUSE
Adam, first of all, what do you need to do to become a lobbyist?
Well, you need to buy a nice suit.
Is that it? Pretty much. Adam, first of all, what do you need to do to become a lobbyist? Well, you need to buy a nice suit.
Is that it? Pretty much.
OK, Adam McQueen, everybody.
The only thing you really need to do is to register with something called
the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists.
Then off you go.
Although, obviously, it will help if you know your way around the corridors of Westminster
and have a contact book heavy enough to knock out one of Santa's elves.
And the Naked Week in no way endorses that kind of seasonal thuggery.
Ex-MPs turning to lobbying and consulting is basically a Gamekeeper turned poacher situation.
It's an easy career move, not least because, and this fact never gets any less weird no
matter how many times you hear it, all former MPs, if they want to, get to keep their security pass
that gets them into the Houses of Parliament forever.
Forever?
It's like an MP is for life, not just for Christmas.
LAUGHTER
Unless they're Boris Johnson,
because he got his confiscated for throwing parties
when the grown-ups were out.
But plenty of sitting MPs have raised concerns about lobbying.
And not just any sitting MPs.
Here's what former Prime Minister and shopsoiled
Gilly Cooper protagonist David Cameron said
about political lobbying just a few months
before he trotted into Downing Street in 2010.
It's the next big scandal waiting to happen.
It's an issue that frankly has tainted our politics
for too long.
I'm talking about lobbying, and we all know how it works.
The lunches, the hospitality, the quiet word in the ear,
the ex-ministers and ex-advisors for hire,
helping big businesses find the right way to get its way.
So it must have come as a hell of a shock to, for example,
David Cameron, when 11 years later this happened.
The government has ordered an independent inquiry into the lobbying work
by former Prime Minister David Cameron
on behalf of the finance firm Greens Hill Capital.
OK, but this is old news. I mean, that is literally old news. That was Jon Snow.
Look, Andy, they asked me to make this as Christmasy as I could.
Oh my God.
Snow is about the best I can do.
The point is that since this sort of thing was good enough for the Conservatives' former,
former, former, former, former leader, it's hardly surprising that plenty of Tory MPs
who left Parliament this summer have slid straight into consulting and lobbying jobs.
Who are we talking about here?
MPs such as former Tory Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan and Tory Party Chairman
Sir Jake Berry, or as we're obliged to call him in this episode, Sir Jake Cranberry.
Adam. Adam, no.
Just don't fight it, it'll be easier.
Anyway, both of them bag jobs at Fullbrook Strategies, which is a lobbying firm set up
by Liz Truss's former chief of staff.
Okay, you can't argue with that kind of track record though.
You cannot, no.
And you wouldn't want to argue with them either, seeing as earlier this year, Fullbrook Strategies
was lobbying on behalf of a subsidiary of an investment firm partly owned by two sanctioned Russian oligarchs and more recently they've been
working on behalf of the international firearms manufacturer Sig Sauer.
Well they sound lovely but now the Tories are in the wilderness these these guys
are small fry I mean cozying up to opposition backbenchers is going to do
nobody any good I presume. At the moment it's a bit of a waste of time of money.
If you want to get anything done in Westminster these days then just as
Cameron was the top hire
when the Tories were in power,
you need to be employing one of the firms
run by a Labour big beast.
And this is where the former parliamentarians lobbying
gets really interesting, Andy,
because Labour big beasts don't get much bigger
or beastlier than, wait for it,
Peter O'Come O'Come in Mandelson.
That is not acceptable, Adam.
No, I'm sorry.
Although he's just got a very nice Christmas present, he's just been announced ambassador to the USA.
Yay!
In 2016, Lord Mandelson helped set up Global Council,
a consulting firm with a specific focus on clients who are,
quote, working with public policy change.
So, when you say clients, what sort of clients are we talking about,
and what do they want?
Well, top of the Christmas tree, time-wasting social media giant TikTok.
The Chinese-owned platform who are ticked, and presumably talked, off
about Britain's brand new online safety act and are lobbying against it.
Okay, so just to be clear, the consultancy firm set up by Peter Maddelson,
the most laboury, labourite, whoever laboured, is now lobbying against the Labour government?
Essentially, yes.
But perhaps the most interesting of global councils' clients is Water UK, which is the
trade association which represents all the big water companies.
So that's the same water companies which last year were responsible for almost half a million
instances of sewage spillage, and for turning Britain's rivers into a physical representation
of Elon Musk-era Twitter.
Now, of course, the only thing better than having one ex-Labour cabinet minister lobbying on your behalf
would be two ex-Labour cabinet ministers.
So it's pretty handy that the current chair of Water UK just happens to be a woman called Ruth Kelly,
who held six different ministerial posts under New Labour, which makes her a leading character in the TBEU.
That's the Tony Blair Extended Universe.
So big sewage has got some big names behind it.
OK, but the government genuinely is trying to crack down
on water companies, as far as I understand it,
as in their manifesto suggested legislation
to bring criminal charges against companies dumping waste
and blocking large bonuses for executives
of those companies.
That sort of thing, yeah.
But actually, this is a great example of why knowing about lobbying is important.
Because thanks to this weird Westminster bubble of peers and consultants and former MPs, Keir
Stalmer and co. are currently spending taxpayers' money fighting some of their own Labour predecessors
over a Labour manifesto pledge.
Ultimately, Adam, the only question that matters is, is this lobbying by Mandelson's company on behalf of the water
industry working?
Well, the legislation continued its journey
through the Commons just last week.
And campaigners are pointing out that compared
to Labour's original plans, this latest version of the bill
has been significantly, and I'm sorry,
there's simply no other way of saying this, watered down.
You could say shit it up.
Yeah, that would do it.
Christmas miracle. Adam McQueen, everybody.
APPLAUSE
Just time now for a few more quick Christmas crackers.
This one from former Post Office boss Paul Ofennles.
What does Santa say to the toys on Christmas Eve?
I can't remember.
If I was ever told what Santa said to the toys,
it was on the advice of others.
And I'm sorry if the toys feel they were misled.
This is from it's from Benjamin Netanyahu.
Why don't you ever see Father Christmas in a hospital?
It's not a hospital, it's a Hamas command center.
And a legitimate target.
command center and a legitimate target. Oh.
Now, as it's the season of Goodwill, we wanted to share something genuinely heartwarming
that happened recently to some very good friends of ours.
We don't normally boast here at GB News, but do you know what?
For once, I am going to, because on the racing's, we have beaten not only Sky News, but the
BBC News Channel as well.
He's back, the Clactam poltergeist himself there, on multicoloured Fury Shop GB News.
But it turns out Farage is right. For a brief period recently, GBBs did indeed overtake the
establishment heavy hitters in the ratings. And fair play to them, this is the biggest win for the flag-waving firebrands since 2022,
when the channel was launched by Andrew Neil
with all the pomp and ceremony of a dog walker
launching a small plastic bag into a hedge.
Unfortunately though, celebrations are short-lived
because of the whopping £100,000 fine
that the regulator recently dropped on them,
taking into account 12 separate
breaches of broadcasting standards, and according to reports they also owe their parent company
£83 million.
Now GB News is challenging Ofcom's ruling and is already exploring some loopholes in
their broadcasting code, like shifting some of their fruitier presenters onto their YouTube
channel where Ofcom can't police them.
But at least they are now taking a proactive approach to regulations rather than just ignoring them as they normally
do. And The Naked Week wants to help. Genuinely, we really do. We really do.
Because just like GB News, we have to obey Ofcom too. Every program does. We're
all in this together through Esther McVeigh
and Thin. So, rather than dodge around the regulator, we're happy to assist any fellow
broadcasters who might want to diversify their output. And to assist us with this, please
welcome media consultant and founding director of standards at actual Ofcom, Chris Bannert-Valer.
off-com Chris Bannert-Valer. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
I expect most people here are familiar with some of off-com's rules.
There are rules about nudity, bad language,
not letting Robert Peston have scissors, that kind of thing.
But here is our first helpful idea.
GB News needs to raise some cash, clearly.
Hypothetically, could they change tack
and become a home shopping channel?
I'm thinking great bargains news.
It's a thought.
But they'd first have to change their license. They're an editorial channel,
so they'd have to turn themselves into a tele-shopping channel.
And it also depends on what they're selling. But most importantly,
if they're a tele-shopping channel, they've got to make sure they don't mislead the audience,
because after all, they are selling stuff.
And I do in fact have one of GB News' home shopping products here.
It's a scent. It's for men and women.
It's called English Chanel.
It's very nice.
Unfortunately, you can't get any out.
There's a blockade across the top of the bottle.
But it's lovely.
All right, here's another pivot for GB News.
I'm thinking pretty straightforward with this one.
Premium rate pornography. So it's gorgeous babes news now. It'm thinking pretty straightforward with this one. Premium rate pornography.
So it's gorgeous babes news now.
It's like Babestation, but it's patriotic.
What do you think?
Babestation?
Yeah.
Really?
Well, I mean, I wouldn't know, but yeah.
It's interesting.
It's an interesting thought.
I think the thing with those stations,
they used to be registered and regulated in EU countries
like the Netherlands.
But now anyone broadcasting in the UK has to have an Ofcom license because of Brexit.
So thanks, Nigel Farage.
Brave Station is in the UK and Ofcom compliant.
That is a Naked Week exclusive.
We have found a genuine, tangible benefit of Brexit.
We have taken back control of our filth.
Great.
I've never been prouder.
OK, Chris, we have one more suggestion for GB News
that we'd like your opinion on.
We think this might be a genuine money spinner.
Now, earlier in the show, we used a Ouija board
to contact Nigel Farage.
That got us thinking.
10 or 15 years ago, you used to be able to ring up
weird free-view channels.
There were things like Psychic Today.
There are limits to what these psychic type programmes can do.
They have to be for entertainment purposes only.
They can't pretend to be real.
So my advice is to be careful if you're contacting the dead.
Conducting exorcisms, practising clairvoyance, Satanism,
invoking spirits or just simply using a Ouija board.
OK, so this is a bit awkward because our Ouija board,
we did use it.
Were you contacting the dead?
We were contacting Nigel Farage.
Well, that's all right then.
OK, great.
OK, the Naked Ouija board is in the clear.
That's confirmed.
But could you have presenters on GB News, ghost-bothering news,
very nice, claiming they are actually channeling the dead?
No, in any way, would have to be objective.
OK, OK.
So I presume not like when they did this.
What must Martin Luther King be thinking as he spins in his grave?
George V would be spinning in his grave.
Walt Disney and his father would be turning in their grave.
Margaret Thatcher will be spinning in her grave.
Suffragettes are spinning in their graves.
Princess Diana would be spinning in her grave. Suffragettes are spinning in their graves. Princess Diana would be spinning in her grave.
The Queen, obviously, you know,
or arguably the greatest ever living Brit,
will no doubt be turning in her grave.
To say that Roald Dahl is spinning in his grave
is an understatement.
Part of me wants to resurrect Winston Churchill
and present him with a screaming blue and pink head
non-binary furry.
LAUGHTER That escalated very fast. when Pink had non-binary furry. LAUGHTER
That escalated very fast.
Now, Chris, hypothetically, would a resurrected Winston Churchill
presenting a primetime show on GB News fall foul of Ofcom?
I think it really depends on whether it's news or entertainment.
Chris, they've resurrected Winston Churchill. It's clearly news.
LAUGHTER
OK, I think we've really helped clarify Ofcom's rules,
so if you are listening GB News, you can have these ideas for free.
Not least because we know you cannot afford to pay for them.
Thank you, Chris Benavalla!
Now, as we were saying, we tried to contact Nigel Farage with a Ouija board,
and that is one of the weirdest sentences we've ever said, even on this show.
One of the reasons he may be hard to get hold of
in his constituency is because he's a very busy man.
The first month he was an MP,
he received almost 100,000 pounds from GB News
for his show, Nigel Farage's alt-right circle jerk.
He's also a popular after-dinner speaker,
banking thousands per gig,
and now even Elon Musk is stuffing his beer-sodden hamster cheeks with cash. But what piqued our interest the most was the
money that old Nigel makes on a celebrity video message platform. His
constituents often complain their calls are going unanswered. Some say they
cannot get a reply with him for love nor money but that is where they are wrong
because you can get a message from Nigel Farage. Not for love, but certainly for money.
For 75 quid, Nigel will read out any message you like, and according to the Register of
Members' Interests, he's earned 38,000 pounds from this public service in the last year.
Except, it's now 38,075 pounds, because what he didn't know was that this message request
came from his ever helpful friends at The Naked Week.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have finally succeeded
in contacting Nigel and here he is with an actual message
for me about The Naked Week.
Hi Andy, congrats on the new role.
You are doing a smashing job.
Keep up the great work, there's nothing like a new job.
It just gives you the energy that you need in life
to go out there and succeed.
So Andy, please do it.
Thanks, Nigel.
Credit where it's due, he did exactly what we wanted.
That's brilliant.
And it also brings us to the end of this week's show.
So, Nigel, will you help me do the honours? Let's make this happen.
You've been listening to the Naked Week team of Andrew, Amy, John, Gareth, Katie, Sarah, Jason,
Adam and Louis. With additional nakedness from Mark Haynes and Carl Minns with Darren Phillips,
Cooper Mowinnie-Swert and Phoebe Butler with guests Neil Frost and Chris Bennett-Vala.
As anyone while I'm here.
Lots of love from producer and director John Holmes.
It was an unusual production for BBC Radio 4.
And from all of us at The Naked Week,
please have a very happy Christmas.
Goodbye!
APPLAUSE
Strong message here from BBC Radio 4.
A brand new series, stress testing to destruction the buzzwords and phrases used and abused
by politicians.
Pork barrel politics.
Red state.
Purple state.
Sports washing.
Strong and stable.
Flip flopper.
What do they actually mean?
I'm Amanda Inucci.
And I'm Helen Lewis.
And like a couple of disgraced stage magicians recently kicked out of the magic circle, we'll
be revealing all the verbal tricks of the trade.
And singling out the worst examples of political doublespeak.
Strong message here from BBC Radio 4.
Listen now on BBC Sounds. Yoga is more than just exercise. It's the spiritual practice that millions swear by.
And in 2017, Miranda, a university tutor from London, joins a yoga school that promises
profound transformation.
It felt a really safe and welcoming space.
After the yoga classes I felt amazing.
But soon, that calm, welcoming atmosphere leads to something far darker.
A journey that leads to allegations of grooming, trafficking and exploitation across international borders.
I don't have my passport, I don't have my phone, I don't have my bank cards, I have nothing.
The passport being taken, the being in a house and not feeling like they can leave.
World of Secrets is where untold stories are unveiled and hidden realities are exposed.
In this new series, we're confronting the dark side of the wellness industry,
where the hope of a spiritual breakthrough gives way to disturbing accusations.
You just get sucked in so gradually and it's done so skillfully that you don't realise.
And it's like this, the secret that's there. I wanted to believe that, you know, that whatever they were doing, even if it seemed gross to me,
was for some spiritual reason that I couldn't understand.
Revealing the hidden secrets of a global yoga network.
I feel that I have no other choice.
The only thing I can do is to speak about this and to put my reputation and everything else on the line.
I want truth and justice.
And for other people to not be hurt, for things to be different in the future.
To bring it into the light and almost alchemize some of that evil stuff that went on
and take back the power.
World of Secrets, season six, The Bad Guru.
Listen wherever you get your podcasts.