''The Cook Report'' was a British
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
current affairs television programme presented by
Roger Cook which was broadcast from 22 July 1987 to 24 August 1999. The series featured the journalist investigating corruption, criminals, government social policy failures, and unmasking coverups due to incompetence, negligence and dishonesty. All sixteen series were produced for ITV by
Central Television. The series was well known for Cook's reporting style where he would present those being investigated with the evidence that the show had collected; often this would result in the journalist being attacked and occasionally hurt by those he confronted.
History
Over 12 years, and sixteen series, the programme featured
Roger Cook travelling the world to investigate serious criminal activity, injustice and official incompetence. During its ground-breaking undercover 'stings', Cook confronted targets, and he and the film crew sometimes suffered verbal and physical abuse. ''The Cook Report'' was by some margin the highest rated current affairs programme on British television, with audiences peaking at more than 12 million. It was credited with helping to achieve numerous criminal convictions and a number of changes in the law.
Amongst the many subjects tackled, the programme exposed
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
protection rackets
A protection racket is a type of racket and a scheme of organized crime perpetrated by a potentially hazardous organized crime group that generally guarantees protection outside the sanction of the law to another entity or individual from viol ...
,
baby trading in
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
and
Guatemala
Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
,
canned hunt
A canned hunt is a trophy hunt which is not " fair chase", typically by having game animals kept in a confined area such as in a fenced ranch (i.e. "canned") to prevent the animals' escape and make tracking easier for the hunter, in order to inc ...
ing in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
,
loan shark
A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high interest rates, has strict terms of collection upon failure, and generally operates outside the law.
Description
Because loan sharks operate mostly illegally, they cannot reasonably ...
s, the
ivory trade
The ivory trade is the commercial, often illegal trade in the ivory tusks of the hippopotamus, walrus, narwhal, mammoth, and most commonly, African and Asian elephants.
Ivory has been traded for hundreds of years by people in Africa and Asia, ...
,
people smuggling
People smuggling (also called human smuggling), under U.S. law, is "the facilitation, transportation, attempted transportation or illegal entry of a person or persons across an international border, in violation of one or more countries' laws, ei ...
, drug dealing,
mock auction
A mock auction is a scam usually operated in a street market, disposal sale or similar environment, where cheap and low quality goods are sold at high prices by a team of confidence tricksters.
History
In 19th century New York, mock auctions rev ...
s,
counterfeit consumer goods
Counterfeit consumer goods (or counterfeit and fraudulent, suspect items - CFSI) are goods, often of inferior quality, made or sold under another's brand name without the brand owner's authorization. Sellers of such goods may infringe on eith ...
, manipulation of the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
,
war criminals in
Bosnia
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...
,
Clenbuterol
Clenbuterol is a sympathomimetic amine used by sufferers of breathing disorders as a decongestant and bronchodilator. People with chronic breathing disorders such as asthma use this as a bronchodilator to make breathing easier. It is most commonl ...
in British Beef, the illegal trading of exotic birds, the rise of triads in Britain, Neo-Nazis in Germany, The Hillsborough disaster, steroid dealing, the Russian
black market
A black market, underground economy, or shadow economy is a clandestine market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality or is characterized by noncompliance with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the se ...
in
weapons-grade
Weapons-grade nuclear material is any fissionable nuclear material that is pure enough to make a nuclear weapon or has properties that make it particularly suitable for nuclear weapons use. Plutonium and uranium in grades normally used in nucle ...
plutonium
Plutonium is a radioactive chemical element with the symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, and forms a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibi ...
and
Satanic Ritual Abuse
The Satanic panic is a moral panic consisting of over 12,000 unsubstantiated cases of Satanic ritual abuse (SRA, sometimes known as ritual abuse, ritualistic abuse, organized abuse, or sadistic ritual abuse) starting in the United States in th ...
.
In July 1990 the show investigated the
Tainted Blood Scandal focusing on how Haemophiliacs had become infected with HIV by using
Contaminated Blood Products. In total some 1,243 people in the UK were infected with HIV through using these products. At the time of the show some 100 had died of AIDS, as of 2017 the total number of those who have died who were infected with HIV is closer to 1,000. Since the show aired the scandal has roared on and continues to be debated in British Parliament as victims and their families still fight for justice.
''Cook Report'' Specials
''The Cook Report'' ran regularly for two seven-part series each year until 1997, when the programme reached its 122nd edition. It was then replaced by a number of hour-long ''Cook Report Specials'' including:
*''Doctors From Hell'' (24 August 1999)
*''Locks, Stocks, Burglars and Fences'' (23 April 1999)
*''The Dodgy Motor Show'' (3 December 1998)
*''The Antiques Rogue Show'' (19 August 1998)
*''Profits Before Patients'' (23 July 1990)
*''The Devil's Work'' (17 July 1989)
Cancellation
''The Cook Report'' came to an end in 1999 when ITV, which had previously cancelled a number of current affairs programmes made for the channel (including ''
World in Action
''World in Action'' was a British investigative current affairs programme made by Granada Television for ITV from 7 January 1963 until 7 December 1998. Its campaigning journalism frequently had a major impact on events of the day. Its producti ...
'') was faced with dwindling budgets and had concentrated on other kinds of programming. The ITV Network Centre decided to concentrate its current affairs efforts on ''Tonight'' - which, though it attracted fewer viewers, was said to be significantly less costly to make. Cook went on to work on other projects and is also Emeritus Visiting Professor at the Centre for Broadcasting and Journalism at
Nottingham Trent University
Nottingham Trent University (NTU) is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as a new university in 1992, although its roots go back to 1843 with the establishment of the Nottingham Government School of Design, w ...
. He was made an
Honorary Doctor of Letters
Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...
in 2004.
The programme did return for a one-off, 90-minute special, ''Roger Cook's Greatest Hits'',
on 30 October 2007. This update episode was produced by
ITV Productions
ITV Studios is a British multinational television production and distribution company owned by the British television broadcaster ITV plc. It handles production and distribution of programmes broadcast on the ITV (TV network), ITV network and th ...
and Interesting Films.
''News of the World'' allegations
In February and April 2000, the ''
News of the World
The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling En ...
'' published a series of front page allegations claiming that ''The Cook Report'' had faked a number of programmes in which crimes were set up for him to solve. Roger Cook and members of the relevant production teams issued writs for libel, against the paper.
The newspaper demanded an investigation by the then regulator, the
Independent Television Commission
The Independent Television Commission (ITC) licensed and regulated commercial television services in the United Kingdom (except S4C in Wales) between 1 January 1991 and 28 December 2003.
History
The creation of ITC, by the Broadcasting Act ...
, after it sent its dossier of evidence about the programme which, after an eighteen-month investigation, in October 2001 exonerated the programme.
The ''
News of the World
The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling En ...
'' initially dismissed the commission's findings as 'a whitewash', but after key witnesses for the defence had voluntarily retracted their paid-for testimony, the ''News of the World'' reluctantly had to agree with the ITC's conclusions and made the following statement to that effect in open court:
"The ''News of the World'' accepts that neither Mr Cook nor Carlton
Vnor the editors, producers, legal advisers and researchers were a party to any fakery or deception." It was also accepted that the allegations were false and should never have been published, but the subsequent short correction was printed on page 38. Mr Cook's solicitor, Ian Bloom, described the allegations as "devastating for Mr Cook both professionally and personally, while the News of the World accepts that neither Mr Cook nor Carlton nor the editors, producers, legal advisers or researchers were a party to any fakery or deception. While it is accepted that the NoW believed that it had grounds to look into the matter, the News of the World now acknowledges that the articles contained material inaccuracies which should not have been published,"
NoW admits Cook Report allegations were false by Ciar ByrneMedia Guardian, Wednesday 31 July 2002
/ref>
Awards
The programme and its production team won eleven national and international awards, culminating in a British Academy of Film & Television Arts
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
(BAFTA) special award for its presenter in 1997 'for 25 years of outstanding quality investigative reporting.
References
External links
*
Roger Cook Profile
The full list of episodes
The full list of Special episodes
Background information on research for ''The Devil's Work''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook Report, The
1987 British television series debuts
1999 British television series endings
1980s British documentary television series
1990s British documentary television series
ITV documentaries
Investigative documentary television series
Television series by ITV Studios
Television shows produced by Central Independent Television
English-language television shows