''Undercover Customs'' is a

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

produced by

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...

for

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 ...

which consisted of dramatic reconstructions of some of the largest real-life

smuggling Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. There are various ...

incidents based on the official records of

HM Customs and Excise HM Customs and Excise (properly known as Her Majesty's Customs and Excise at the time of its dissolution) was a department of the British Government formed in 1909 by the merger of HM Customs and HM Excise; its primary responsibility was the ...

in the United Kingdom.The show ran for two series and consisted of 12 episodes in total. The series ran from July 1997 to September 1999. The series was presented by Sir

Trevor McDonald Sir Trevor McDonald (born George McDonald; 16 August 1939) is a Trinidadian-British newsreader and journalist, best known for his career as a news presenter with ITN. McDonald was knighted in 1999 for his services to journalism. Career ...

and was supplemented by genuine

surveillance Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as c ...

footage and exclusive interviews with the Customs Officers responsible for the investigations of the organised smuggling rings, and also the witnesses and informants who helped crack each case. The 1998 series was Series Produced by Mike Kleinsteuber who also directed two of the programmes.

Episodes

The episodes and original air dates are as follows: *Undercover Customs (01/03/1999) *Operation Crux (21/05/1998) *Operation Barbecue (14/05/1998) *Operation Escape (07/05/1998) *Operation Fluke (30/04/1998) *Operation Oltet (23/04/1998) *Operation Bypass (16/04/1998) *Operation Klondyke (14/08/1997) *Operation Carla II (07/08/1997) *Operation Suntempest (31/07/1997) *Operation Babysitter (24/07/1997) *Operation Green Ice (17/07/1997) *Operation Begonia (10/07/1997) ITV (TV network) original programming 1997 British television series debuts 1999 British television series endings {{UK-tv-prog-stub