Intrigue

Barzan Majeed thought he was safe in Iraq but all that changes following the release of this series. Police and prosecutors in Iraq start their own investigation and before long they announce dramatic developments. For reporter Sue Mitchell, and her colleague, former soldier and aid worker, Rob Lawrie, the news signals possibilities for securing justice for some of those harmed in boat and lorry c...

Scorpion has been spotted in Iraq and Sue and Rob head straight there - hoping to find his hiding place and lure him out. Will they finally be able to confront him with his crimes? Barzan Majeed - codenamed Scorpion - leads the Scorpion gang. He's on international most-wanted lists. He started his criminal career in Britain and went on to build a smuggling empire which now spans the globe. An inte...

Sue and Rob uncover new evidence linking Scorpion to deaths at sea. They track him to a luxury seaside villa and hear from a woman close to him about the drugs and money he craved. Barzan Majeed - codenamed Scorpion - leads the Scorpion gang. He's on international most-wanted lists. He started his criminal career in Britain and went on to build a smuggling empire which now spans the globe. An inte...

Word comes that Scorpion has been spotted in Turkey and new leads take the team into the heart of the smuggling network, with dramatic developments as they stake out an address. Barzan Majeed - codenamed Scorpion - leads the Scorpion gang. He's on international most-wanted lists. He started his criminal career in Britain and went on to build a smuggling empire which now spans the globe. An interna...

The search takes us deep into Scorpion's gang and the men arrested and imprisoned for people smuggling and then things take an unexpected turn as we find and confront his brother. Barzan Majeed - codenamed Scorpion - leads the Scorpion gang. He's on international most-wanted lists. He started his criminal career in Britain and went on to build a smuggling empire which now spans the globe. An inter...

The job of policing smuggling gangs is obstructed by a network of well-wishers who want to help refugees and sometimes end up helping the gangs - has this happened with Scorpion? Barzan Majeed - codenamed Scorpion - leads the Scorpion gang. He's on international most-wanted lists. He started his criminal career in Britain and went on to build a smuggling empire which now spans the globe. An intern...

It's already late when the BBC team get a tip off that Scorpion's network of complicit lorry drivers might be operating from a new pick-up point. They stay hidden as events unfold. Barzan Majeed - codenamed Scorpion - leads the Scorpion gang. He's on international most-wanted lists. He started his criminal career in Britain and went on to build a smuggling empire which now spans the globe. An inte...

Sue and Rob hear transcripts of police surveillance tapes, broadcast for the first time as officers eavesdrop on calls between members of the Scorpion people smuggling gang. Barzan Majeed - codenamed Scorpion - leads the Scorpion gang. He's on international most-wanted lists. He started his criminal career in Britain and went on to build a smuggling empire which now spans the globe. An internation...

This is the hunt for a people smuggler, codenamed Scorpion, one of the central characters controlling the transport of migrants from the European mainland into the UK. It is a tense and disturbing investigation, recorded as it happened, in real time. Barzan Majeed - codenamed Scorpion - leads the Scorpion gang. He's on international most-wanted lists. He started his criminal career in Britain and...

The dramatic hunt for one of Europe's most-wanted people smugglers, recorded as it unfolds. BBC journalist, Sue Mitchell, and ex-soldier and aid worker, Rob Lawrie, go on a search for a crime boss: a people smuggler on the run, whose codename is Scorpion. He is one of the central characters controlling the transport of migrants from the European mainland into the UK. Barzan Majeed - codenamed Scor...

In this last programme of the series, the community of Cayucos is watching on and wondering how things will develop. Is there a way to handle a situation like this, where homelessness and wealth collide. Where a damaged man and a frail older woman come together to share a life? The unusual romance between Dave and Carolyn captured the attention of the BBC Journalist Sue Mitchell as it was unfoldin...

With Carolyn’s daughters powerless to act, it looks like Dave might be on the brink of a receiving a small fortune from his 80 year old lover, Carolyn. She has promised to take care of him and says that he is the best thing to happen in her life. Her daughters do not believe she is in her right mind, but they cannot find anyone prepared to help them. It is shaping up for a distressing battle when...

Things are reaching a head as worries grow about Carolyn’s decision to sell two houses, on a single plot. One of the houses is home to her grandson and his family and Carolyn does not appear to be totally sure about her decision. Her daughters are so concerned that they approach the estate agent begging him to stop things. If he does not and the sale goes ahead, Dave could be looking at a sizeable...

In the idyllic seaside town of Cayucos, on the Californian coast, property is expensive, a home here can easily cost a million dollars or more. The property boom which has made people of Carolyn’s generation well off, has priced so many out of the market and made it expensive to rent. There is a growing problem with homelessness, a world that Dave knows well. Even now that he is living with Caroly...

At first glance Carolyn appears to be a lucky woman who has led a charmed life: loved by her husband and daughters – prosperous and secure. But she has endured great hardship and in this episode it becomes a bit easier to understand why she initially felt so drawn to Dave and what he has come to represent in her life. For his part, Dave is reluctant to dwell on his childhood, but he undoubtedly ha...

With Carolyn’s encouragement, Dave is making more effort to see his children, including his daughter, Cody. Like her Dad, Cody has struggled with crystal meth addiction and is sometimes sleeping rough in her car as she waits for a place in a recovery unit. She longs for her Dad’s love, but she has been let down by him in the past and cannot really trust that he has changed In this episode BBC Jour...

One of the consequences of the family falling out about Dave is that Carolyn has decided to take back control of her bank accounts from her daughter, Sally, who had always helped her Mum in the past. Carolyn’s daughters fear that she will start giving money to Dave and that there is nothing they can do about it. In the early days of the relationship, the daughters had got Carolyn and Dave to sign...

Carolyn is facing mounting opposition to her relationship with Dave, who is 23 years younger than her and a world away in terms of wealth and lifestyle. She is being forced to make the most difficult choice possible: between her daughters and her new lover. The situation becomes so heated that it finally erupts into violence. Opposition to Dave makes Carolyn more determined to support him and she...

Carolyn had not expected to fall in love at 80 and certainly not to someone 23 years younger. But she has embraced all aspects of her new relationship, including having sex and being open with her daughters about that. Her honesty has not gone down well and even her Pastor, Dale James, is shocked that the couple are now living together in this way. Concerned about the speed of the relationship and...

Million Dollar Lover is an unlikely love story, recorded in real time as the relationship unfolds between Carolyn, who is 80 and has a valuable property portfolio, and Dave, 57, a former drug addict who is homeless and has spent a decade in jail. The story captured the attention of the BBC Journalist Sue Mitchell, as it was unfolding on her street. She spends a lot of time in California – she marr...

Million Dollar Lover is an unlikely love story, recorded in real time as the relationship unfolds between Carolyn, who is 80 and has properties worth a few million dollars, and Dave, 57, a former drug addict who is homeless and has spent a decade in jail. The story captured the attention of the BBC Journalist Sue Mitchell, as it was unfolding on her street. She spends a lot of time in California –...

The idea of living forever has captivated us for millennia, but rarely do people imagine what would happen the day after the fountain of youth is discovered. Today’s technology entrepreneurs pushing an immortality agenda - through their investments and their influence - seem only focussed on the pursuit. Whether or not immortality is a distant possibility, how do we cope with living longer en rout...

The immortalist movement in Silicon Valley shares a lot with evangelical religions, says Dr Emile P Torres, a philosopher and former Nick Bostrom acolyte. In both, he explains, there’s a heaven in which the faithful will experience unsurpassed bliss and delight, and an apocalypse, which will separate out the people who can go there. After a decade at the epicentre of the transhumanist research com...

A new philosphical movement is gathering steam in Silicon Valley, one that promises immortality by using technology to solve the problem of death. This movement is led by Oxford philosopher Nick Bostrom. Professor Bostrom is the author of Fable of the Dragon Tyrant, the original manuscript of the modern immortality movement. It was published in 2005 in the Journal of Medical Ethics as a response t...

Vitalek Buterin is the billionaire founder of Ethereum, one of the most successful blockchains and cryptocurrencies in the world. With his fortune, he is attempting to solve the problem of death by creating a longevity state - which will fast track life everlasting, without the need for regulation. They will crowdsource their longevity solutions and organise them through the blockchain. His north...