Shadow World: Thief at the British Museum
4.6/5
Critic Rating
NEW in Shadow World: The Smuggler.Most of us think we know who people smugglers are, they’re people from 'somewhere else', far away from the UK. But what if that's wrong? What if some of the people illegally smuggling migrants into the UK are actually from here? British people smugglers with an intimate knowledge of our borders. Investigative journalist Annabel Deas explores how “Nick”, a former soldier in the British Army, became a people smuggler working with organised crime gangs from Albania and Vietnam based in the UK. He has twice been to prison for his crimes. In this intimate portr...
Critic Reviews
Score: 5
Fiona Sturges • Financial Times • Jun 1, 2025
"(Series: The Smuggler) The Smuggler is, in many ways, a companion piece to last year’s To Catch a Scorpion...As with To Catch a Scorpion, The Smuggler is a slickly made production that deploys sharp sound design to place the listener on a noisy car ferry, or on a boat in a busy shipping lane. Through its meticulous and wide-ranging reporting, it also tells a disturbing tale of a ruthless trade that is still thriving, despite the promises of successive governments to shut it down. "
Score: 5
Scott Bryan • Podcast Rex • Jun 9, 2024
"A fascinating little series, presented by the BBC’s Culture Editor Katie Razzall, exploring the theft of treasures at the British Museum. "
Score: 5
Miranda Sawyer • The Guardian • Jun 8, 2024
"...a warm, classy series...There are Agatha Christie elements...all enhanced by a suspenseful orchestral soundtrack."
Score: 3.5
Edward Wickham • Church Times • Jun 7, 2024
"There is baked into this comment a double helping of snobbery: incredulity that such a sordid deed should be committed by a man of such elevated academic status, and that it could be carried out so ineptly. Surely a brilliant mind is capable only of a brilliant crime."
Score: 4
James Marriot • The Times UK • May 30, 2024
"What a pleasure this show is. Deftly told, a brilliant hero and a proper mystery. I was hooked."
Score: 5
Daisy Dunn • The Spectator • May 25, 2024
"...an electrifying nine-part series ....Gradel emerges from this otherwise gripping series as a normal guy determined to do the right thing. He’s neither Sherlock Holmes nor Miss Marple. His story is that of a rare somebody who keeps his eyes wide open."
