Journalist Alex Renton is sent a secret membership list of a pro-paedophile group active in the 1970s and 80s.
It’s a lot to take in. Alex is not only a journalist, he’s a survivor of child sexual abuse.
The Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE) campaigned to 'normalise' sex between children and adults. Their spokesmen claimed that adult members always sought consent.
But from the moment Alex was passed the list he knew that was a lie. He recognised some of those names and he knew they had convictions for child sexual abuse.
The List set Alex off on a dizzying journey into the dark history of PIE. As he uncovered more, he started to wonder: where were all those hundreds of members now? Could children still be at risk?
316 names. Most with UK addresses. All but a handful are men.
In this final episode Alex makes contact with some of the former members of PIE; people he believes may still come into contact with children.
Archive credits: BBC, Nationwide 1981; BBC, Newsnight 1983; BBC Parliament, 2025.
Presenter: Alex Renton
Producer: Caitlin Smith
Executive Producers: Gillian Wheelan and Gail Champion
Story Consultants: Jack Kibble-White and Kirsty Williams
Sound design: Jon Nicholls
Theme Tune: Jeremy Warmsley
Details of organisations offering information and support for victims of child sexual abuse are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline
29 Jan 2025
4. Member 51
A social care consultant who advises the government on children in care, is raided by police in 1992. A detective finds evidence linking him to the Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE).
A local social worker is called in. He and the detective search through seven boxes of documents, brought from the home of the suspect. They discover that not only was he a member of PIE, but a central figure and high up in establishment circles.
Alex Renton sits down with the social worker, and hears about his decades long quest: to expose members of the Paedophile Information Exchange within social care and stop them from harming children.
In their public literature, the leaders of PIE members had always claimed their relationships with children were consensual. Alex Renton tracks down one of the boys, now a man in his fifties, who was abused by the childcare expert and his partner.
Archive: Inside Story- The Secret Life of a Paeophile, 1994, BBC. News report on the White Inquiry into Islington Children's Homes child abuse scandal, 1995, BBC; The Scandal of Crookham Court, That's Life!, 1991, BBC.
Presenter: Alex Renton
Producer: Caitlin Smith
Executive Producers: Gail Champion and Gillian Wheelan
Story Consultants: Jack Kibble-White and Kirsty Williams
Sound design: Jon Nicholls
Theme Tune: Jeremy Warmsley
Details of organisations offering information and support for victims of child sexual abuse are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline
22 Jan 2025
3. The Dirty Squad
Alex Renton tries to find out more about the notes scribbled in the margins of the PIE membership list. It looks like they were written by police, who were going door to door visiting the members listed in the document. But this active investigation appears to stop suddenly in 1985. Why?
Alex starts piecing together the police investigation into the Paedophile Information Exchange.
He discovers the PIE List was seized by the Metropolitan Police in the late seventies and passed to a unit called the Obscene Publications Branch or as it was known internally 'the Dirty Squad'.
Presenter: Alex Renton
Producer: Caitlin Smith
Executive Producers: Gail Champion and Gillian Wheelan
Story Consultants: Jack Kibble-White and Kirsty Williams
Sound design: Jon Nicholls
Theme Tune: Jeremy Warmsley
Actor readings: David Hounslow and Samuel James.
Archive: Newsnight, 1983 BBC; Mary Whitehouse film archive, Huntly Film Archive 1964; Mastermind 1979 , BBC.
Details of organisations offering information and support for victims of child sexual abuse are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline
15 Jan 2025
2. They Groom Everyone
Alex Renton delves into the dark history of the Paedophile Information Exchange, exposing how its members manipulated entire social movements for their own sinister purposes.
7 Jan 2025
1. The List
Journalist Alex Renton delves into the dark history of the Paedophile Information Exchange, uncovering abuses committed by its members and exploring the ongoing risks to children today.
7 Jan 2025
4. South Africa
Journalist Alex Renton exposes the shocking stories of two predatory teachers, 'Hubert' and 'Edgar', who abused students in Britain's elite schools and now evade justice in South Africa.
7 Jan 2025
3. Aberlour & Gordonstoun
Author Alex Renton confronts the dark legacy of Britain's elite private schools as he shares two harrowing stories of sexual abuse at Aberlour and Gordonstoun.
7 Jan 2025
2. Eton to Fettes
Alex Renton, author of Stiff Upper Lip, investigates how a prolific abuser navigated Britain's elite schools, revealing a culture of abuse and impunity that still haunts survivors today.
7 Jan 2025
1. Ashdown House
Investigative journalist Alex Renton confronts the dark legacy of Britain's elite boarding schools, exposing a culture of sexual abuse and cover-ups in his alma mater Ashdown House.
7 Jan 2025
This is In Dark Corners, series 2
Journalist Alex Renton delves into the dark history of the Paedophile Information Exchange, uncovering a trail of child abuse and cover-ups that still pose a risk to children today.
Who has been a guest on In Dark Corners
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
William Boyd
Boris Johnson
David Linley
Jack Kibble White
Kirsty Williams
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
4 ratings
Spotify
4.9 / 5
53 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 40 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
60
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
51
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