6. One Million Pages
Assume Nothing10 Mar 2025

6. One Million Pages

Strange packages arriving from the US - and a terrible death prompts a woman to take action for her family.

In this series, casually scanning old newspaper archives, Ophelia Byrne comes across an odd headline: “Hush hush process in Ballyclare firm.”

The newspaper was printed in 1967. “Strictly no photographs” was the order issued at the opening of the new factory.

“90 guests steered clear of a top-secret process.” All workers “will have to sign an oath of secrecy.”

What, she wonders, is this factory making?

Ophelia doesn’t know it when she starts out, but her subsequent investigation into this company, Turner and Newall, will take her from a small town in Northern Ireland across the Irish Sea to places like Rochdale, Leeds and London.

It will bring her to one million documents released for a transatlantic trial – papers which show cover-ups and even corporate espionage.

The product, of course, is asbestos. You may think you know the story – it’s a dangerous substance.

But Ophelia marries previous journalistic investigations to new documents which reveal what government agencies knew about its risks, and when.

She combs through company correspondence which the manufacturers claimed did not exist, and clearly never imagined would become public. This is the story of Killer Dust, from mountains of the material in mines still operating in countries today, to the skyscrapers of Manhattan, and the terraced streets of the north of England.

It is the story too of the people who fought and died for the truth to expose the reckless pursuit of profit in the making of one of the most dangerous building materials on the planet.

Presenter/ Producer: Ophelia Byrne Studio Engineer: Gary Bawden Executive Editor: Andy Martin

Episoder(197)

10. Back to Ballyclare

10. Back to Ballyclare

A new campaign - and a return to that small town story where it all began.In this series, casually scanning old newspaper archives, Ophelia Byrne comes across an odd headline: “Hush hush process in Ba...

10 Mar 202514min

Episode 1: Death Becomes Him

Episode 1: Death Becomes Him

Doctor John Bodkin Adams enters the frame. A Northern Irish doctor with a foreboding personality, and big aspirations to go with it. Life in Eastbourne as a GP is sweet, but when the unexpected death ...

4 Jan 202519min

Episode 2: A Fatal Practice

Episode 2: A Fatal Practice

Death, death and more death. A high profile arrest shines a spotlight on some surprising goings on among Eastbourne patients. Brash and determined ‘Detective Superintendent Herbert Hannam’ is assigned...

4 Jan 202522min

Episode 3: Echoes of Trust

Episode 3: Echoes of Trust

A clear picture emerges of how deeply entrenched in the lives of his patients, the ‘good doctor’ was. Was this all-consuming trust and care, or something much more sinister? Can Doctor John Bodkin Ada...

4 Jan 202525min

Episode 4: The Trial of the Century

Episode 4: The Trial of the Century

Doctor John Bodkin Adams finds himself in the Old Bailey, in front of the imposing Judge Lord Devlin. The country is hooked by revelation after revelation leading to titillating newspaper headlines ac...

4 Jan 202518min

Episode 5: A Gay Love Triangle?

Episode 5: A Gay Love Triangle?

Salacious gossip of an ignorant era, or the underlying’s of corruption and control? We discover surprising claims of passion and companionship that sweep the Eastbourne landscape. However, exactly who...

4 Jan 202518min

Episode 6: The ‘Double Effect’

Episode 6: The ‘Double Effect’

A possible new motive becomes apparent. After all this time, was the driving force behind Dr John Bodkin Adams actually compassion and kindness? Have we been basking in the presence of an ‘Angel Of Me...

4 Jan 202521min

Episode 7: The Final Judgement

Episode 7: The Final Judgement

The verdict is in and the country is stunned. Further revelations on the actions of Dr Adams become apparent but they do little to change the direction of his fate. We follow Dr John Bodkin Adams to h...

4 Jan 202521min

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