Roger Cook (journalist)

Cook's parents were New Zealanders. He was born in Auckland, New Zealand, but was brought up in Australia,^[1][2] and began his career with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as a reporter and newsreader on both radio and television.^[1]

In 1968, Cook moved to the United Kingdom where he joined BBC Radio 4's World at One programme and subsequently worked on several other BBC radio and television programmes, including PM, Nationwide, and Newsnight.^[1]

In 1973, Cook created and presented the Radio 4 programme Checkpoint, which specialised in investigating and exposing criminals, con-men, injustice and official incompetence, often confronting the subjects of the investigation on tape.^[3][4] In 1979 Cook was threatened by Don Arden when he started to look into the business practices of the notorious rock manager^[5] after Cook used the legal battle between Lynsey de Paul and Arden as a springboard for his investigation.^[6]

In 1981, during a Checkpoint report for Newsnight, Cook was filmed being violently assaulted by a Brighton antique dealer after he confronted him about selling fake antiques. Cook suffered three cracked ribs. Cook stated: "Mr Harris invited me to step outside and talk things through, but his means of communication proved to be a metal bar".^[7]

In 1984 Checkpoint transferred to television for one series of four episodes; it was shown on BBC1.^[1]

In 1985, Cook moved from the BBC to Central, and (after one series in charge of the live debate show Central Weekend in 1986) in 1987 launched a new TV series, The Cook Report.^[3] This was a higher-budget version of his radio programme, with a large and dedicated research team, which enabled it to operate on an international scale. The show became known for its filmed 'stings' and for Cook's frequent confrontations with his targets, during which he (and sometimes the film crew) often suffered verbal and physical abuse (with Cook getting injured on a number of occasions). Cook was described in the British press as "nemesis in a leisure shirt", "a cross between Meatloaf and the Equaliser", "the bravest/most beaten-up journalist in Britain" and "The Taped Crusader".^{[citation needed]}

The Cook Report ran for 16 series until 1999, when it was cancelled by ITV Network Centre. In its 12 years on air, The Cook Report was the highest rated current affairs programme on British television, with audiences peaking at over 12 million.^[8] In 2007, the programme returned for a 90-minute special entitled Roger Cook's Greatest Hits, in which Cook revisited and updated a number of his stories. Cook said in 2007 that he had received death threats as a result of the series.^[9] In one investigation, into pensioners being financially cheated after false threats of compulsory purchase orders, he was run over by a car. When recovery from surgery, an Australian doctor told him: "Jeez, mate. Put it this way, if you weren't built like a brick privy, you'd probably be dead."^[1]

The programme and its production team won 11 national and international awards, culminating in a British Academy of Film & Television Arts (BAFTA) special award for Cook in 1997 "for 25 years of outstanding quality investigative reporting".^[3]

Cook published several books, including an autobiography in 1999, Dangerous Ground.^[10] which was revised and updated in October 2011 as More Dangerous Ground.^[11]

Cook also held an Emeritus Visiting Professorship at the Centre for Broadcasting and Journalism at Nottingham Trent University and was made an Honorary Doctor of Letters by the University in 2004.^[12]

Cook has been parodied by comedians including Benny Hill and Reeves and Mortimer. In the 1980s, his Checkpoint series was the inspiration for a sitcom, BBC Radio 4's Delve Special, where investigative journalist David Lander, played by Stephen Fry, doorstepped many fictional villains. When Cook's investigations moved to television, the parody followed, in Channel 4's This is David Lander, with Tony Slattery later taking over the central role in the show. Many of Lander and Harper's investigations were based on reports made by Cook, Panorama and World in Action.^{[citation needed]}

A puppet version of Cook also appeared several times in the satirical series Spitting Image.^[13]

Cook was married twice, first for five years whilst he was living in Australia. He married his second wife, Frances, in 1983; they had one daughter, born in 1985. More recently he survived prostate and bladder cancer.^{[citation needed]} Cook died on 13 June 2026 at the age of 83.^[14][15][13]

• Cook, Roger; Tate, Tim (1988), What's Wrong With Your Rights?, Methuen, ISBN 978-0-413-54890-0
• Cook, Roger; Foster, Howard (1999), Dangerous Ground: The Inside Story of Britain's Leading Investigative Journalist, HarperCollins, ISBN 978-0-00653-108-1
• Cook, Roger; Foster, Howard (2007), More Dangerous Ground: The Inside Story of Britain's Leading Investigative Journalist, Book Guild, ISBN 978-1-84624-109-3
• Cook, Roger; Tate, Tim (2008), Roger Cook's 10 Greatest Conmen: True Stories of the World's Most Outrageous Scams, John Blake Publishing, ISBN 978-1-84454-646-6