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Gangster

5. Video Wars

Gangster

BBC

True Crime, Society & Culture, Documentary

4.7 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 2 April 2026

⏱️ 31 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A video war is raging across Britain’s Chinatowns, fuelled by a booming market for Hong Kong films and soaps, copied and rented out for huge profit. In Manchester, Wo Shing Wo quickly seizes control, establishing a near-monopoly on the lucrative video rental trade.

But where money flows, so does violence. In Glasgow, restaurant owner Philip Wong is brutally murdered by contract killers wielding machetes. Police suspect his death came after he refused to cooperate with Wo Shing Wo, who demanded a share of his profitable Chinese video business. Despite investigations, the three men wanted for the murder have never been traced.

Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford Producers: Patrick Kiteley & Matt Toulson Fixer in Hong Kong: Michelle Chan Music: Andy Simms and Reliable Source Music Journalism Assistants: Hattie Valentine & Ellie Dover Commissioning producer: Sam Proffitt  Commissioning executive: Lorraine Okuefuna and Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning editor: Richard Maddock Editor and Executive Producer: Clare Fordham

Archive: The Cook Report: Meet The Triads (Central Television, ITV)

Transcript

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0:00.0

BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.

0:07.3

Their company's success helped build a nation.

0:10.9

The company is such a big part of Korea's economy.

0:13.5

But who are the family behind one of the world's tech giants?

0:17.2

They often say, look, we built the nation.

0:19.2

And without us, South Korea as it exists today,

0:22.6

would simply not be here. Inheritance, Samsung explores the real-life dramas of the Lee family

0:28.3

and their company. They are the equivalent of royalty. Listen first on BBC Sounds.

0:34.0

A quick warning. This episode contains strong language and graphic descriptions of violence.

0:42.8

Now, I have to be honest with you, I've known this in the place out in the past where lots of

0:47.5

trads hung out. So I'm feeling cautious about going here with a microphone and headsets and everything.

0:55.9

Glasgow's Chinatown, an old warehouse converted into a shopping mall.

1:01.7

Maybe I'm just being paranoid.

1:03.2

However, let's just be aware of who may be about.

1:07.3

All right.

1:08.8

Because, I mean, you've got trads, but then you've got Glasgow Triads.

1:12.3

You've got two of the hardest people on the planet all in the one place, eh?

1:16.2

Stuart Burton has reason to be paranoid.

1:19.7

He's a former triad gangster who nearly died on the streets of Hong Kong.

1:25.2

Decades later, he's still looking over his shoulder.

1:29.2

I'm in my 50s now.

1:30.9

I've spent 30 years struggling with six months of going off the rails when I was 17,

...

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