Episode 8: The Mother of All Cons
Believe in Magic
BBC Studios
4.7 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 31 May 2026
⏱️ 35 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
New revelations in the extraordinary story of a teenage girl and her celebrity backed charity.
Jamie Bartlett’s back to shed new light on to some of the questions he and producer Ruth Mayer were left with at the end of the series.
After the final episode was released, people who knew the family got in touch offering to share missing pieces of the puzzle. So Ruth carried on the investigation, joined by a documentary team. For the past three years she’s been working on a new BBC2 TV series about Megan, her mother Jean and their charity “Believe in Magic.”
Now she and Jamie can answer some of their lingering questions. What did Megan’s best friends see? What did Megan herself think about her illness? And, what is Jean doing now? But, above all, they wanted to know what really happened between Megan, Jean and the doctors. Insights come from a close family member who has been granted access to Megan’s medical records.
The Mother of All Cons is out now on BBC two and iPlayer now in the UK. In the US you can find it on BBC Select and BBC.com as Believe in Magic: The Mother of All Cons.
Believe in Magic is a BBC Studios production.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Studios |
| 0:03.0 | It's been three years since we released our podcast Believe in Magic. |
| 0:12.0 | It told the story of Megan Barri, a teenage girl who set up a charity to grant wishes to seriously ill children. |
| 0:21.6 | I just wanted to do something to give them the magical experiences back. |
| 0:25.6 | She was like a fairy godmother to these children. |
| 0:28.6 | Megan worked night and day to create magical moments for the children, |
| 0:33.6 | all while battling a life-threatening brain tumour herself. |
| 0:38.0 | I've been in and out of hospital, I just sort of realised how much the other children were going through. |
| 0:42.7 | With the help of her mother, Jean, Believe in Magic, attracted the attention of celebrities, |
| 0:48.4 | including Harry Stiles, Louis Tomlinson, and the rest of the One Direction Boys. |
| 0:53.9 | Tweet by Harry Stiles. |
| 0:55.6 | Everyone should follow and support at Believe in Magic. |
| 0:59.0 | It's a great cause. |
| 1:01.2 | As she worked to help others, Megan's own condition worsened. |
| 1:06.0 | When she needed urgent life-saving treatment for her brain tumour in the US, One Direction and Meg's supporters rallied round. |
| 1:14.6 | A hundred and twenty thousand pounds raised in less than two days. |
| 1:21.6 | But in the background, a group of parents started questioning just how sick |
| 1:26.6 | Megan really was. |
| 1:29.3 | To me, it just all sounded very, very strange. |
| 1:32.1 | And as I'm reading, I'm trying to see where she's been treated, who a doctor is, where |
| 1:36.9 | the hospital is, and there was no information. |
| 1:40.0 | These parents start investigating, and just as Jean and Megan are appealing for more money for Megan's treatment, |
... |
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