The Darkest Web: 5. Buried hard drives
World of Secrets
BBC
4.7 • 765 Ratings
🗓️ 16 March 2026
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Pete and Greg have learnt about a paedophile calling himself “Twinkle”, who runs a website dedicated to sharing images of very young children. At first, they have no idea who he is or where he could be, but slowly Twinkle gives himself away. Working with investigators in Brazil and Portugal the agents discover that Twinkle is a young man living in rural Portugal. Greg flies out to assist with the arrest and discovers some very disturbing scenes. This episode talks about child sexual abuse from the very start, and includes some upsetting scenes.
For further information on the issues raised in the programme, contact support organisations in your own country. For a list of organisations in the UK that can provide support go to bbc.co.uk/actionline.
Reporter and Presenter: Sam Piranty Writer and Producer: Annabel Deas Script advice: Matt Willis Sound design: Neil Churchill Composer: Rob Lewis Executive Producer: Rebecca Henschke Commissioning Senior Producer: Sarah Green Commissioning Editor: Jon Manel
The Darkest Web is a BBC Eye production for the BBC World Service.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:07.0 | An early start here. It's time to kick off. |
| 0:10.0 | Your day. Morning! |
| 0:11.9 | What a line-up. |
| 0:13.3 | Oh, thanks very much. We do get some great guests on the show. |
| 0:16.1 | The crowd is loving this. |
| 0:18.3 | Thanks, guys. Thank you. Too kind. |
| 0:20.2 | From morning chaos to match day commentary. |
| 0:23.6 | And everything in between. |
| 0:25.0 | BBC Sounds packed with personality. |
| 0:28.8 | Episodes of World of Secrets are released weekly, wherever you get your BBC podcasts. |
| 0:34.7 | But if you can't wait, you can listen to the latest episode now, a week early, first on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:42.3 | Hi, it's Sam. Just a warning before we start, in this episode of World of Secrets, we'll be talking about child sexual abuse right from the start. |
| 0:51.6 | There are also some particularly upsetting scenes. |
| 0:55.8 | We'll warn you before they come up. |
| 1:08.5 | It's June 2017. |
| 1:15.6 | A US Special Agent Greg Squire is leaving his home in Boston to fly to Portugal. He's going for one reason. |
| 1:19.6 | To assist in the arrest of a man whose actions on the dark web have shocked even him. |
| 1:26.6 | Not an easy feat for a seasoned investigator like Greg. |
| 1:31.7 | Because this man they are hoping to arrest, who calls himself Twinkle, |
| 1:37.3 | runs a website specifically dedicated to the sexual abuse of very young children. |
| 1:45.7 | And so we had this horrifying collection of babies being sexually abused all in one space. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.