The Life Scientific: Gareth Collett

Discovery

BBC

Science

4.3 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 22 December 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Movies might have us believe that bomb disposal comes down to cutting the right wire. In fact, explosive devices are complex and varied - and learning how to dispose of them safely involves intense training, as well as the ability to stay calm under pressure. This was the world of Dr Gareth Collett, a retired British Army Brigadier General and engineer, specialising in bomb disposal; whose 32-year military career took him around the world, including heading up major ordnance clearance projects in Iraq and Afghanistan. After retiring from the army, Gareth became a university lecturer – but following his diagnosis with bladder cancer, started researching a possible link between bomb disposal veterans and higher rates of urological cancers. In conversation with Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Gareth discusses this ongoing research, dealing with PTSD - and why he just can't watch Oscar-winning movie The Hurt Locker...

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts.
0:07.0	My Christmas Mix is pure 90s festive nostalgia.
0:11.1	You know, the Christmas songs you listen to on repeat.
0:14.0	Oh, ho!
0:15.7	No, no, no.
0:17.5	I'm all about the big hitting Christmas anthems.
0:20.4	Come on, guys. What about those tunes that really slay? It's Christmas kitchen disco season, surely.
0:26.4	Give me hip-hop Christmas bangers every day. Those Christmas tracks that are straight out of lapland.
0:30.9	Get all kinds of Christmassy. Just search Christmas music on BBC Sounds.
0:35.8	Hello, today we have a story worthy of some kind of military thriller,
0:40.5	one that's taken my guest around the globe via engineering, explosives,
0:45.3	Royal Protection, War Zones, Military Intelligence and Academia.
0:50.1	Dr. Gareth Collett is a retired British Army Brigadier General and engineer, specialising in bomb disposal.
0:57.2	His 32-year military career involved tours around the world, notably in Iraq and Afghanistan,
1:03.1	where Gareth headed up massive operations to stop the spread of improvised explosive devices, IEDs,
1:09.7	and clear unexploded ordnance, reducing casualties and
1:13.5	helping displaced people to return home. After retiring from the military, he joined the University
1:18.4	of Wales Trinity St David as a senior lecturer, while also pursuing a PhD, looking at the range
1:25.1	of chemicals used in homemade explosives and their toxic impacts.
1:30.1	It was following his own diagnosis with bladder cancer in 2023 that Gareth started digging
1:35.2	deeper, researching a possible link between bomb disposal veterans and higher rates of
1:41.3	urological cancers. That work continues today.
	...

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