BBCs unimaginably dark documentary that took seven | UK News

A BBC true crime documentary exploring an “unbelievably dark” matter makes its tv debut this night.

Shot across seven years, Storyville: The Darkest Web shadows undercover operatives worldwide as they hunt down baby inappropriate abusers working on the dark web, including those hid within encrypted boards sharing illicit content.

According to the BBC’s description: “Behind every username lies a potential victim in immediate danger, forcing investigators into a race against the clock.

“Operating across borders, cultures and political divides, BBC Eye beneficial properties unprecedented access to investigative groups in the United States, Portugal, Brazil and Russia, as they work facet by facet to observe down some of the world’s most harmful baby predators and rescue youngsters who may in any other case never be discovered.”

Agents can spend years penetrating these clandestine networks and exposing perpetrators, with one extraordinary case featured in the programme seeing a victim located through the expertise of a brick specialist, reports Wales Online.

John Harp was able to identify the building materials visible on walls behind one child in photographs. His contribution enabled investigators to concentrate their search within the catchment area of a single brick factory, reducing the pool from 10,000 individuals to merely 40 to 50.

The child, known as ‘Lucy’, was eventually saved and her abuser was handed a 75-year prison sentence. A decade later, she will reunite with her rescuer, Special Agent Greg Squire.

She confides in him: “I’m extremely fortunate to have a good help system proper now while I’m dealing with this. I’ve more stability. I’m in a position to have the power to speak to people, which I couldn’t have accomplished even a couple years in the past.

“I was praying, praying actively for it to end. I had been at that point for years. Not to sound cliché, but it was a prayer answered.”

The programme is set to air tonight (February 17) on BBC Four and iPlayer at 10pm. The investigation will also characteristic on the BBC World of Secrets podcast, which returns with a six-part collection on The Darkest Web.

Sam Piranty, the documentary’s director, admitted he was “constantly grappling” with how to method such a profoundly dark subject matter. He added: “There were long stretches where I questioned whether we could make something that conveyed the scale of the harm without making viewers turn away.

“Yet in the darkness we discovered the soul of the movie – the hope, the chinks of gentle. The limitless braveness of both the survivors and the officers we met. Witnessing their quiet sacrifices, their stubbornness in the face of one thing so terrifying, and their refusal to back down, gave us the resolve to keep making this movie.”

Special Agent Greg Squire, who appears in the film, stated: “Every day, my work takes me into some of the darkest corners of the web, but I do it because every baby deserves to be secure, to be a baby. Infiltrating and exposing these networks is not just about stopping the abusers; it is about giving survivors a likelihood to reclaim their futures.

“I’ve been so honoured to serve and feel so lucky to work among the amazing agents and officers that dedicate their lives to this work. If this film shows anything, I hope it’s that none of us can look away. The children deserve the very best we have.”

Storyville: The Darkest Web will air on BBC Four on Tuesday 17 February at 10pm. It will also be accessible on BBC iPlayer.