Roger Cook, the investigative journalist who confronted swindlers, smugglers, and villains on radio and television, has died at the age of 83 after a short illness. He was best known for the BBC Radio 4 programme Checkpoint and ITV's The Cook Report.
A Career Marked by Bravery and Beatings
Cook's foot-in-the-door journalism brought him fame, but also physical attacks. He received death threats, was roughed up, attacked with baseball bats, held at gunpoint, and suffered broken fingers, cracked ribs, and dislocated shoulders. In one incident, he was run over by a car while tackling a man swindling pensioners. After surgery, an Australian doctor told him: "Jeez, mate. Put it this way, if you weren't built like a brick privy, you'd probably be dead."
From Radio to Television
Cook conceived Checkpoint (1973-85) after five years as a news reporter on Radio 4's World at One. The show attracted over 2 million listeners and featured stories of injustice and bureaucratic bungling. He also made television reports for Nationwide (1976-79) and Newsnight (1980-84). In 1981, while confronting a fraudulent antiques dealer for Newsnight, he was beaten with a metal bar.
His move to ITV for The Cook Report (1987-1999) brought ever more ambitious investigations, covering loan sharks, counterfeit goods, drug-dealing, people smuggling, the ivory trade, neo-Nazis, and baby trading. The show faced libel actions, including a £700,000 payout in 1992 and an out-of-court settlement in 1994. In 2000, the News of the World claimed programmes were faked, but the regulator exonerated him.
Controversy and Legacy
More damaging was a 1990 claim that miners' leader Arthur Scargill had paid off his mortgage with Libyan donations. The Daily Mirror later acknowledged the claims were untrue and apologized. Cook was born in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1943, and moved to Australia as a child. He worked in radio and television in Australia before moving to Britain in 1968. He received a Bafta special award in 1998 and published his autobiography, Dangerous Ground, in 1999.
Cook is survived by his wife Frances Knox, whom he married in 1982, and their daughter Belinda. His first marriage to Madeline Koh ended in divorce.
