As the FIFA draw takes place in Washington DC and the great and the good of the footballing world convene in the US capital, spies come out of the woodwork to speak to James. Former CIA operatives and military intelligence aficionados spill their beans, but could the ex-CEO of USA ‘94 have the most intriguing lead?

Presented by James Montague

World Cup qualifiers return to Doha in 2025, and so does football conspiracy, but can James see through the controversy to get to the bottom of what happened on similar pitches over thirty years ago?

Presented by James Montague

The world of spies and sports collide as James speaks to security specialists and those who lived to tell the tale about rumours of America’s shadowy past. From claims of secret mass surveillance of the Olympic Games, both home and abroad, to the curious World Cup interests of Henry Kissinger.

Presented by James Montague

A political powder-keg World Cup qualifying tournament held in Doha. American security on the line. James tries to make sense of what went down in the desert shadows.

Thirty years on he reviews the matches, looking for clues about why the conspiracy persists, and hears what it was like to play for Iraq in the 1990s under the whip of Uday Hussein - Saddam’s son.

Presented by James Montgaue

Can an ex-referee with a cryptic message help James unravel an explosive conspiracy about the build-up to World Cup USA 1994?

James travels to Bucharest to find out more …

Presented by James Montague

A BBC Studios Production for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.

ARCHIVE:

Conspiracy theories and the football World Cup seem to go hand in hand.

The streak is over but the chaos is just beginning.

Mark Roberts has danced naked at the centre of the Super Bowl, been tackled by an NFL linebacker, and carried off the field. What he doesn’t realise is that minutes earlier, a “wardrobe malfunction” at halftime has triggered a media storm that might well dwarf his moment.

While Mark sits in a crowded Houston holding cell — still in his Velcro referee uniform — halftime producer Salli Frattini is hauled up to the NFL commissioner’s box to explain what just happened live to 100 million viewers. Janet Jackson has vanished. Justin Timberlake is apologising. And the NFL is in crisis mode.

Hours later, Mark is charged with criminal trespass and released on bail — buzzing from the streak, but now facing a very real Texas trial.

What follows is a courtroom drama broadcast on Court TV and the very real threat of six months in a Texas prison for Mark. Hard to see how he can blag his way out of this one.

As Mark’s legal fate unfolds, the fallout from halftime spirals: complaints flood in, careers are damaged, and senior figures begin to question their roles.

Back in Liverpool, Mark rides the wave of fame — then slowly steps back as nothing can ever top the Super Bowl. Twenty years later, a diagnosis forces him to confront a harder question: not can he streak again, but should he?

After three decades of running naked toward the spotlight, is the Streaker King finally ready to stop… or will there be another temptation he just can’t resist.

Presented by Rich Hall

A BBC Studios Production for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.

Houston, 2004. Super Bowl XXXVIII. The biggest television event of the year — and everyone involved is chasing perfection.

Inside the NFL machine, Jim Steeg is orchestrating a military-grade operation where every second is worth millions. In the production truck, Salli Frattini is holding together a halftime show so complex it feels like a controlled explosion: Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake, pyro, thousands of performers, and cameras everywhere. On the field, Patriots linebacker Matt Chatham is inches away from the game of his life.

And somewhere in the middle of all this sits Mark Roberts — disguised, tattooed, layered in Velcro, and nervously taping a tiny deflated American football over his “chicken McNugget” because Texas has him rattled.

As the game kicks off, the tension builds — not just for the players, but for everyone who knows what’s riding on halftime. When it arrives, the stadium turns into a full-blown 2004 MTV spectacle: lights, dancers, smoke, sweat, and pop royalty at its most electric.

It looks flawless. It sounds flawless. Everyone thinks it is flawless.

But in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, something happens that almost nobody inside the stadium fully registers — yet will be replayed, analysed, and argued about for decades.

And while everyone is distracted by that half-second… Mark sees his chance.

Presented by Rich Hall

After failing in San Diego, Mark swore he’d never try the Super Bowl again. Then one unexpected email changes everything.

Comedian Rich Hall presents the story of an eight-month mission to infiltrate Super Bowl XXXVIII in Houston - rehearsals, disguises, sponsor tattoos, and a growing belief that this time, he really might pull it off.

At the same time, the NFL’s Jim Steeg and MTV’s Salli Frattini are juggling post-9/11 security, a wildly complicated half-time show, and the pressure of a live global broadcast.

Patriots linebacker Matt Chatham is locked in for the biggest game of his life. Mark is locked in for the biggest streak of his.

Everyone's converging on Houston with their own plans. Mark's ready. The NFL's ready. The players are ready. But is anyone really ready for what is about to happen?

Presented by Rich Hall

A BBC Studios Production for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.

Before Mark could streak the Super Bowl, both streaking and the Super Bowl had to become what they are.

Streaking has a history. The Super Bowl has a history. And host Rich Hall? Well he has a history too, which might explain a few things.

Rich Hall pulls apart the rise and fall of streaking in 1970s America - a cultural flash in the pan that somehow never quite died. Then, the evolution of the Super Bowl from a simple championship game into a global spectacle of music, money, and over-the-top showmanship.

Jim Steeg, the man who ran the event for 26 years, explains how half-time transformed from a small-time, marching-band interval into a billion-dollar pop extravaganza.

Meanwhile, Mark brings his act home. A charity streak at the Merseyside Derby is just a warm-up for the moment that truly makes him famous: crashing Fred’s floating weather map live on national television. Overnight, Britain knows exactly who he is.

Archive: Famous for Fifteen Minutes, BBC Radio 4.

Presented by Rich Hall

A BBC Studios Production for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.