The Cruelty

By BBC Radio Scotland

In 2021, Davie Donaldson sought to solve the long-standing mystery of the Unknown Bairn, a young boy whose body washed up on a Scottish beach and was never claimed. Since that time, a number of Sco

... more

· True Crime

4.6

4848 ratings

FAQs about The Cruelty:

How many episodes does The Cruelty have?

The podcast currently has 19 episodes available.

Best of The Cruelty

The most played episodes among Podcast App listeners.

Number 1: 8. Truth in the Shadows
Davie returns to the Unknown Bairn’s grave to address unfinished business with the family who found the boy’s body. And does a leaked report commissioned by the Scottish Government, offer hope of some form of restitution for the failures of church and state? Presenter: Davie Donaldson Producer: Kate Bissell Research: Kate Bissell and Emily Essen Story Consultants: Jack Kibble White and Kirsty Williams Music, Mix and Sound Design: Julian Corrie Executive Editor: Susie Crumless Commissioning Editor: Heather Kane Darling
July 18, 202533min
Number 2: 7. Strathmartine
Davie visits Strathmartine Hospital, a now derelict facility, where removed Traveller and non -Traveller children were sent and often never left. Davie needs to find out: what went on behind those walls?
July 11, 202536min
Number 3: 6. Alexander and Sandy
Davie receives a text message that changes so much of what he thought he knew about the Unknown Bairn and the boy he believed him to be. As a new investigation gets underway, a different story emerges.
July 04, 202543min
Number 4: 5. Cutting the Roots
Bella is a young Scottish Traveller. Through the generations, her family has been broken apart by social services. She explains to Davie how she’s fought to keep her daughter from being taken into care and, in the process, been forced to cut herself off from her Traveller culture.
June 27, 202530min
Number 5: 4. Paper Children
Rosanne McPhee’s dad joked about volunteering to be measured by a Nazi racial scientist because he knew each time his head was measured he would receive a shilling. Davie discovers this was just a part of a wider Nazi Eugenic Policy, which lead to the murder of millions of Roma in the Nazi death and concentration camps.
June 20, 202526min