Channel 4 commissions Dark Phone from The Garden

31 January 2023

In 2020, international police managed to secretly hack into an encrypted, phone network used by organised crime groups around the world.  

For 74 days, the messages sent and received on 60,000 handsets was covertly captured. It became one of the biggest international law enforcement operations in history.  

A brand new 4-part series Dark Phone (w/y) tells the story of this extraordinary operation, giving a unique window into some of the highest-level global organised criminals and their crimes: violence, drugs, kidnap, money-laundering and murder.

From the makers of 24 Hours in Police Custody, Dark Phone (w/t) offers up a compelling mix of unfolding documentary and drama, taking us deep into the world of organised criminals, as never seen before.   The series has unprecedented exclusive access to behind-the-scenes of Operation Venetic led by the National Crime Agency and the work of their policing partners across the UK and abroad.

 Telling the story of the operation from the inside, the series will reveal the shocking reality of three of the most significant organised crime groups who were exposed, and, in turn, bought down by their own text messages.

Zac Beattie, Executive Producer says; “When we discovered that this unprecedent operation could see the messages and photos of top-tier organised crime groups, we built the shape of the whole series around the messages themselves. Audiences are so used to reading texts and WhatsApp’s now, so the real messages play like dialogue in the drama sequences that put us in the room with the OCGs. These crime groups are normally faceless to us – just headlines – but the messages they sent when they thought they were hidden behind encryption, reveal the human face of their shocking crimes.”

Commissioner Sacha Mirzoeff says “The level of access that the team secured to tell this story from the inside of the international teams across the world is astounding. I’m particularly delighted with the dedication and creativity of the all-female directing team.  The innovative way in which they weave the different story telling techniques together creates a highly compelling series that shows how the workings of the highest echelons of the crime world can be brought to justice.”   

Production Co:  The Garden

Commissioning Editor:  Sacha Mirzoeff

Series Director: Luned Tonderai

Director: Sophie Oliver

Executive Producers: Simon Ford & Zac Beattie

 

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