- Roger Cook (journalist)
Roger Cook (born
6 April 1943 inNew Zealand ) is an investigative journalist, reporter and broadcaster.Biography
He was brought up in Australia, and began his career with the ABC as a reporter and newsreader on both radio and television. In 1968, he joined the UK's
BBC Radio 4 's "The World At One ", and subsequently worked on severalBBC radio and television programmes, including "PM", "Nationwide", and "Newsnight ".Checkpoint
In 1971 he created and first presented the Radio 4 programme "Checkpoint", which specialised in investigating and exposing criminals and con-men. One 1979 programme about notorious rock manager
Don Arden proved to be a colourful encounter. 'When you fight the champion you go 15 rounds, you've got to be prepared to go the whole way,' Arden tells Cook: 'I'll take you with one hand strapped up my arse. You're not a man, you're a creep.' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Arden#Estrangement_from_Sharon_Osbourne 1]The Cook Report
In 1985 he moved to Central and created "
The Cook Report ". The show is best remembered for Cook's trademark confrontations with his targets, complete with his camera crew, in which he would often get verbally and physically abused. "The Cook Report" ran regularly until 1998, where he and his film crew bit off more than they could chew trying to bust the 'black and white' cafe in Bristol UK for selling heroin; ending up in hospital after receiving a very bad beating.Fact|date=May 2008Roger Cook is Visiting Professor at the Centre for Broadcasting and Journalism at
Nottingham Trent University .Roger Cook was interviewed about his latest book on BBC Radio 5 Live on Monday 5th November 2007, on the Stephen Nolan show.
Parodies
Roger Cook has been parodied by many comedians such as
Benny Hill andReeves and Mortimer . In the eighties his 'Checkpoint' series got its sitcom counterpart inBBC Radio 4 's "Delve Special ", where investigative journalist David Lander, played byStephen Fry , doorstepped many a villain. When Roger Cook's investigations moved to television, so did his parody, inChannel 4 's "This is David Lander ", which was followed later byTony Slattery taking over the central role in "This is David Harper ". Many of Lander and Harper's investigations were based on reports made by Cook, "Panorama" and "World in Action " [http://www.bbc.co.ug/comedy/guide/articles/t/thisisdavidlande_1299003111.shtml]A puppet version of Cook also appeared in the satirical series "
Spitting Image ". In one such sketch he goes to theHeavenly Gates and confrontsGod as if He were a crookedestate agent who promised land to theJews , only to offer the same land to theArabs under the name ofAllah .Trivia
Roger Cook is mentioned in the lyrics of "Sheriff Fatman" on Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine's 1989 debut album, 101 Damnations. The relevant line is: "someone call up Roger Cook and the United Nations".
External links
* [http://www.therosemanorganisation.co.uk/LivePages/Clients/rogercook.htm Publicity page from The Roseman Organisation]
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