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73 episodes

Breakin' the Cycle: 6. The Final Act
2026/09/02 | 29 mins.
Tragedy sends D into shock, confusion, and grief. In the maelstrom of emotion, he decides to fulfill a lucrative drug deal, but is immediately arrested.
In prison, he struggles with guilt, despair, the consequences of his criminal past, and the legacy of the unfinished film. But over time, the story becomes a rare source of purpose.
Eventually, D is released and tries to rebuild his life away from crime, but the weight of Colin's memory, and the unfinished film, continues to define him. Has D finally come to terms with his past and its consequences?
Gripping stories from the Shadows - BBC investigations from across the UK.
Presenter and Producer: Lewis Albrow
Series Producer: Emma Barnaby
Producer: Louis Hollis
Assistant Editor: Georgina Savage
Sound Designer, Composer, and Mix Engineer: Axel Kacoutie
Script Editor: Jason Lewis
Fact Checker: Jessica Hatcher-Moore
Production Manager: Anna-Marie Batho
Production Executive: Letisha Kidza
Head of Production: Nicky Murphy
Production Support: Emma Wood and Olivia Bouton
Executive Producers for Raw: Deborah Dudgeon, David Waters, and Tim Wardle.
Business Affairs: Amy Ofori-Attah, Clotilde Leroux, Damian Kent, and Emma Ong.
Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
A Raw production for BBC Radio 4
In memory of Malik Ford, who first brought this remarkable story to light.
Breakin' the Cycle: 5. One Shot
2026/08/26 | 28 mins.
As filming wraps, Lewis struggles to finish the first edit of Breakin’ the Cycle as he questions the morality of its violent protagonist.
Colin and D head towards a make-or-break meeting that reveals the final steps needed to complete their goal. But before they can finish them, they are unexpectedly drawn into a high-level drug opportunity. As pressure mounts, the tragic consequences of their past lives begin to catch up with them.
Gripping stories from the Shadows - BBC investigations from across the UK.
Presenter and Producer: Lewis Albrow
Series Producer: Emma Barnaby
Producer: Louis Hollis
Assistant Editor: Georgina Savage
Sound Designer, Composer, and Mix Engineer: Axel Kacoutie
Script Editor: Jason Lewis
Fact Checker: Jessica Hatcher-Moore
Production Manager: Anna-Marie Batho
Production Executive: Letisha Kidza
Head of Production: Nicky Murphy
Production Support: Emma Wood and Olivia Bouton
Executive Producers for Raw: Deborah Dudgeon, David Waters, and Tim Wardle.
Business Affairs: Amy Ofori-Attah, Clotilde Leroux, Damian Kent, and Emma Ong.
Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
A Raw production for BBC Radio 4
Breakin' the Cycle: 4. A New Direction
2026/08/19 | 28 mins.
With Colin now firmly in the director’s chair, Breakin’ the Cycle is transformed. Drawing directly from their lived experience, Colin unlocks startlingly authentic performances from the cast, turning what once looked like a cliched gangster film into something intimate, powerful, and deeply real.
As early edits reveal the film’s extraordinary potential, hope begins to take hold. This could be the project that finally changes Colin and D’s lives. But stepping into film-making doesn’t mean escaping the world they came from. When tensions flare on East London estates and old reputations are tested, the past begins to close in.
Gripping stories from the Shadows - BBC investigations from across the UK.
Presenter and Producer: Lewis Albrow
Series Producer: Emma Barnaby
Producer: Louis Hollis
Assistant Editor: Georgina Savage
Sound Designer, Composer, and Mix Engineer: Axel Kacoutie
Script Editor: Jason Lewis
Fact Checker: Jessica Hatcher-Moore
Production Manager: Anna-Marie Batho
Production Executive: Letisha Kidza
Head of Production: Nicky Murphy
Production Support: Emma Wood and Olivia Bouton
Executive Producers for Raw: Deborah Dudgeon, David Waters, and Tim Wardle.
Business Affairs: Amy Ofori-Attah, Clotilde Leroux, Damian Kent, and Emma Ong.
Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
A Raw production for BBC Radio 4
Breakin' the Cycle: 3. The Right Kind of Violence
2026/08/12 | 28 mins.
Production on Breakin’ the Cycle is falling apart - actors are injured, the crew is out of its depth, and Colin and D realise their director can’t capture the reality they lived.
As D faces court and confronts the police corruption that shaped his life, he and Colin make a life-changing decision — to finally commit to breaking the cycle, shutting down their criminal operation, and betting everything on film.
Gripping stories from the Shadows - BBC investigations from across the UK.
Presenter and Producer: Lewis Albrow
Series Producer: Emma Barnaby
Producer: Louis Hollis
Assistant Editor: Georgina Savage
Sound Designer, Composer, and Mix Engineer: Axel Kacoutie
Script Editor: Jason Lewis
Fact Checker: Jessica Hatcher-Moore
Production Manager: Anna-Marie Batho
Production Executive: Letisha Kidza
Head of Production: Nicky Murphy
Production Support: Emma Wood and Olivia Bouton
Executive Producers for Raw: Deborah Dudgeon, David Waters, and Tim Wardle.
Business Affairs: Amy Ofori-Attah, Clotilde Leroux, Damian Kent, and Emma Ong.
Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
A Raw production for BBC Radio 4
Breakin' the Cycle: 2. A Hood Story
2026/08/05 | 28 mins.
As Colin and D begin turning their prison-written script into a real production, they recruit former pop stars and emerging actors, building a cast captivated by the promise of an authentic Black British crime story. Their film starts to feel like a genuine cultural moment. But most of the cast and crew are unaware of the true story behind the pair or their journey to becoming film-makers.
Beneath the excitement of the production, the money, power, and instincts that built “Love of Money” are still very much in play. When D’s commitment to turning away from crime is tested, he is drawn back to familiar instincts.
Gripping stories from the Shadows - BBC investigations from across the UK.
Presenter and Producer: Lewis Albrow
Series Producer: Emma Barnaby
Producer: Louis Hollis
Assistant Editor: Georgina Savage
Sound Designer, Composer, and Mix Engineer: Axel Kacoutie
Script Editor: Jason Lewis
Fact Checker: Jessica Hatcher-Moore
Production Manager: Anna-Marie Batho
Production Executive: Letisha Kidza
Head of Production: Nicky Murphy
Production Support: Emma Wood and Olivia Bouton
Executive Producers for Raw: Deborah Dudgeon, David Waters, and Tim Wardle.
Business Affairs: Amy Ofori-Attah, Clotilde Leroux, Damian Kent, and Emma Ong.
Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
A Raw Production for BBC Radio 4

About Shadow World

Shadow World - Breakin' the Cycle is the story of two feared London gangsters, Colin and D, who, in the early 2000s decide to try and escape the cycle of crime by making a movie based on their own lives as gang leaders and drug dealers. But the lines between fact and fiction quickly begin to blur, when they take a star-studded cast and a largely white, middle-class film crew into their world, in an attempt to make the UK's first authentic hood film. Accidental stabbings, drug dealing on set, and even a real-life shootout. Amongst the chaos, they're faced with the realities of leaving gang life behind, and the constant temptations of their old life threatening to drag them back in. Breakin' the Cycle is a series about friendship, guns, drugs, money and the sacrifices required when leaving one life behind in pursuit of another. What will it take for Colin and D to leave behind a world of guns, drugs, and gangs, and reinvent themselves as film-makers? Gripping stories from the Shadows - BBC investigations from across the UK.

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