Devil in the Wilderness

FINAL EPISODE: The Search For Spratt - Answers...

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 04:00:00 GMT

In this last ever episode, Saul gets his hands on extraordinary official documentation offering full details surrounding the death of Sergeant William Spratt, victim of “that moment in Iraq".

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Slowly Peeling Back, the new album by Saul Wordsworth, is available on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and all other streaming services.

Alan Stoob's True Crime Casebook™, an original podcast by Saul Wordsworth, is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

If you have a story you wish to tell, please email saul@saulwordsworth.com

Series merchandise is available on request.

Images from the series can be found here

The executive producer of the series is Paul Kobrak (The Louis Theroux Podcast). The voice of Christopher Wordsworth is performed by Chris Porter. The other voices featured in this episode are Kevin Molloy, Stuart Scrivens, Tim Patterson and Lucy Bray. Ann Roberts' emails are read by Kate Tasch.

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BONUS SIX: The Search for Spratt (part two)

Fri, 19 Jul 2024 10:02:47 GMT

With the help of an archivist (and distant relative) Saul Wordsworth closes in on Spratt, a name cited in his father's diaries - and very likely the victim of “that moment in Iraq".

Saul Wordsworth's new album Hope Is Not A Strategy is available on Spotify, Apple Music and other streaming services.

Images from the series can be found here

Executive producer of the series is Paul Kobrak (The Louis Theroux Podcast). The voice of Christopher Wordsworth is performed by Chris Porter. The other voice featured on this episode is Chris Chakraborty.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BONUS FIVE: In conversation with Michael Frayn and Blake Morrison

Sat, 11 May 2024 13:52:03 GMT

In this extra-special bonus episode two huge literary figures, Michael Frayn and Blake Morrison - both of whom knew Christopher Wordsworth - join host Saul Wordsworth for a discussion about father-son memoirs.

The Observer piece cited in this episode can be found here

Images from the series - including photographs taken during this three-way discussion - can be found here

Original music by Saul Wordsworth from the series is available on Spotify and other streaming services.

The executive producer of the series is Paul Kobrak (The Louis Theroux Podcast). The voice of Christopher Wordsworth is performed by Chris Porter.

BOOKS BY MICHAEL FRAYN

My Father's Fortune

Amongst Others: Friendships and Encounters

BOOKS BY BLAKE MORRISON

And When Did You Last See Your Father?

Two Sisters

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BONUS FOUR: The Search for Spratt

Mon, 01 Apr 2024 16:00:00 GMT

Saul Wordsworth revisits the British Library in search of Spratt, a name cited in his father's diaries and very likely the figure central to “that moment in Iraq".

Link to BBC feature

Images from the series can be found here

Original music by Saul Wordsworth from the series is available on Spotify and other streaming services.

Executive producer of the series is Paul Kobrak (The Louis Theroux Podcast). The voice of Christopher Wordsworth is performed by Chris Porter.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BONUS THREE: New material

Thu, 01 Feb 2024 20:00:00 GMT

This episode features previously unheard diary entries including an original poem by Christopher Wordsworth, plus a letter that has recently come to light.

NEW RELEASE: Devil in the Wilderness: Original Podcast Soundtrack by Saul Wordsworth is available on Spotify, Amazon Music and all other streaming services.

Images from the series can be found here

Executive producer is Paul Kobrak (The Louis Theroux Podcast). The voice of Christopher Wordsworth is performed by Chris Porter.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BONUS TWO: The Self-Inflicted Wound

Sat, 16 Dec 2023 12:00:00 GMT

Reproduced in full: Christopher Wordsworth's essay The Self-Inflicted Wound - which would propel him from isolation and hunger in the depths of bleak Snowdonia moorland, to Fleet Street. Plus discussion of future bonus episodes and the ripple effect of the series.

The music video cited in the episode can be found HERE

Original music by Saul Wordsworth from the series is available on SPOTIFY and other streaming services.

Executive producer of the series is Paul Kobrak (The Louis Theroux Podcast). The voice of Christopher Wordsworth is performed by Chris Porter.

Images from the series can be found here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BONUS ONE: Speeches at the launch

Mon, 04 Dec 2023 20:00:00 GMT

El Vino's on Fleet Street played host to an event marking the launch of the series. The speeches were captured and are replayed here. Plus reflections from Saul Wordsworth, and diary entries not featured previously.

Executive producer of the series is Paul Kobrak (The Louis Theroux Podcast). The voice of Christopher Wordsworth is performed by Chris Porter.

Original music by Saul Wordsworth from the series is available on Spotify and other streaming services.

The Observer article cited in this episode can be found here

Images from the series can be found here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

6. That moment in Iraq

Tue, 31 Oct 2023 18:00:00 GMT

6 of 6. Christopher Wordsworth's son, Saul, weighs up the evidence of what happened in Iraq and reaches a conclusion. He also charts his father's final years - and considers his legacy.

Executive producer of the series is Paul Kobrak (The Louis Theroux Podcast). The voice of Christopher Wordsworth is performed by Chris Porter.

Original music by Saul Wordsworth from the series is available on Spotify and other streaming services.

If you enjoyed the series please give it a star rating or leave a review. Many thanks.

Images from the series can be found here

The track featured in this episode was mixed and mastered by Erik Holmberg @ K51 Studios, Stockholm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

5. Deliverance

Tue, 24 Oct 2023 12:00:00 GMT

5 of 6. As Christopher Wordsworth's trickle of work turns into a stream, he prepares to make the move from Snowdonia to London, though not before one final indiscretion that still reverberates today. Meanwhile, his son Saul explores what it was like growing up with this man as his father.

Executive producer of the series is Paul Kobrak (The Louis Theroux Podcast). The voice of Christopher Wordsworth is performed by Chris Porter.

Original music by Saul Wordsworth from the series is available on Spotify and other streaming services.

Images from the series can be found here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

4. Isolation

Mon, 16 Oct 2023 21:00:00 GMT

4 of 6. After five years with Susan Russell, three friends rent Christopher Wordsworth an impossibly remote, derelict cottage seven miles from civilisation. Here he remains, freezing, starving and haunted by the past - until his fortunes finally begin to shift.

Executive producer of the series is Paul Kobrak (The Louis Theroux Podcast). The voice of Christopher Wordsworth is performed by Chris Porter.

Original music by Saul Wordsworth from the series is available on Spotify and other streaming services.

Images from the series can be found here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

3. The ghost of madness

Sat, 14 Oct 2023 23:00:00 GMT

3 of 6. Christopher Wordsworth begins a relationship with beautiful American heiress Sue Russell, daughter-in-law of Nobel prize winner Bertrand Russell. But after years of high living, Sue's mental instability finally catches up with them both, and a panorama of tragedy slowly begins to unfold.

Executive producer of the series is Paul Kobrak (The Louis Theroux Podcast). The voice of Christopher Wordsworth is performed by Chris Porter.

Original music by Saul Wordsworth from the series is available on Spotify and other streaming services.

Images from the series can be found here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2. Snowdonia

Sat, 14 Oct 2023 20:00:00 GMT

2 of 6. Former Fleet Street journalist Christopher Wordsworth fetches up in Snowdonia in 1953 with plans to write The Great Novel, but his arrival causes upset within the community, and his diaries reveal a man haunted by the past.

Executive producer of the series is Paul Kobrak (The Louis Theroux Podcast). The voice of Christopher Wordsworth is performed by Chris Porter.

Original music by Saul Wordsworth from the series is available on Spotify and other streaming services.

Images from the series can be found here

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1. Troubled beginnings

Fri, 13 Oct 2023 13:00:00 GMT

1 of 6. Video trailer here. Christopher Wordsworth was a Fleet Street journalist from 1962 until his death in 1998, when he was 83. He left behind five diaries that span 1953 to 1963, a period when he was divorced, penniless, living in Snowdonia and trying to pen the great novel.

Episode one serves as background, covering his early years of promise, destruction, divorce and despair - and leads up to his arrival in Snowdonia in 1953.

Executive producer of the series is Paul Kobrak (The Louis Theroux Podcast). The voice of Christopher Wordsworth is performed by Chris Porter.

Original music by Saul Wordsworth from the series is available on Spotify and other streaming services.

The track featured at the end of this episode was mixed and mastered by Erik Holmberg @ K51 Studios, Stockholm.

Images from the series can be found here

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

SERIES TRAILER: Devil in the Wilderness

Fri, 22 Sep 2023 13:00:00 GMT

Video trailer HERE
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Christopher Wordsworth was a literary critic and sports writer on Fleet Street from 1962 until his death in 1998, when he was 83 and his son Saul Wordsworth was 25. He left behind five diaries that cover 1953 to 1963, a period when he was divorced, penniless, living in the wilderness of Snowdonia, and trying to write the great novel. When Saul finally read them, he discovered a trove of secrets, uncomfortable truths and clues his father may have been involved in a truly terrible crime. Producer: Paul Kobrak (The Louis Theroux Podcast). Series release date: October 15th 2023.

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