BBC Studios’ hit investigative podcast series Vishal has returned with a new episode featuring updates on the ongoing investigation, which Sussex Police said they would reopen following the podcast’s launch in April.
The podcast, which quickly hit the top of the charts after its launch, investigates the unsolved case of Vishal, an eight-year-old boy who was abducted and murdered in 1981. The series is hosted by Vishal’s half-brother Suchin Mehrotra and award-winning investigative reporter Colin Campbell, known for his work investigating child sexual abuse within the Church of England.
Episode 10 of the series, which launched today, is titled ‘Fresh Leads’ and is hosted by Campbell, who reveals information from witnesses that have come forward after the podcast launched. Campbell also looks at whether this new information would be enough to continue pushing the case forward, 40 years after it happened.
“For our team, it was important to explore all the leads presented to us,” said Campbell. “The tragic story of Vishal and his family is close to our hearts and we wanted to go as far as possible in our investigation.”
The latest episode of the series is written and produced by multi-award-winning investigative journalist Jolyon Jenkins, known for his work as a former reporter on BBC Radio 4’s award-winning current affairs documentary series File on 4 and other documentary investigative series like Out of the Ordinary.
Vishal also features input from two consultants on the series, both former senior police detectives that have been affected by the case - including Jackie Malton who previously worked as a Family Liaison Officer on the case days after Vishal’s disappearance - and Shaun Keep, who was involved in the small team that convicted the people responsible for the teenager Stephen Lawrence’s murder after nearly 20 years.
The podcast is produced by BBC Studios’ Factual Podcast Unit which is behind a number of hit investigative podcast series, including The Missing Cryptoqueen and Fake Heiress. Vishal was also nominated this year for Best True Crime podcast at the 2023 British Podcast Awards, losing the Gold title to Wondery’s Who Killed Daphne?
