The Naked Week: Ep5. Jesus Christ Superstarmer, and Dark Satanic Mills

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4

Episode: The Naked Week: Ep5. Jesus Christ Superstarmer, and Dark Satanic Mills
Date: April 10, 2026
Host: Andrew Hunter Murray (plus correspondents Rosie Holt, Cat Neylan, Emily Channen, Heather Allen)

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Main Theme

This episode delivers a satirical take on the week’s news, blending sharp comedy with pointed political and social critique. Key themes include the disappointing state of British politics, public disillusionment with leaders, and a detailed investigation into the DWP’s mishandling of carer overpayments. It also dives into topics like the moon landing (and who owns the moon), all while maintaining a distinctly irreverent, witty BBC Radio 4 house style.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Satirizing Political Leadership and the Two-Party System

• The show humorously analogizes Keir Starmer to Jesus, asking: “Is there hope for the resurrection of Sir Keir Starmer?” (03:15)
• Parallels are drawn between Jesus’ miracles and Starmer’s (dubious) political feats, e.g., “Raised the dead... Brought back Ed Miliband.” (04:00)
• Andrew pokes fun at Labour’s campaign confusion:

  “Keir Starmer launched Labour’s with all the clarity and sense of direction of Tiger Woods driving to the shops.” (04:42)

• Jokes about the public’s naive excitement for new leaders, inevitably followed by disappointment:

  “Maybe the problem lies with us, the great British voting public... Along comes a new political face and you’ve fallen all over them like you’ve just met a puppy.” (05:07) “Every new dawn ends up being a disappointment. We pin our hopes on political leaders as frequently as serious allegations are pinned on prominent BBC personalities.” (09:07)

2. Hot Cross Voters and the Rise of Smaller Parties

• Rosie Holt runs through alternatives to Labour and Conservative, mocking new ‘saviours’ like Nigel Farage and the Greens:

  “One of them is Nigel Farage. That’s not a face you can really describe as fresh, more stale, really.” – Rosie Holt (07:39)

• Jibes at the Liberal Democrats and other politicians:

  “Ed Davey can walk on water. Oh, very briefly, in the split second directly after he’s fallen off the paddleboard.” – Rosie Holt (08:22) “Kemi Badenoch, for her part, has bravely led her party into the wilderness for the next 40 years.” – Rosie Holt (08:38)

• Brief acknowledgment that alternatives are not necessarily better; skepticism about political messiahs persists.

3. Celebrating Disappointments: The ‘Easter Rat’ and Chocolates

• The team unveils the “box of chocolate disappointments”—a satirical segment visualising British letdowns:
  • Chocolate HS2 project: “Extremely disappointing. And also half the size it used to be.” (11:09)
  • Chocolate Brexit, chocolate BAFTA controversy, chocolate BBC Sounds app, chocolate Keir Starmer policy announcement (“that’s had a product recall”).
  • “A chocolate reform candidate, obviously made of white chocolate.” – Andrew Hunter Murray (12:05)
• Rosie Holt is forced to appear in a cheap rat costume:

  “It’s a low moment for my self respect.” – Rosie Holt (10:40) “Easter Rat the news quiz doesn’t make their guests dress up as rats.” (12:34)

• Segment highlights a recurring British theme: expectation followed by anticlimax.

4. The DWP Scandal: Carers’ Allowance Overpayments

• Cat Neylan and Emily Channen investigate: how the Department for Work & Pensions overpaid 250,000 carers, then aggressively sought repayment, leading to severe hardship.

  “Something apparently appallingly similar to what happened to sub postmasters...” – Cat Neylan (15:52) “A recent report by Carers UK found that 1.2 million unpaid carers are living in poverty...400,000 in ‘deep poverty’.” – Emily Channen (16:58)

• Overpayments often resulted from minor or technical errors, with carers forced to repay thousands, sometimes prosecuted for fraud.

  “If a carer had exceeded their annual earnings limit by even a single penny, they were ordered to pay back an entire year's worth of carer's allowance.” – Emily Channen (17:37)

• DWP failed to disclose to defendants that it had the technology to prevent overpayments—an omission often buried in obscure reports.

  “The DWP was claiming that an unpaid carer… should somehow have known to comb through an obscure report from the National Audit Office...” – Andrew Hunter Murray (20:28)

• Dr. Ed Johnston (University of Northampton) described non-disclosure as a serious procedural failure.

  “The prosecution cannot avoid its duty by claiming the material was in the public domain and hoping the unrepresented accused will find it for themselves.” – Dr. Ed Johnston, via Andrew (21:42)

• 600+ carers prosecuted in this way; government promises to reassess, but none have been reviewed to date.

  “How many... have been reassessed?” — “None, Andy. Not a single one.” – Cat Neylan (22:42)

5. Moon Missions and Space Law

• Commentary on America’s Artemis 2 mission:

  “It's one of the great 21st century revivals alongside vinyl, measles and fascism.” – Andrew Hunter Murray (24:25)

• Interview with space lawyer Heather Allen, who explains nobody owns the moon, citing the Outer Space Treaty of 1967.

  “Nobody owns the moon. Nobody can own the moon.” – Heather Allen (27:40) “Could we persuade America to leave the moon if we renamed it Vietnam?” – Andrew Hunter Murray (28:14)

• Jokes about Britain’s imperial past and space ambitions:

  “Given how good the Brits are at going around and, you know, sticking flags in other places.” – Heather Allen (28:32)

6. Recurring Comedy Elements and Tone

• Numerous tongue-in-cheek callbacks, puns, audience ribbing.
• “News in Haikus” segment, e.g.:

  “On NATO.
  Trump says he'll pull out.
  Many wish his dad had done the same.” – Andrew Hunter Murray (13:24)

• Recurring humiliation of Rosie Holt as the “Easter Rat” (wrap-up at 29:59—30:44).
• Frequent fourth-wall breaks and meta-commentary on the show’s format and production.

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Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On political messiahs and disappointment:

  "We're not saying that the Prime Minister has all that much in common with the Messiah. Or does he?" – Andrew Hunter Murray (03:22)

• On voter optimism:

  "We, she he they is, are cockeyed optimists. Along comes a new political face and you've fallen all over them like you've just met a puppy." – Andrew Hunter Murray (05:07)

• On women finding competence sexy:

  “There is nothing more erotic to a middle aged woman than competency.” – Heather Allen, reading Catelyn Moran (05:41)

• On disappointment with the Labour party:

  “Yes. But unfortunately, after they saw what Britain was like under Labour, they did ask if they could go blind again.” – Andrew Hunter Murray, about Starmer making the blind see (08:32)

• On the DWP scandal:

  “The DWP did have the technology to prevent overpayments to carers?”
  “Yes, they'd had it since 2014… but it wasn't reliable and the DWP didn't have enough staff investigating the overpayments it flagged, so they just allowed the carers debts to rack up and up.” – Emily Channen (19:03)

• On space law:

  “Sort of like a regular lawyer, but people yawn a little bit less when you tell them what you do as a space lawyer.” – Heather Allen (27:15)

• On the futility of British space ambitions:

  “Our distinct lack of space program means we can't claim that rock [the moon] anytime soon. But what can we claim? Well, all is not lost when it comes to rock. Useless bits of rock is what Britain does.” – Andrew Hunter Murray (29:32)

• Easter Rat’s finale (humiliation accepted):

  “Come taste my sweet disappointments / Taste them as much as you please / For I am the rat of the Easter, the Easter, the Easter / For I am the rat of the Easter and I have Weil's disease.” – Rosie Holt (30:26)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Episode Opening & Satirical Headlines: 01:10–04:40
• Jesus Christ Superstarmer Parody: 03:00–07:00
• Hot Cross Voters Segment: 07:23–09:07
• Box of Chocolate Disappointments: 10:40–12:30
• News in Haikus: 12:38–13:31
• DWP Carers Overpayment Scandal: 15:27–23:17
• Space Law & The Moon Mission: 24:30–29:32
• Rosie’s ‘Easter Rat’ Recap & Ending: 29:56–30:44

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Tone & Style

The episode’s tone is classic British radio satire—wry, sardonic, quick-witted, and often self-deprecating. The repartee is sharp, mocking both public figures and the hosts themselves, and rooted in an awareness of institutional disappointment and the cycles of political hope and letdown. Real news is filtered through a lens of absurdity, without losing sight of deeper, often serious issues (especially in the DWP investigation).

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Final Thoughts

The Naked Week continues to merge caustic comedy with current affairs, skewering political pretensions, scrutinizing government failures, and commiserating with a public let down by one “messiah” after another. Strongest moments include the deep-dive on the DWP’s injustices, and the recurrent ‘Easter Rat’ thread, exemplifying both the humour and pathos that underpin the show.

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For listeners who missed it: expect a quick-paced hour of topical jokes, biting sketches, and incisive news analysis—each punchline veering between the laugh-out-loud and the painfully real.

Transcript

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

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Save on tropical flavors at Whole Foods Market during the Savor the Tropics event with yellow sales signs highlighting seasonal finds throughout the store. The produce section is bursting with pineapples, mangoes and kiwis at their juicies. Grill up fresh seafood paired with tropical fruit marinades. Or grab and enjoy the spicy Hawaiian pizza, huli huli chicken and more. Finish with a sweet slice of mango yuzu, Chantilly cake. Savor the tropics and save at Whole Foods Marketing. April Fool. This isn't the Radio 2 breakfast show at all. That was just something we found in a skip round the back of Broadcasting House. Instead, welcome to the Naked week on Radio 4. Yes, the naked Week. Imagine the world that won if it had been sacked due to its personal conduct. And this week, we're coming to you from Brighton, a city that, like the House of Lords, has lost many of its aging peers. Coming up on the Naked Week this week, Jeremy vine outlines the BBC's new methods for keeping their radio presenters in line, muzzling them in public and having them neutered. Which explains why I just received a calendar invite saying Vet 9am tomorrow. Don't worry about it. Also on the way, Keir Starmer forgets the word for winter. What's the one that comes when it gets colder later in the year? Come on, Keir, you remember. It's the one that comes before spring and after the phrase. Thanks to you, many elderly people feared they would not make it through thee. Plus, King Charles single handedly rescues his own stranded vehicle. He used the piercings on what he described as the world's strongest nipples to pull the carriage, a trick he learned from the Queen Mother. This week, our thoughts have been turning once again to the tragic events in the Middle east from where we're hearing stories about the crucifixion of Jesus. Awful news. And apparently, if we want him to come back, we're on our own. America is not helping. But after four weeks of talking about the war, we thought we'd go for a much needed change of pace in exactly the way the Today program doesn't. So instead, at this very special time of year, when we remember one man who rose from the dead to lead his people to salvation, we thought we'd ask, is there any hope for the resurrection of Sir Keir Starmer? Now, we're not saying that the Prime Minister has all that much in common with the Messiah. Or does he? Son of a manual laborer? Check. A much maligned man, once believed able to perform miracles. Check. Raised the dead. Check. Brought back Ed Miliband. Casting out demons. Well, Peter Mandelson's gone, eventually casting out demons. Check. And yet now people want Jesus Christ Superstarmer gone. No one is writing that musical anymore. Probably because it would be highly offensive to anyone who still truly believes in socialism. But in the last couple of weeks, all the parties have launched their local election campaigns. Keir Starmer launched Labours with all the clarity and sense of direction of Tiger woods driving to the shops. We don't yet know exactly how the Labour campaign will unfold, but some people are already calling it the charge of the shite brigade. But maybe, maybe the problem lies with us, the great British voting public. We, she he they is, are cockeyed optimists. Along comes a new political face and you've fallen all over them like you've just met a puppy. For example, here is Catelyn Moran in the Times, a week after the last general election.

[Heather Allen]

Every middle aged woman I know feels right now kind of fruity turned on.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

Okay, and what particular left leaning plum was juicing you and your friends? Catelyn? Not palpably. Bone dry Keir Starmer. Surely it wasn't specifically Keir Starmer or even a new Labour government, but competency.

[Heather Allen]

There is nothing more erotic to a middle aged woman than competency.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

How sexy is chronic indecisiveness, Catelyn? I mean, surely a woman loves nothing more than a bloke who says he's going to do something, does it, then panics and tries to undo it. Because he's less secure than a room at a Travelodge. And if you think that's grim, how about this from Flora Gill in gq. Confessing to having the wettest of dreams about the wettest of wipes, I opened

[Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Representative]

up to my friends about my shameful new feelings. A deep desire for Rishi Sinak. People's cravings for a spectacled hunk have even gone so far that he's taken on the nickname Dishy Rishi

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

the Spectacled hunk. Don't make him angry. He might turn green and then very carefully unbutton his shirt. The problem is this. You start out all wide eyed and full of hope about our political leaders and eventually, actually, usually pretty quickly, the honeymoon is over and you're wittering on about the disappointment. And so it came to pass that more and more people are talking about the end of the two party system. The main disruptors in the forthcoming local elections are reform and the Greens. So in this Easter season, maybe it's the right time to ponder which of these possible new messiahs could be the saviour Britain so badly needs. So please welcome our pondering which of these possible new messiahs could be the savior Britain so badly needs. Correspondent is Rosie Holt. Hot cross voters. Hot cross voters. One a penny, two a penny. Hot cross voters. Hello, Rosie. What a normal introduction. Are the voters actually hot?

[Rosie Holt]

No, Andy, it's Britain in the first week of April, but they certainly are cross.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

Okay, let's talk us through their angry options.

[Rosie Holt]

Basically. For so many years, it's often felt like the only choices between Labour and the Conservatives. They're like Ant and Dec, two indistinguishable men who say largely the same thing as each other.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

Yes, and very difficult to tell which one is standing further on the right.

[Rosie Holt]

But now the two party system is being torn up with voters being offered a whole lineup of fresh faced new options. Well, I say fresh faced. One of them is Nigel Farage. That's not a face you can really describe as fresh, more stale, really. Complexion like a Wetherspoon's pub carpet. Still in denial about the smoking ban. Then there's Zach Polanski. He could be the new messiah because he says he can give a woman a chest big enough to feed 5,000.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

It's a miracle. What about the traditional parties?

[Rosie Holt]

Ed Davey can walk on water. Oh, very briefly, in the split second directly after he's fallen off the paddleboard. Yes, Starmer made the blind see again.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

Yes. But unfortunately, after they saw what Britain was like under Labour, they did Ask if they could go blind again.

[Rosie Holt]

Kemi Badenoch, for her part, has bravely led her party into the wilderness for the next 40 years.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

Rosie, in deference to our listeners in Scotland and Wales, we should consider the prospects of the SNP and Clyde Cymru respectively.

[Cat Neylan]

You done considering?

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

Yes, Rosie holds everybody. But here's the thing. Once you've lived through a few elections, you begin to realise that every new dawn ends up being a disappointment. We pin our hopes on political leaders as frequently as serious allegations are pinned on prominent BBC personalities. Now, as you know, we at the Naked Week, we like to help. So we say we should all stop running away from disappointment and instead embrace it. So this Easter weekend, forget chocolate eggs, because what we've got is the Naked Week's very own answer to a box of celebrations. It is a box of chocolate disappointments. These are these we've got. We've genuinely done this. Each one of these is hand crafted and when I say that, that's a polite way of saying bodged together by the work experience kid, which does make them inedible. But that is fitting because they do represent some of Britain's greatest disappointments. I'll be honest to tell us what we've got in the tub. We did want an Easter bunny, but when we tried to buy the costume on Amazon, it was very expensive. So please instead welcome a very disappointing and cheap Easter bunny. It's the Naked Week non denominational celebration rodent, AKA the Easter rat. Lovely. That's a wonderful costume you're wearing for this predominantly audio program. For listeners at home, Rosie is wearing a five piece rat outfit consisting of ears, tail, nose, whiskers and inexplicably a bow tie. It was $7.99 of your money.

[Rosie Holt]

It's a low moment for my self respect.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

Well, I'm afraid that happened the minute you agreed to be on the Naked Week, Rosie. And by the way, your line is oh, my ears and whiskers.

[Rosie Holt]

I'm not saying that.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

Come on, you must, you must. It's a BBC approved safe word. I know it's too little too late, but we are trying. Rosie, shall we have a look at these chocolate disappointments? What have you got?

[Rosie Holt]

First up, a chocolate HS2 project.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

Genuinely a little chocolate tray. Chocolate HS2. Extremely disappointing. And also half the size it used to be.

[Rosie Holt]

A chocolate new Peaky Blinders.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

Great. Alright, I'm going to have a look in the tub. What's this? A chocolate Scott Mills. Apparently the BBC knew about this one ten years ago, but they didn't bother unwrapping it. Scott Mills, by the way, now surely considered the worst Mills After Dark Satanic and Edinburgh Woollen.

[Rosie Holt]

And it would a chocolate Brexit Chee

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

what it would not.

[Cat Neylan]

Okay.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

And neither would a chocolate BBC Sounds app. Truly the bounty bar of disappointments.

[Rosie Holt]

A chocolate Brew dog share certificate.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

This is a classic disappointment. A chocolate Oasis third album.

[Rosie Holt]

A chocolate Keir Starmer policy announcement. Oh no wait, that's had a product recall notice. So a chocolate reform candidate obviously made of white chocolate.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

Here is a chocolate BAFTA Awards controversy. Absolutely not touching this one.

[Rosie Holt]

All thoroughly disappointing and 100% fatal if eaten.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

Thanks.

[Rosie Holt]

Easter Rat the news quiz doesn't make their guests dress up as rats.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

It's only because they use Andy's ultimate hair as a nest. Rosie hold the Easter rat, everybody. This is the naked wheat on Radio 4, where it's time once again to bathe in the healing world events waters that gently cascade through the relaxing garden of current affairs contemplation. It's the News in Haikus. On NATO. Trump says he'll pull out. Many wish his dad had done the same. The News in Haikus

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[Andrew Hunter Murray]

You're listening to the Naked Week. In the week when Reform announced that they'd be keeping the triple lock, despite Nigel Farage previously describing it as unaffordable. And speaking of pandering to the geriatric vote, please welcome the Werther's original to my walk in Bath. It's the Observer, Whitehall editor and the Naked Week's chief investigative reporter, Cat Neylan.

[Cat Neylan]

Andy, do you remember the Horizon Post Office scandal?

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

Of course. Faulty computer software that caused almost 1,000 subpostmasters to be wrongfully convicted of theft and fraud, resulting in one of ITV's least unbearable dramas.

[Cat Neylan]

And do you remember the Unpaid Carers scandal?

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

Er, kind of. But is it even a scandal? Unless Toby Jones is on a poster looking miserable? Remind us what happened to unpaid carers?

[Cat Neylan]

Something apparently appallingly similar to what happened to sub postmasters. Between 2008 and 2024, the Department for Work and Pensions overpaid more than a quarter of a million carers, a benefit called Carers Allowance. The fallout when they tried to claw it back was devastating, with an independent review last year highlighting, quote, systemic flaws in the DWP's technology and methods. Now, we actually have an update on this, but I'll let the Naked Week's own unpaid reporter, Emily, explain more.

[Emily Channen]

Hi, Andy. I wasn't aware this was unpaid.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

Ah, well, none of us are getting paid. The new DG made that painfully clear after last week when we read out Donald Trump's phone number. So, Emily, this is a complex story. It was reported in depth by the Guardian last year. But the Naked Week has new information and we need to fill in some details. So, first off, who exactly are unpaid carers?

[Emily Channen]

They're people who look after someone for more than 35 hours a week. They're entitled to a carer's allowance, currently just over 86 pounds a week, but only if they're earning less than £151 a week after tax from other employment.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

Right, so we are not talking multimillionaires here.

[Emily Channen]

Very much not. A recent report by Carers uk found that 1.2 million unpaid carers are living in poverty. With more than 400,000 of those so far below the poverty line, they enter a uniquely Grim category known as deep poverty.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

Deep poverty, Coincidentally, also the name of Rachel Reeves prog rock band. So, Kat, by how much did the Department for Work and Pensions overpay carers?

[Cat Neylan]

In total, around 250 million pounds.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

OK, so presumably, not unreasonably, the DWP wanted to get this money back.

[Cat Neylan]

Yes. But the sheer vindictive aggression with which they went about it would make even Pete Hegseth say, calm down, lads, we're starting to look like arseholes.

[Emily Channen]

Right, basically, if a carer had exceeded their annual earnings limit by even a single penny, they were ordered to pay back an entire year's worth of carer's allowance. And in plenty of cases, the overpayments have been going on for a number of years. So although the average amount to be paid back was £4,000, in some cases it was as high as £60,000.

[Cat Neylan]

Now, a lot of these carers couldn't afford solicitors and had no legal aid. So many, including some the Naked Week has spoken to directly, ended up pleading guilty to benefit fraud for what they maintained were completely inadvertent mistakes they'd known nothing about.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

But it was their responsibility to report any overpayments or changes in their financial circumstances to the dwp.

[Emily Channen]

And many of them did. Although it's also worth noting that it was government policy that the DWP should be the one notifying the carers of overpayments precisely in order to prevent them from accumulating large debts. And that happened much less frequently.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

Why?

[Emily Channen]

Because, according to the independent review, the

[Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Representative]

DWP's processes have been insufficient to prevent overpayments accruing. And the high rate of overpayment debt has been caused not by widespread individual errors by carers in reporting their earnings, but by systemic issues preventing them from fulfilling this responsibility to report.

[Emily Channen]

And that the DWP was operating in

[Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Representative]

a culture that assumed negligence as a default.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

Well, if it's good enough for radio too, no. So, just to be clear, the DWP did have the technology to prevent overpayments to carers?

[Emily Channen]

Yes, they'd had it since 2014. It was meant to match carers payments with their earnings reported to the Tax Office and flag if they were earning too much to get the benefit, but it wasn't reliable and the DWP didn't have enough staff investigating the overpayments it flagged, so they just allowed the carers debts to rack up and up.

[Cat Neylan]

Now, the Naked Week has dug a little deeper into this story, Andy, and it just Gets even more depressing.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

I can hear Toby Jones agent salivating.

[Cat Neylan]

So, in many instances, when a carer's debt reached 5,000 pounds, it prompted a referral for prosecution. Okay, and with a prosecution comes something called disclosure.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

Witches.

[Cat Neylan]

No, it's nothing to do with witches. Disclosure means that both sides in a criminal case should provide the other with all the facts and evidence they've gathered. So, in this case, the DWP were obliged to provide information relevant to the carer's defence.

[Emily Channen]

But the thing is, the DWP didn't disclose to defendants that they had the technology, which in theory, was designed to prevent overpayments.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

Okay, why not?

[Emily Channen]

Well, they argued they didn't need to disclose the fact to the defendants because it was already in the public domain.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

Okay, but where in the public domain? I mean, technically, Morrissey is in the public domain, but that doesn't mean anyone would ever want to find him.

[Emily Channen]

This information was buried in the middle of a 40 page report written by the National Audit Office in 2019.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

Oh, we all read that, didn't we? The smash hit publishing sensation. So, to be clear, the Department for Work and Pensions was claiming that an unpaid carer without any legal knowledge or representation, in addition to looking after someone full time and possibly also holding down a minimum wage job, should somehow have known to comb through an obscure report from the National Audit Office to find out if the reason the DWP was prosecuting them was because the DWP itself had failed to notify them about its own multiple systemic failings?

[Emily Channen]

Precisely.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

And for listeners on BBC Sounds, feel free to replay that on loop as a soundtrack for banging your head against a wall. Okay, Emily, this is clearly a very, very sad story, but the DWP would still argue it's a straightforward case of overpayments needing to be recouped. Could what the DWP may or may not have disclosed in court had a tangible impact on any of the prosecutions?

[Emily Channen]

Obviously, from a legal standpoint, Andy. No, the Naked Week would absolutely, definitely not say that.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

That's good, because the new Director General has also revoked our lawyer privileges.

[Emily Channen]

But according to Dr. Ed Johnston, an expert on legal disclosure from the University

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

of Northampton, the prosecution cannot avoid its duty by claiming the material was in the public domain and hoping the unrepresented accused will find it for themselves. In circumstances where the defendant was unrepresented, knowledge of the DWP's failure to prevent the overpayments may well have affected their decision to enter a guilty plea. And how many unpaid carers were convicted of benefit fraud and received criminal records in cases where the DWP may have failed to disclose crucial information.

[Emily Channen]

At least 600.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

There we go.

[Emily Channen]

Now, we took our investigation to the board overseeing compensation to the Post Office scandal victims and they told us the

[Public Investing Advertiser]

government should ensure these prosecutions of unpaid carers will be urgently and independently reviewed.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

So what has the government done to compensate carers? He said, not holding his breath.

[Cat Neylan]

Well, in November last year, they announced that £75 million had been set aside for the reassessment of more than 200,000 historical cases of overpayment.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

OK, that is something. So we're five months on now. How many of those 200,000 cases have been reassessed?

[Cat Neylan]

None, Andy. Not a single one. In fact, they're still trying to recruit decision makers to carry out the reassessments. And there are currently no plans for the DWP to issue any kind of. Of formal apology, although they did find time to tell the Naked Week.

[Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Representative]

The department takes seriously its legal duty and obligation to ensure all relevant information is disclosed to the Crown Prosecution Service. Anyone can apply to the Criminal Cases Review Commission if they think they were wrongly convicted of a criminal offence and have previously lost an appeal. We will reassess affected cases and potentially reduce, cancel or refund debts for thousands of carers.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

Okay. Potentially only potentially so. Also potentially not afraid so. Well, potentially that's incredibly depressing. It's so depressing, in fact, we have just had a note from Toby Jones himself. It says, I'll do it as long as the Winnebago is up to the usual standard. I love it when a scandal comes together. Cat Neyland and Emily Channen, everybody. This week, the United States sent a rocket to the moon. Or to put it another way, the President. Mr. Just stop oil himself. Has launched a missile at a foreign territory. Again, it is possible, of course, he just looked up in the sky on the wrong night and thought, what's that Muslim flag doing there? Artemis 2 took off on Wednesday. And of course, the current mission won't involve astronauts landing on the moon's surface, but we all know how quickly these things can escalate to boots on the ground. Now, as a result of all this, the Clangers have closed the Sea of Tranquility and Blue String pudding is nearing $120 a barrel. But be that as it may, the US space program is back, baby. It's one of the great 21st century revivals alongside vinyl, measles and fascism. Almost 60 years on from Neil Armstrong's One Small Step. America has decided to announce one big step. The biggest step. Probably one big, beautiful step. Many people are saying. A lot of people are saying the biggest, most beautiful step ever taken. As JFK himself once said, she's just a cousin. Me go. Oh, sorry, sorry. That wasn't jfk, that was jk, lead singer and ambulatory hat stand of everyone's least favorite band, Jamiroquai. We mercifully are not back. No return for that space cowboy. No, what JFK said was this. We choose to go to the moon and this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard. Stirring rhetoric. Can it be topped? As has often been stated, you can't be number one on Earth if you are number two in space. And we are not going to be number two anywhere. Yes, as has often been stated, if by often you mean once by him, just now and never again. But Trump's absolutely right. America will not be number two. Except as an answer to the question, what is Donald Trump's tan made of? The Artemis launch took place at what is doubtless soon to be called the Trump Kennedy, Trump Trump Space Center, Trump. Specifically from launch pad 39B. It actually started off as 39A, but then Zach Polanski hypnotized it. But hang on. How come USA is just allowed to travel off to the moon whenever they feel like it? It's not their moon. Correct me if I'm wrong, but generally the US isn't keen on people turning up in places they don't come from. At least not without a lot of paperwork. You can't just go and grab the gold like teenagers getting their lunch in Clapham. Or can you? We wanted to get an exact understanding of the legal situation surrounding the Moon from an expert. Unfortunately, there's no such thing as a space lawyer. Except, do you know what? We Googled it. And actually, it turns out there genuinely is. Please welcome space law consultant Heatherallens here. So exciting. Heather, you are a space lawyer. What is a space lawyer?

[Heather Allen]

Sort of like a regular lawyer, but people yawn a little bit less when you tell them what you do as a space lawyer.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

The question we all really what an answer to is this. Have you ever had to get a Dalek off a murder charge?

[Heather Allen]

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, we had a good case. We were doing cool and everything, but they couldn't get up the stairs.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

Oh, yeah. Okay, so to go to this week's mission to come to Artemis, who owns the moon.

[Heather Allen]

So the boring correct answer is nobody owns The Moon. Nobody can own the moon. It's a very interesting book by the philosopher A.C. grayling called who Owns the Moon? It's a really good read. But, I mean, it could have basically just been one word. No one.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

Why? Why does no one have the moon?

[Heather Allen]

Because of the Outer space treaty of 1967. Scientists went, look, guys, we're your best chance at a Nobel Prize. Just sign this thing. It's called the Outer Space Treaty and it says that space is a global commons. So like the seas and like the poles, space is a global commons and any extraction of resources must be for all mankind.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

Could we persuade America to leave the moon? If we renamed it Vietnam?

[Heather Allen]

Might well be your best bet. Yeah. They'll scarper pretty quick.

[Rosie Holt]

Yeah.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

One final question.

[Heather Allen]

Yeah.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

Can we, Britain, claim any of the moon? I mean, Wallace and Gromit have been there. That can't count for nothing.

[Heather Allen]

You'd think, given how good the Brits are at going around and, you know, sticking flags in other places.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

We do.

[Heather Allen]

No, I don't think Britain can kill him in the moon.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

Understandable. Space lawyer Heather Allen's not here everybod. Now, frankly, whatever the legal ins and outs, the Naked Week thinks that Britain deserves the moon. We need a lift. We need some optimism, something to snap us out of our pattern of endless disappointment. But alas, like a resolution to the Doctors strike or anyone having sex with Matt Goodwin, it seems like we'll never get there. Our distinct lack of space program means we can't claim that rock anytime soon. But what can we claim? Well, all is not lost when it comes to rock. Useless bits of rock is what Britain does. Gibraltar, the Falklands. Oasis third album. As we said at the beginning of the show, this week, the Naked Week is coming to you from Brighton. And if there was ever a home of rock, surely this is it. Graham Greene's novel indie band, the Kooks. That pink seaside stuff you get with this Will Rot yout Teeth written all the Way through it. And so, with an Easter basket of Brighton rock to give out to our Brighton Easter audience, please welcome back. You remember, it was that bit where you genuinely thought you were hallucinating and started hitting the radio to make it all stop. The Naked Week Easter Rat.

[Podcast Advertiser Voice]

Brilliant.

[Rosie Holt]

This is quite humiliating.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

Come on, cheer up, Rosie. Chin up and ears and nose and whiskers.

[Heather Allen]

I'll bite you, Andy.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

Okay. All right. Well, now it's time. Please do the Easter rhyme to end the show.

[Rosie Holt]

No, no, I'm not doing it.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

Come on. No, you have to, Rosie. You've got to. I mean the Naked Week Easter rat must do its Easter rhyme. It's in your contract.

[Rosie Holt]

Come taste my sweet disappointments Taste them as much as you please For I am the rat of the Easter the Easter, the Easter For I am the rat of the Easter and I have Weil's disease.

[Heather Allen]

Happy Easter everyone.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

That's it from the Naked Week this week. Goodbye. The Naked Week was hosted by me, Andrew Hunter Murray, with guest correspondent Rose, Rosie Halt and space lawyer Heather Allenstottere. It was written by John Holmes, Katie Sayer, Gareth Keriddick, Jason Hazely and James Kettle with Investigations team Cat Neyland, Emily Channen and Becky Piddington. Additional material by Carl Minns, Helen Brooks, Sophie Dixon, Molly Punchen, Cooper Muinny Swirt, Joe Topping, Kevin Smith and David Rifkin. The Naked Week is produced and directed by John Holmes and it's an unusual production for BBC Radio 4.

[Public Investing Advertiser]

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[Cat Neylan]

Character is everything Stream the iconic characters defining British TV on BritBox, including Ludwig.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

I think I might just have solved a murder.

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Vera.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

Now we're getting somewhere.

[Cat Neylan]

Agatha Christie's Poirot, Bonjour. And more beloved favorites I'm a Policeman, I'm a Professional.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

I'm a Time Lord named the Duchess of York.

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I ain't being vain, I just am.

[Andrew Hunter Murray]

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[Cat Neylan]

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