Racing programme wins RTS award

Panorama's expose into corruption in horse racing has won a prestigious Royal Television Society award.

The BBC One programme was given the RTS Home Current Affairs award at a ceremony in London this week.

"The Corruption of Racing" was broadcast in October 2002 with the claim that the sport of horse racing was "institutionally corrupt".

The BBC had had to fight two High Court actions to get the controversial film broadcast and it caused quite a stir, leading to the resignation of the Jockey Club's Head of Security, Jeremy Phipps.

Beautifully crafted

The Jockey Club's Jeremy Phipps resigned after the programme+

At the ceremony, the jury described it as a "rattling good story".

They also said: "The judges believed that it had been a good year - and there was more than one programme worthy of the award.

"The winning report was unusual . It was a serious investigation about a serious subject - but done with considerable brio and energy. Panorama's expose of the racing industry had the judges wincing with embarrassment about the ineptitude of some of those in charge of racing.

"The judges also found themselves laughing out loud on more than one occasion.

But above all the programme had a solid backbone of evidence . It generated a great deal of publicity - and had considerable impact. The film was beautifully crafted and, the reporter, Andy Davies told a rattling good story."

Panorama: The Corruption of racing:

Production team:
Producer: Stephen Scott
Director: Gerry Troyna
Reporter: Andy Davies
Assistant Producer: Andrew Bell
Assistant Producer: Richard Grange
Editor: Mike Robinson