Roger Cook (journalist) - The Cook Report

In 1985 Cook moved to Central, and in 1987 started and presented his own TV series,The Cook Report. In fact, it was a much better resourced version of his radio programme with a large and dedicated research team which enabled it to operate on an international scale. The show is perhaps best remembered for its ground-breaking filmed 'stings' and for Cook's trademark confrontations with his targets, during which he (and sometimes the film crew) could suffer verbal and physical abuse. Cook was variously described in the press as 'Nemesis in a leisure shirt', 'A cross between Meatloaf and the Equaliser', 'The bravest/most beaten-up journalist in Britain' and 'The Taped Crusader.'

Though sixteen series,The Cook Report ran regularly until 1998, when dwindling revenues and a focus on other kinds of programming led ITV Network Centre (which had previously cancelled the venerable World in Action) to end The Cook Report too. In its twelve years on air, The Cook Report was by some margin the highest rated current affairs programme on British television, with audiences peaking at over twelve million. In 2007, the programme returned for a 90-minute special entitled Roger Cook's Greatest Hits, in which Cook revisited and updated a number of his more memorable stories.