The BBC is reviving its Fame Under Fire podcast to provide daily coverage of Russell Brand's trial at Southwark Crown Court, which begins on October 12.
The series, hosted by journalist and presenter Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty, will report from court each day of the trial. A pre-trial episode on October 8 will outline the charges against Brand, explain the legal process and give audiences an essential guide to the case, which is expected to last around two months.
Brand faces three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault involving six women, with the alleged offences dating from 1999 to 2009. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges, and has consistently denied wrongdoing since the allegations first surfaced.
Fame Under Fire launched in 2024 with Diddy on Trial, which reached number one in the UK podcast charts, and has since covered major American cases including the trial over the murder of Tupac Shakur. It won Gold for Best Speech Entertainment at the Audio and Radio Industry Awards. The Brand trial will be the first UK court case the series has covered, reflecting the scale of public interest.
Mutanda-Dougherty said people were following high-profile trials in more ways than ever, from podcasts and TikToks to livestreams and reaction videos, and that the challenge was that information moved quickly and much of it was inaccurate or incomplete. The series aims to combine rigorous reporting with straightforward storytelling to make complex legal proceedings accessible to a broad audience.
The BBC's decision to commit daily resources to the trial reflects its significance. Brand was first charged in April 2025 after an investigation that began with reporting by Channel 4's Dispatches and the Sunday Times in 2023, with further charges added in December 2025. When the jury is sworn in on October 12, one of the most closely watched trials of the year will begin, and the podcast will be there for every day of it.
The podcast's move into UK courts is a significant expansion for the BBC's audio operation, which has found a large audience for its American true-crime coverage. Daily court reporting via podcast represents a new front in the corporation's journalism, blending traditional court reporting with the storytelling techniques of the genre. Media lawyers will be watching closely to ensure coverage stays within the strict reporting restrictions that apply to criminal trials. For listeners, the series promises a front-row seat at one of the most consequential trials in recent memory.