The Surgeon Of St Helena

society, culture, documentary, history, true crime · EN

What happens when a dangerous surgeon arrives on one of the world’s most remote islands? How much damage can he do before he is stopped? St Helena is a small British island in the South Atlantic, over 1000 miles from the nearest landmass. It is famous for hosting Napoleon in exile, and boasts the world's oldest living land animal, Jonathan the tortoise, as one of its residents. But this tiny British Overseas Territory has been gripped with scandal. When orthopedic surgeon Dr Sergio Villatoro Bran arrived in 2015 he was supposed to revolutionise care on the island. Instead he caused unimaginable harm. Was it incompetence? Or was he deliberately causing harm? And is the government of St Helena trying to block the residents' fight for justice? Following on from the critically acclaimed The Pitcairn Trials, Luke Jones investigates another scandal unfolding in one of Britain’s most isolated territories