Wndyri Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of The Price of Paradise early and ad-free. Join WNDYRI Plus in the WNDYRI app or on Apple podcasts. Bedtime looks different on Janique. No wrangling over when to turn the telly off, no last minute homework to fight over. Instead, hands all three children a torch as they trek down to the sea to brush their teeth while she washes the dinner plates in the shallows. Island life. This is exactly what she wanted, even if she does miss a cold, crisp glass of Chardonnay on the sofa. But tonight, all the recent stresses of the past seven months, the crowd of protesters, the stubborn mayor, their wayward builder, suddenly seem distant as the children spit their toothpaste into the seafoam. Then it's back to the shack to crawl under their mosquito nets and into bed. The door flies open. It's their boat driver. He looks distraught. And now, Jane can see why. There's a gun to his head. He looks at Phil and tells him straight, Mr. Philip, you better do as you're told. These men are serious. Five masked men crowd behind him, their guns shining in the dim light.

The gunman shoved the driver aside. Get down on the floor. One of them yells. Another pushes a revolver against Phil's head. Then they turn to Jane and the children. Out of the door.

Move.

One by one, the Gaskins file out of their house and onto the beach. Jane desperately tries to keep calm as the kids look at her with pleading eyes. What's happening? Finally, they usher Phil out behind them. Surrounded on all sides by the armed men, the family are marched across the sand. Get in. The gunmen gestures towards their boat. The Gaskins climb aboard. Three of the mast men join them and start the engine, while the others push the boat out to sea. It all It has happened so quickly. But now it's clear the Gaskin family is being kidnapped.

Hello, I'm Emily, one of the hosts of Terrible Famous, the show that takes you inside the Lives of Our Biggest Celebrities. Some of them hit the big time overnight, some have to plug away for years. But in our latest series, we're talking about a man who was world famous before he was even born. A a life of extreme privilege that was mapped out from the start but left him struggling to find his true purpose. A man who, compared to his big brother, felt a bit, you know, spare. Yes, it's Prince Harry. You might think you know everything about him, but trust me, there's even more. We follow Harry and the obsessive, all-consuming relationship of his life, not with Megan, but the British tabloid press. Houndered and harassed, Harry is taking on an institution almost every bit as powerful as his own royal family. Follow Terrible Famous wherever you listen to podcasts or listen early and ad-free on WNDYRI Plus on Apple Podcasts or the WNDYRI app.

From WNDYRI, this is The Spy Who. This month, we open the file on Oleg Lelen, the spy who saved MI5. Lelen's actions changed the of the Cold War in the 1970s, a Russian who defected to Britain after being caught in a love affair that shook the world. His actions triggered the biggest removal of spies by any government in history. It's a story of an overstretched security service in need of a win and a covert plan to bring catastrophe to Britain's streets. Follow the Spy Who on the WNDYRY app or wherever you listen to podcasts, or you can binge the full season of The Spy Who Saved MI5 early and ad-free with WNDYRY Plus.

From WNDYRI, I'm Alice Laveen, host of British Scandal, and this is The Price of Paradise. Episode 3, Trouble in Paradise. The children huddled together in their soggy pajamas, starting to shiver. James strains to hear what the men are saying, wishing she'd learn more Spanish. But it's not long before the kidnappers make their message clear. You need to get us a million dollars or someone will get hurt. That voice, unmistakable. One of the children leans over and whispers into Phil's ear. Daddy, it's Teo Teodoro. Phil glares at them. If Teodoro hears, they are as good as dead. They know his reputation. This is a guy who boasted about hunting tigers and drinking men's blood. When Phil hired him, this felt like a selling point, a conclusion he now regrets. Phil's eyes scan the horizon. He spies a small strip of land up ahead. This might be their only hope, but what's the plan?

It was pitch black. They couldn't see where they were going. They didn't know whether they were going to be dropped overboard.

Producer Billy was back in the UK on a break from filming, so he'd managed to escape the drama. But having lived on the island for months, he knows that terrifying isolation.

You're so far from the mainland. The waves are crashing. The wind is almost constant, so nobody would hear you.

Billy was certainly glad he wasn't on the island at the time, especially when he heard what happened when Phil took on the kidnappers.

He could sense that it wasn't going to end well. He knew physically he couldn't overpower them on his own.

As the boat approaches a sandbank, it slows, and that's when Phil spots it, the cherry can in the corner. He'd filled it up yesterday with 2 L of fuel. Is that enough? He needs to warn Jane. Get ready, he whispers. For what? She replies. It's now or never. Phil grabs the cherry can and rips the cap off. Fuel splashes out as he hurled more and more over their captives. The masked men start to Phil reaches into his pocket, praying his matchbox is still dry. Then, he strikes. Flames immediately lick around the boat. Jump! He shouts. Jane and the kids leap overboard and start flashing towards the sandbank. As Jane looks back, she sees fire engulf two of the mast men, and then she watches as the flames leap up Phil's arm. Get out, she gels. Phil jumps overboard and plunges his burning flesh into the sea before catching up with Jane and the children. Nobody dares to look back as they sprint into the darkness, but they're not free yet. Both shots miss. They're running in the dark, stumbling over roots, trying not to fall.

A lot of the islands have this thick mangrove, almost like arms and limbs, entwined with each other. It would be almost impossible to know where you're going, and just trying to find your feet would be really tough.

Branches are ripping at their clothes. The children wimper, but Phil and Jane keep pushing the family further into the darkness until they lose the voices behind them. Phil collapses in the swamp, exhausted, his heart's pounding, the searing pain of his arm now impossible to ignore. A shaft of light appears, then another. Torch beams slice through the darkness, sweeping through the trees, lighting up water. The light swings suddenly left and then right, searching. Phil holds his breath. In an instant, Phil's in the spotlight. At the other end is a man, torch in one hand and gun in the other. Phil watches as he wraps his index finger around the trigger and pulls. I'm I'm Peter Frankerpan. In our podcast, Legacy, we explore the lives of some of the biggest characters in history. This season, we delve into the life of Alan Turing. Why are we talking about Alan Turing, Peter? Alan Turing is the father of computer science, and some of those questions we're thinking about today around artificial intelligence.

Thuring was so involved in setting and framing what some of those questions were, but he's also interesting for lots of other reasons, Afro.

He had such a fascinating life. He was unapologetic physically gay at a time when that was completely criminalized and stigmatized. From his imagination, he created ideas that have formed the very physical, practical foundation of all of the technology on which our lives depend.

Then on top of that, he's responsible for being part of a team that saved millions, maybe even tens of millions of lives because of his work during the Second World War, using maths and computer science to code break. Join us on Legacy wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm Alice Labine. And I'm Matt Ford. And we're the presenters of British Scandal.

And in our latest series, Hitler's Angel, we tell the story of scandalous beauty, Diana Moseley. British British aristocrat, Mitford sister, and fascist sympathizer.

Like so many great British stories, it starts at a lavish garden party. Diana meets the dashing fascist, Oswald Moseley. She's captivated by his politics, but also by his very good looks.

It's not a classic rom-com story, but when she falls in love with Moseley, she's on a collision course with her family, her friends, and her whole country.

There is some romance, though. The couple tied the knot in a ceremony organized by a great uncelebral celebrated wedding planner, Adolf Hitler.

So it's less Notting Hill, more Nuremberg. When Britain took on the Nazis, Diana had to choose between love or betrayer.

This is the story of Diana Moseley on her journey from glamorous socialite to political prisoner.

Listen to British Scandal on the WNDYRI app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Over on the mainland in Bluefields, Maria Acosta is sitting in her hot, stuffy office. She switches on the fan and pushes her hair back off her face. She's got a lot to do. She who knows this new case with the Pearl Keyes isn't going to be easy, but she has to start somewhere. And that's with the man who sold the islands to Jane and Phil, and all the new foreign buyers, Peter Soccos, the man behind tropicalislands. Com. But Sokos is an elusive figure. Maria has heard he's Greek-American, a businessman of some kind from Texas, with a growing reputation in the local community.

Peter Sokos promised to bring a lot of money to the area. He had this attitude of being the boss.

I think it's fair to say Maria is not his biggest fan. She's skeptical about his promises and his attitude.

He would be very angry to people sometimes and mistreat a lot of people.

And yet no one can tell Maria where Peter Soccos is or how to find him. She discovers that Jerry, the Creole community leader, has crossed paths with him. Now, before we go any further, because things are going to get pretty dangerous pretty quickly for everyone involved in the Pearl Keyes dispute, we've changed Jerry's voice and his name to protect his anonymity. Anyway, back to that morning in Bluefields. Gerry had just been going about his business when he first clapped eyes on Sokos. He looked up to see a white man in his 30s with dark hair, wearing an oversize white shirt, striding over to him, looking furious. When he heard we were saying, You can't sell the islands, he got in touch with us. He wanted to talk to us. Gerry was campaigning to get the islands removed from the ownership of Westerners and returned to the local community. Sokos was behind those lucrative deals and was not prepared to let Jerry blow it all up. He looks like a crazy guy. He was more angry with us than we were with him. Sokos made it very clear that he wanted Jerry and his team to to stop stirring up problems.

He asked us, What's our problem with him? He tried to talk to us to tell us what he was doing was legal.

We told him, We don't permit anyone to buy the islands. And then Socor stormed off. But Jerry wasn't intimidated. For as long as he can remember, the islands have belonged to the community. This new guy can't change that, even if he did act like he already owned the place. Now Maria is case, and she has a very different take on the whole legal and moral situation.

Peter Socos and Peter Martínez sold the keys illegally, and that created a great harm to Indigenous and Afrodescendence people that depend on the keys.

It's even there in the Nicaraguan Constitution, which clearly states the communal lands cannot be donated, sold, seized, or taxed. But look, the reality is it's all bit of a mess. Nobody seems to agree who legally owns the islands or what can be done with them. Sokos says he bought his seven keys from families who claimed to have owned them for generations, and he has the deeds to prove it. But community leaders dispute this version of events. They say the families never properly owned the islands. They only had temporary leases or deeds that weren't legitimate. And Maria thinks that all of the foreign buyers really should have done their homework before arriving in a country they didn't know the first thing about.

The people who bought the island were also in the run because they should have known better. They should have a research what they were buying.

But when tropicalislands. Com launched online, unsurprisingly, the land dispute wasn't listed as a selling point. And so far, there hasn't been any political will to dig into whether that sale was lawful or not. So Maria knows she's got her work cut out if she's going to fight this case. Because not only has Sokos got his hands on seven of the islands, he's also got some powerful friends in his corner. She's discovered that the armed men guarding some of the islands are in fact members of the National Police. But Maria started to gather her own force, an army of supporters.

We have the Indigenous Peoples. We have this woman who work with the Tuttles. We have national and Local NGOs, and we also have Local and national journalists that Follow the Stories. It was a movement we have created.

Maria registers her own organization, and over the next few In a few weeks, Maria commences their campaign. First, she helps the Indigenous groups file a lawsuit against the officers who are working for Socoros. Next, she petitions the Environmental Agency. She wants to know how they're planning to protect endangered turtles when a dive resort is being built around their nesting site. After a few months of legal briefs, letters, and phone calls, Maria feels like she's finally starting to make progress. The court issues an order demanding that the National Police leave the keys. The Environmental Agency warns Sokos that if he keeps barring researchers, he'll face criminal charges. And finally, they fine him for cutting and burning trees in a protected area. Maria started to take on Socoros and Martínez to try and show them that these islands aren't theirs to control.

I thought they were entrepreneurs, but I gave them the benefit of the doubt.

However, it won't be long before Maria begins to suspect that these two entrepreneurs pose a much greater threat.

I underestimated them. I underestimated them.

It's been seven months since Billy, the channel 4 TV producer, first started filming with the Gaskins in their kitchen. So he's earned a much deserved break between filming trips. He's back to normality in London, hopping down to the supermarket, riding his bike. You know, no AK-47s in sight. It's It's a lot of like he's living a double life, though. One, fairly pedestrian, and the other, almost impossible to explain to his mates down the pub. But now, Billy needs to return to Nicaragua to wrap up the show. There's only one problem. Where are the Gaskins?

I hadn't heard from Jane for about three or four weeks, which was odd. I knew something may have gone wrong. It could be that Jane didn't want to see us anymore. She didn't want to carry on filming. But I had to go and find out.

Billy and his cameraman set off, and as soon as they get to Bluefields, it's obvious things aren't quite right.

We get off the plane, and there's Jane waiting for us. Now, I knew something was up because she'd never bothered to meet us at the plane.

She's more subdued, distracted, and there's no sign of Phil.

Jane didn't say anything at all. She was just slightly agitated, didn't really answer any of the questions about how she'd been. The kids were there, and they weren't their usual smiling happy selves.

They head to Jane's hotel, and there in a quiet corner, Billy listens to Jane's story.

I couldn't believe it. How many people do you know get kidnapped So I kept on asking for the details and what happened. I guess I was in a state of shock.

And then Billy asks, fearing the answer, Where's Phil now? The true serious consciousness of Phil's situation becomes clear to Billy when they arrive at Bluefields Hospital.

The hospital is very, very basic. People just in corridors on journeys, lots of moaning and groaning.

And one of those poor souls is Phil Gaskin.

Phil was in a really bad state.

Dressed in just a hospital gown and swaddled in thick white bandages, he's almost unrecognizable.

Phil, who up until had been this happy-go-lucky, charming, funny, always pleased to see us guy, looked like a skeleton, ashen, white, unshaven, and with a hideously burnt left arm He was a horrible, livid, red burn. He was making sense, but he was also jabbering as well. And mentally, he was frazzled. So he's in a right state.

It's clear nothing is going back to normal. After three days, Phil feels strong enough to make the trip to the local magistrate to report the kidnapping. They need the law on their side, and quickly, they're all in fear of another visit from their tormenters, men they've now burned and wounded. Billy and cameraman Will stand behind the Gaskins, filming as they recount the attack. A secretary types out the transcript. I didn't look back. I just ran.

There were two shots.

They were shooting after us.

The men came after us. They'd got me down in a corner. I was lying down because my arm was all burnt by now. And they had our torches, and they were shining them at me. And I could see the gun, and he was pulling the trigger, and there were no bullets left.

He's going, Click, click, click. Phil calmly describes them running for their lives, desperate to escape their kidnappers once and for all.

We pushed back into the bush as far as we could, and then somebody said they couldn't go any further. And I said, You damn well got to. And I started snapping all the branches and everything. And we went through some swamp, waded through up to our knees, and then we hid right back in the swamp behind a tree. It had to make the children be completely silent all night.

The Gaskin seemed strangely matter of fact as they relived the traumatic night, crouching in the mosquito-infested swamp, trying not to fall asleep, minutes felt like hours, hours like days. When Dawn arrived, and with it a boat. They had no idea who it was. Phil stumbled towards it, staying out of sight, until he could be sure it posed no threat. Just fishermen, startled to see Phil approaching them with his injured arm. The fishermen kindly offer to take Phil and the family back to the hospital in Bluefields, and that's where he's been all this time since the kidnapping. As Phil concludes his harrowing tale in the magistrate's office, he calmly explains how he coaxed the children out of hiding.

And they wouldn't come because they thought someone was holding a gun to my head making them come out. So I said, You daddy promise that it's clear? And I said, Yeah, Daddy promise. And then they all came out of the swamp onto the beach.

And from there, the family escaped to safety. After hearing all of this, Billy sees Phil in a new light.

I was amazed because he wasn't a big guy, and I certainly didn't see him as a fighter. So that must have taken for him an immense courage. I never saw him being aggressive at all.

A week after the kidnapping, their ex-worker, Teodoro, someone they'd trusted, taken to their home and even into James' bed, was arrested and interviewed, along with the other members of his gang. The police investigation classed it as an employment dispute, and the men were freed two weeks later without charge. But according to Billy, the Gaskins suspect there's more to the story than simple revenge.

If Tia Dora had wanted vengeance or had wanted to kill them, for instance, he could have just gone on the island one night and killed them. There seemed to be a suspicion in their minds that there was something else behind it. Was he put up to it? Was he paid to do it? I mean, Tia Dora, they knew, was quite literally a mercenary.

But there's no investigation and no answers. And so the Gascins are just left with questions. If Theodoro was a gun for hire, who hired him? And why? To scare the Gascins away, perhaps? Force them to abandon their island? Billy knows most people, almost anyone would take the hint. But Jane?

I think the island and what it represented to Jane had become a bit of an obsession.

An obsession the rest of the family perhaps no longer share. After Phil's hospital stay, they all head back to the island to try and decide what to do. For Phil, it feels like the beginning of the end of his island dream, a dream which had never really been a happy one.

He didn't like the life there from the start, really, and used to joke, or half joke, that really all he wanted to do was run a bookshop or a bike shop back in Hampshire.

Call me a quitter, but personally, I'd be heading back to England and buying that bookshop, then putting my feet up with a copy of Harry Potter and a nice cup of tea. But Phil had different ways to relax on the island. According to Billy, one of them was getting stoned. Remember that packet of matches that came in so handy when he was burning down the boat? Well, Phil was never one to be caught without a light, usually for his joint. But sadly, now his lungs are suffering and his supply is dwindling.

He'd run out, and he said the local stuff just didn't do it for him. It wasn't the same. He didn't like it. So he was feeling a little bit anxious.

So anxious that Billy suspected Phil might have been hoping he'd arrive with a little present from the UK.

He was so desperate. I think maybe he was thinking I would offer to try and bring some stuff over, but obviously, he never said that explicitly, and I would have never done that anyway.

But without access to his usual method of chilling out, Phil was finding life even more difficult.

It did have an effect on his personality and his mental well-being, the fact that he couldn't smoke as he had smoked for the past 20 years, I guess.

Billy's worried how Phil's going to cope with island life after everything that's happened. And Phil sounds dejected as he tells them exactly how he feels.

This is a jail.

You can see on my father's.

And I'm permanently tormented here. The only way I can escape this island is in my dreams.

But when he wakes, it's still the same nightmare. Next time on The Price of Paradise, Jane reaches breaking point. If everyone's going to fire at them, she is damn well going to shoot back.

That night, I remember being probably the most scared that I was because you don't fire at people in Nicaragua, and certainly in that Bluefields area with some consequence.

But it's not long before Jane is in the firing line, too.

They gave us this medieval scroll of complaints, and it was absolute outrage at Jane. She became public enemy number one. They wanted to burn her at the stake.

Follow the Price of Paradise on the Wondry app, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes early and free right now by joining WNDRI Plus in the WNDRI app or on Apple podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wundry. Com/survey. From WNDYRI, this is episode 3 of 7 of The Price of Paradise. A note about this podcast. Not everything was captured on film at the time, so we can't always know exactly what was said in every moment. In places, our script is based on the testimony of our interviewees and all other sources available to us. The Price of Paradise is produced by Forest Sounds and is hosted with additional writing by me, Alice Levine. For Forest Sounds, our producers are Ella Cattle and Aaron Keller. The Assistant Producer is Valeria Rocca. The Managing Producer is Anne Fitzgerald. The Production Coordinator is Nina Abdullah. The researcher is Tom Cass. Executive producers are Pete Sayle and Jeremy Lee. For WNDYRI, our producer is Theodora Louloudis. Our managing producer is Rachel Sibley. Our consulting producer is Brian Taylor-White. The production assistant is Imogen Marshall. Music composition by Ian Chambers.

Sound design by Joe Richardson and Ian Chambers. Our sound supervisor is Marcelino V. Alpando. The music supervisor is Scott Velasquez for Frissonsync. Archive material from No Going Back, courtesy of Ricochet, Back, courtesy of Rikoshe and channel 4. Executive producers for WNDRI are Michelle Martin, Jessica Radburn, Marshall Louis, and Jenn Sargent. Wndri..