Episodes
| Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Repeated | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Muscle Men: 3. Get Ripped. Quick | 20240805 | 20240812 (R4) | Prior to the 1983 Pan American Games in Caracas Venezuela, the issue of sports doping was largely flying under the American public's radar. But when 19 athletes are found positive for using banned substances at the games, steroids are thrust into focus. And a stigma starts to grow. At the same time, authorities are cracking down on the manufacture of one of the most popular anabolics in the bodybuilding community - dianabol. It's the perfect setting for a black market boom. Enter William Dillon, Dan Duchaine and an entrepreneurial British ex Olympic track champion named David Jenkins who turn the steroid drought into an opportunity. Together, they supercharge their steroid operation. In Episode 3 of Muscle Men, historian, podcaster and fitness expert Natalia Mehlman Petrzela looks at the evolution of the use of steroids in sports, from its early days in the Soviet Union's sports programme, to its rise to the highest levels of international sport. Presenter and Executive Producer: Natalia Mehlman Petrzela Producer: Caroline Thornham Assistant Producer: Mohamed Ahmed Editor: Katherine Godfrey Production Manager: Cheree Houston Sound Design and Mix by Daniel Kempson Original Music by SilverHawk, aka Cyrille Poirier Executive Producer: Max O'Brien Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke A Novel production for BBC Radio 4 When steroid supplies are cut off, the ring hatch a plan to meet demand. The sweat-drenched story of the biggest steroid dealing ring to rip through 80s America. A 1983 steroid scandal rocks American sport, and a steroid crackdown ensues. Conditions are right for a booming black market and the ring hatches a plan. | |
| 02 | Muscle Men: 1. All That Glitters | 20240729 | Meet William Dillon. A young amateur bodybuilder from small-town Illinois, who dreams of getting ripped. It's the early 1980s and across the USA a fitness revolution is underway. Exercise has become a national pastime and Arnold Schwarzenegger is taking the jacked-up physique mainstream. Dillon is one of many young men with a new kind of American dream - big muscles, and big money. In 1984, a lucky break transports Dillon to star-studded LA, and the world's most iconic bodybuilding gym, Gold's Gym. There, to the sound of clanking steel weights and a pumping disco beat, a new physical ideal is being forged that's changing the way Americans look in the mirror. But Dillon's about to learn that, beneath the glittering surface of this world, there's a secret. And when he discovers the chemical key to how many of the guys get BIG, it will set him on a path that will change his life - and many others - forever. In the first episode of Extreme: Muscle Men, historian, podcaster and fitness expert Natalia Mehlman Petrzela - presenter of hit podcast Welcome To Your Fantasy (Gimlet) - reveals how the California beach body became an iconic symbol of the 80s fitness boom. When that boom collided with anabolic steroids, it sparked a chemical and criminal revolution that would transform bodies all across America. Featuring William Dillon, former bodybuilders Joe Troccoli, Sandra Blackie and Dr Jeff Golini, and former co-owner of Gold's Gym, Ed Connors. Presenter and Executive Producer: Natalia Mehlman Petrzela Producer: Caroline Thornham Assistant Producer: Mohamed Ahmed Editor: Katherine Godfrey Production Manager: Cheree Houston Sound Design and Mix by Nicholas Alexander Original Music by SilverHawk, aka Cyrille Poirier Executive Producer: Max O'Brien Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke A Novel production for BBC Radio 4 A young bodybuilder travels to starry 1980s LA in search of the secret to getting ripped. The sweat-drenched story of the biggest steroid dealing ring to rip through 80s America. In the star-studded gyms of 1980s LA a fitness revolution is underway. A young bodybuilder arrives with a dream to get ripped- and discovers the secret beneath the glossy surface. | |
| 03 | Muscle Men: 2. The Guru | 20240729 | 20240805 (R4) | Historian, podcaster and fitness expert Natalia Mehlman Petrzela lifts the lid on the steroid underground - a world of risk-taking and experimentation that lies beneath the glamorous surface of life in the 1980s LA gym scene. It's all about making it big, at any cost. This is the scene that young bodybuilder William Dillon is initiated into, now that he's settled into the California lifting community. He meets ‘The Steroid Guru' aka Dan Duchaine, a maverick anabolic enthusiast with a chemical fascination, who isn't afraid to experiment on himself - or anyone else. Duchaine is a cult figure in this world - his book The Underground Steroid Handbook spread the secrets of juicing to gym rats all over the USA and beyond. From that meeting with Duchaine, Dillon spots a big opportunity that marries his two favourite things - strength and wealth. Featuring William Dillon, Joe Troccoli, Sandra Blackie, Dr Jeff Golini, and former bodybuilder and co-author of The Underground Steroid Handbook, Mike Zumpano. Presenter and Executive Producer: Natalia Mehlman Petrzela Producer: Caroline Thornham Assistant Producer: Mohamed Ahmed Editor: Katherine Godfrey Production Manager: Cheree Houston Sound Design and Mix by Nicholas Alexander Original Music by SilverHawk, aka Cyrille Poirier Executive Producer: Max O'Brien Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke A Novel production for BBC Radio 4 Welcome to the steroid underground, where the goal is to get big at any cost. The sweat-drenched story of the biggest steroid dealing ring to rip through 80s America. William Dillon enters the LA gym scene's steroid underground, a world of experimentation and risk-taking, presided over by 'The Steroid Guru'. The goal is to get big - at any cost. |