Tim Tate (author)

For other people named Tim Tate, see Tim Tate (disambiguation).

Tim Tate (born 1956) is an Indian-born British author, filmmaker, and investigative journalist. ^[1] He was a founding member of Roger Cook's team and worked on The Cook Report for five years. ^{[1] [2]} As of April 2025, he has produced over 80 documentaries and written 19 books. ^{[3] [4]}

Biography

Tate was born in Calcutta in 1956, and states that, at the age of 8, he told his parents that he wanted to be a writer. ^[1] He received a Master of Theology degree from St Andrew's University, and subsequently dropped out of law school to become a journalist, working for weekly papers and then the Yorkshire Pos t. ^[1]

He switched to broadcasting and was a founding member of Roger Cook's team, initially on Checkpoint, a ground-breaking investigative series on BBC Radio 4. ^{[1] [2]} He moved to Central Television with Cook and spent five years working on The Cook Report, investigating child pornograph y, baby trafficking and satanic ritual abuse. ^[1]

Tate then joined Yorkshire Television's documentaries department, which had an international reputation for investigative journalism. He made a number of films there over the course of ten years. ^{[1] [2]} He then worked for Al Jazeera for four years, and subsequently started his own production company, Interesting Films. ^{[1] [2]} As of April 2025, Tate has produced over 80 documentaries, for British and international broadcasters. ^[3]

Since 1988, Tate has written 19 non-fiction books, many of which are on crime-related subjects. ^[4] His 1990 book on child pornography was described by Channel 4 as the "first book to lift the lid on the horrors of child porn". ^[5] Two of his early books were written in association with noted criminologist Ray Wyre. More recently, he has focussed on espionage and the cold war. His latest book, To Catch A Spy, covering the Spycatcher affair, received a number of positive reviews. ^{[6] [7] [8] [9]}

Publications

• What's Wrong With Your Rights?, with Roger Cook, Methuen, 1988. ISBN   978-0413548900
• Child Pornography – An Investigation, Methuen, 1990. ISBN   978-0413615404
• Children for the Devil: Ritual Abuse and Satanic Crime, Methuen, 1992. ISBN   978-0413645708
• Murder Squad, with Ray Wyre, Methuen, 1992. ISBN   978-0749306267
• The Murder of Childhood: Inside The Mind Of One Of Britain's Most Notorious Child Murderers, with Ray Wyre, Penguin, 1995. ISBN   978-0140247152
• Roger Cook’s 10 Greatest Conmen: True Stories of the World's Most Outrageous Scams, with Roger Cook, John Blake Publishing, 2008. ISBN   978-1844546466
• Slave Girl: Abducted by traffickers. Sold as a sex slave. This is my true story, with Sarah Forsyth, John Blake Publishing, 2009, ISBN   978-1789460018
• Slave Girl – Return to Hell: I Was an Ordinary British Girl. I Was Kidnapped and Sold into Sex Slavery. This is My Horrific True Story, with Sarah Forsyth, John Blake Publishing, 2013. ISBN   978-1782192268
• Diamonds at Dinner: My Life as a Lady's Maid in a 1930s Stately Home, with Hilda Newman, John Blake Publishing, 2013. ISBN   978-1782196105
• Girls with Balls – The Secret History of Women’s Football, John Blake Publishing, 2013. ISBN   978-1782194293
• For Team and Country: Sport on the Frontlines of the Great War, Metro Books/John Blake Publishing, 2014. ISBN   978-1782199205
• Hitler's Forgotten Children: The Shocking True Story of the Nazi Kidnapping Conspiracy, with Ingrid Von Oelhafen, Elliott & Thompson (UK) Penguin/Random House (USA), 2015. ISBN   978-1783963188
• Yorkshire Ripper – The Secret Murders: The True Story of Serial Killer Peter Sutcliffe's Reign of Terror , with Chris Clark, John Blake Publishing, 2015. ISBN   978-1789464139
• The Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy: Crime, Conspiracy and Cover-Up – A New Investigation, with Brad Johnson, Thistle, 2018. ISBN   978-1839012730
• Hitler's British Traitors: The Secret History of Spies, Saboteurs and Fifth Columnists, Icon Books, 2018. ISBN   978-1785785610
• The Murder of Childhood(New & Updated Edition), with Ray Wyre and Charmaine Richardson, Waterside Press, 2018. ISBN   978-1909976627
• Body For Rent: The terrifying true story of two ordinary girls sold for sex against their will, Orion/Trapeze, 2019. ISBN   978-1409192749
• The Spy Who Was Left Out In The Cold: The Secret History of Agent Goleniewski, Transworld/Penguin Random House, 2021. ISBN   978-0552177689
• To Catch A Spy: How the Spycatcher Affair Brought MI5 in from the Cold, Icon Books, 2024. ISBN   978-1837731190

References

1. "About/Bio". Tim Tate. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
2. "The Team". Interesting Films. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
3. "To Catch a Spy: How the Spycatcher Affair Brought MI5 in from the Cold | Oxford Literary Festival". oxfordliteraryfestival.org. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
4. "Books". Tim Tate. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
5. Freeman, Hambly (18 July 2015). "Broadcast Interview". Tim Tate. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
6. "How the British state's attempt to gag a former spy backfired". TLS. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
7. "David Anderson - Breaking the Code". Literary Review. 20 October 2025. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
8. Robarge, David (June 2025). "To Catch a Spy: How the Spycatcher Affair Brought MI5 in from the Cold" (PDF). Studies in Intelligence. 69 (2): 33–36.
9. "Review: Attempted suppression of Spycatcher book became a costly farce". Scottish Legal News. 23 August 2024. Retrieved 20 October 2025.

External links

• Personal website
• Interesting Films
• Tim Tate at IMDb
• 5 Questions With Nonfiction Author Tim Tate
• Frank Morano interviews Tim Tate on WABC radio