His rant at a Scientology spokesman was a ratings winner, but the Panorama reporter insists there's more to him than just a loud voice Panorama reporters are not supposed to "lose it". Not on camera, anyway. So no wonder that John Sweeney's spectacular cartoonish strop with Scientology spokesman Tommy Davis three months ago - in which he resembled an incandescent frog, eyes bulging, voice croaking with rage - became one of those water-cooler TV moments, making headlines and propelling him to ...

The show is about karma and redemption, but could there be a deeper message? James Donaghy examines the influence of the Church of Scientology on hit comedy My Name Is Earl Do good things and good things will happen to you. Do bad things and it will come back to haunt you". Why can't all TV have a simple message like that at its heart? The brilliantly slick My Name Is Earl carries the karmic principle through to its logical/absurd conclusion ...

Attention South Park writers looking for their next episode! (Comedy Central) While the verdict may still be out as to whether Scientology is a brainwashing cult or not, after a recent run-in with the BBC, two things are abundantly clear: Scientologists can't stand being called cult members, and they have the power to drive even seasoned journalists absolutely insane. BBC reporter John Sweeney, whose documentary "Scientology and Me" ends in a 40-second shouting match between him and Church spokesman Tommy Davis, ...

RESPECTED Panorama journalist John Sweeney was this week seen on TV exploding in a fury during an interview with a leader of the Church of Scientology. Here he apologises but also reveals the other side of the movement ? what one one judge called “corrupt, sinister and dangerous” ? not to mention the stranger hiding in the bushes outside his recent wedding. THE Archbishop of Canterbury, MPs, Lords, top coppers and, for all I know, Wayne Rooney and the Beckhams: Anyone ...

Gays should be wary of ‘church’ that has helped advance the reckless idea that homosexuality can be cured. THE CULT OF Scientology is back in the news this week, after a video of a BBC reporter shouting down a church spokesperson hit YouTube. The BBC’s John Sweeney claims he was followed and harassed while working on a documentary about Scientology. The spokesperson in question is the son of actress Anne Archer. “I have been shouted at, spied on, had my hotel ...

BBC reporter John Sweeney apologises for losing his temper on tonight's Panorama programme on Scientology. He talks about the 6 months of intensive research behind the film and what it was exactly that drove him to lose it This was a disaster. I feel ashamed and, although I've been kicked around the Panorama office by the BBC, no one is more embarrassed about me losing it than me. I let my team down and I apologised when it happened and I ...

The Church of Scientology last night launched a fresh attempt to discredit the Panorama reporter John Sweeney, following the broadcast of a prime time BBC1 programme investigating its controversial beliefs and recruiting methods. As Panorama editor Sandy Smith took to the airwaves to defend Sweeney's investigation following the furore around his furious YouTube outburst captured by Scientology cameras, the war of words and online propaganda intensified. Mike Rinder, a director at Church of Scientology International, said it was considering legal action ...

JOHN Travolta is a halfwit. A statement of the obvious, perhaps, given his adherence to a cult which believes we're all infected with the souls of aliens who were banished to earth 75 million years ago by an evil galactic warlord called Xenu. But if anyone doubted it, the former disco-strutter confirmed his asininity by publicly urging the BBC not to screen John Sweeney's Panorama film about Scientology last night. Not to be outdone, Travolta's fellow- cultists gleefully posted on YouTube ...

Aired May 14, 2007 - 22:00 ET THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, everyone. Tonight, thousands of American troops in Iraq searching for three of their American buddies, searching their hearts out because they know all too well what the people who claim to have them can do and have done to captives in the past. We will have the latest on the ...

The BBC has hit back at accusations that it orchestrated a demonstration against Scientologists during which a "terrorist death threat" was allegedly made. It comes as a bitter row develops between the Corporation and Scientologists over a highly critical Panorama documentary about the religion, in which a veteran reporter lost his temper and screamed for 30 seconds at a Church member. The BBC has seriously reprimanded John Sweeney for the outburst, which the journalist has admitted was "wrong and stupid". The ...

The Panorama editor, Sandy Smith, has defended tonight's controversial John Sweeney investigation into the Church of Scientology. Mr Smith said tonight's Panorama would feature the YouTube clip of Sweeney losing his temper and shouting at Scientology representative Tommy Davis after he accused the BBC reporter of giving a critic of the faith an easy ride in an interview. Footage of the scene, which was filmed by the Scientologists, was posted on YouTube last week and Sweeney has apologised for the outburst. ...

NB: THIS TRANSCRIPT WAS TYPED FROM A TRANSCRIPTION UNIT RECORDING AND NOT COPIED FROM AN ORIGINAL SCRIPT: BECAUSE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF MIS-HEARING AND THE DIFFICULTY, IN SOME CASES OF IDENTIFYING INDIVIDUAL SPEAKERS, THE BBC CANNOT VOUCH FOR ITS ACCURACY JEREMY VINE: Hello, I'm Jeremy Vine. It's 8.30 and this is Panorama. Scientologists say they are just like any other religion. TOMMY DAVIS: I have absolutely nothing to hide whatsoever, zero. JOHN SWEENEY: Really? DAVIS: Dig and dig and dig. SWEENEY: ...

The battleground is YouTube and Scientology's weapon is a clip of me losing it in the "Mind Control" section of a gruesome exhibition. Scientology has fought many battles to keep its secrets off the web, now they are using it to attack my investigation into them. Scientology has prepared an attack video, and they have shown the Scientology v Sweeney shouting match to anyone who would watch it. There is talk of 100,000 copies being released. Family 'disconnects' Scientology works. That ...

Panorama reporter's outburst at Hollywood star's son is captured on video A Journalist at Panorama, the BBC's flagship current affairs series, has been reprimanded for losing his temper and screaming with rage during the making of an investigation into the Church of Scientology. John Sweeney has apologised for the outburst against a scientologist which was filmed and then put on the video-sharing website YouTube, prompting criticism of the corporation. The BBC held an internal inquiry but said Sweeney had not breached ...