One of the most powerful weapons of the Cold War was not made to shoot or explode behind enemy lines. It was quiet, hidden away from the public, yet capable of destroying whole communities. In Episode 3 we talk about the origins and the purpose of SIGINT – signals intelligence gathering – also known as electronic ‘surveillance’ or ‘eavesdropping’. 

What happens to an island in the middle of paradise when its location is just a little ‘too strategic’? How can a secret alliance between the US and the UK impact the fate of a population on the other side of the globe? Sarah Mainwaring and Professor Richard J. Aldrich take us for a tour of the mysterious world of SIGINT – revealing how and why these signals intelligence stations were set up, how they operated, and what life was and still is like on these remote ‘listening in’ stations. Come along – into the world of the best kept secret!