Episode 1

In gyms across the UK, a quiet epidemic is growing. Behind closed doors, in changing rooms and on social media, men are turning to anabolic steroids in record numbers – chasing the dream body that they are increasingly expected to have. From scrawny teen to ripped young man, Macaulay’s story is both deeply personal and disturbingly familiar. But his path isn’t just about body image, it’s about a fractured relationship with his father and a decision that will eventually drag them both into the heart of a multimillion-pound criminal conspiracy.

Macaulay, a cheeky, self-aware narrator, takes us back to his time in Deeside, North Wales, as an angry teenager with few prospects. After his parents split up and his relationship with his dad, Andrew, in pieces, Macaulay latches onto his older brother and a circle of bigger, older lads. What starts as gym trips and idol worship soon turns into something darker: steroid injections at 14, a growing dependence on 'gear' and an addiction to building the perfect body.

While Macaulay finds confidence in his growing physique, his dad is struggling. A former fisherman and cockle picker, Andrew is broke, raising kids alone and desperate to change his circumstances. When he meets a man in the pub who introduces him to the underground steroid scene, he sees a way out. It’s illegal, but it’s easy. Raw powders shipped from China. Homemade labs set up in sheds. High margins and low risk – at least to begin with.

This programme traces how father and son, both lost in their own ways, come together to form what would become one of the UK’s biggest underground steroid labs: Renvex. Selling to gym-goers from around the world, they tap into a booming market driven by unobtainable body ideals. This is Breaking Bad in North Wales.

With testimony from steroid users, experts and the criminals themselves, this episode sets the stage for a story of the illegal body economy hiding in plain sight.