Blue Peter stretch of track which, on 3 July 1938, saw the world speed record for steam locomotives of set by LNER A4 Locomotive no. 4468 "Mallard". In October 1998, Richard Bacon was sacked, following reports in "News of the World" that he had taken cocaine. This incident followed shortly after the show's 40th anniversary, when previous presenters returned for a special programme. Those returning included Leila Williams, Valerie Singleton, John Noakes, Peter Purves, Diane Louise Jordan, Anthea Turner, John Leslie, Tim Vincent, Yvette Fielding, Caron Keating, Mark Curry, Janet Ellis, Peter Duncan, Sarah Greene, Tina Heath, Simon Groome and Christopher Wenner.
CIA involvement in Contra cocaine trafficking trafficking were revived in 1996, when a newspaper series by reporter Gary Webb in the "San Jose Mercury News" claimed that the trafficking had played an important role in the creation of the crack cocaine drug problem in the United States. Webb's series led to three federal investigations, none of which found evidence of any conspiracy by the CIA or its employees to bring drugs into the United States. In 1984, U.S. officials began receiving reports of Contra cocaine trafficking. Three officials told journalists that they considered these reports "reliable." Former Panamanian deputy health minister Dr. Hugo Spadafora, who had