5. Houston, we have so many problems

Houston, 2004. Super Bowl XXXVIII. The biggest television event of the year — and everyone involved is chasing perfection.

Inside the NFL machine, Jim Steeg is orchestrating a military-grade operation where every second is worth millions. In the production truck, Salli Frattini is holding together a halftime show so complex it feels like a controlled explosion: Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake, pyro, thousands of performers, and cameras everywhere. On the field, Patriots linebacker Matt Chatham is inches away from the game of his life.

And somewhere in the middle of all this sits Mark Roberts — disguised, tattooed, layered in Velcro, and nervously taping a tiny deflated American football over his “chicken McNugget” because Texas has him rattled.

As the game kicks off, the tension builds — not just for the players, but for everyone who knows what’s riding on halftime. When it arrives, the stadium turns into a full-blown 2004 MTV spectacle: lights, dancers, smoke, sweat, and pop royalty at its most electric.

It looks flawless. It sounds flawless. Everyone thinks it is flawless.

But in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, something happens that almost nobody inside the stadium fully registers — yet will be replayed, analysed, and argued about for decades.

And while everyone is distracted by that half-second… Mark sees his chance.

Presented by Rich Hall

Produced and written by Elle Scott

Production co-ordinator: Juliette Harvey.

Production manager: Debbie Waddell.

Development Executive: Emma Shaw.

Production Executive: Ian Taitt

Executive Producer: Georgia Catt

Sound Design and Composition: Julian Corrie

Assistant Commissioner: Rob Green

Commissioning Executive: Stevie Middleton

A BBC Studios Production for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.