A year on from the 6 January Capitol Insurrection in Washington DC, The Coming Storm traces the deep roots of QAnon: the sprawling conspiracy theory that fuelled the storming of the Capitol that day.

Over seven episodes, presenter Gabriel Gatehouse searches for the answer to one big question: did January 6 just happen, or is somebody, or something, trying to break reality itself?

And it’s a wild ride: a fast-paced journey into the dark undergrowth of modern America. From conspiracy-soaked backroom bars in 1990s Arkansas, via spies in hotel rooms in the shadow of the Kremlin, to anarchic chatrooms on the early internet.

Gabriel’s quest to understand the real roots of January 6 will take him across the world and back to the time of the Clinton presidency. But it all starts with a chance encounter with Malleus Maleficarum, a 15th Century book about witches: a dark and twisted fantasy that went viral thanks to the invention of the printing press, and which sparked centuries of violence amid the social upheaval of the transition to the modern world.

A week after learning about this ancient book, Gabriel travels to America to cover the 2020 presidential election. There he meets a man draped in furs with horns on his head and a sign saying: ‘Q sent me’. The man speaks of a coming storm, a battle against an evil cabal of satanic paedophiles, led by Hillary Clinton, who are conspiring to steal democracy. He seems like an oddball on the fringes.

But two months later, on January 6 2021, as Gabriel watches the crowds storm the Capitol in Washington DC attempting to overturn the result of the election, there he is again: same furs, same horns, same story. Hundreds are there with him, thousands more outside, and millions believe this conspiracy narrative.

Once again, a new piece of communications technology is fuelling a mass-movement based on a delusion. 500 years after the witch craze began, America is in the grip of a new dark fantasy, a story so implausible and yet so compelling it threatens the very foundations of American democracy. How has that happened? And where will it lead?

Gabriel Gatehouse, presenter and reporter, says: “I started out looking for the origins of this remarkable story. At first I thought it was the by-product of decades of toxic Washington politics, coupled with the polarised dysfunction of the internet. But the deeper I dug, the more I began to suspect there were powerful people trying to weaponize this twisted tale. By the end of it, I came to a realisation that changed the way I saw the world, a realisation about how conspiracy theories work, and – crucially – how they take hold. If you think you’re immune, I dare you to listen...!”

Daniel Clarke, Commissioning Editor for Factual at BBC Radio 4, says: “The Coming Storm is a huge piece of reporting and a story of incredible global scope. And whilst there have been attempts elsewhere to figure out who’s behind QAnon, this series gets to the heart of why the conspiracy theory developed in the first place, and what it says about our current historical moment. By piecing together the roots of one of the most troubling conspiracy theories in recent memory, Gabriel gives listeners a vital insight into what could come next”.

The Coming Storm (7x30’) is a new podcast series presented by Gabriel Gatehouse, International Editor of BBC Newsnight. It is a BBC Long Form Audio production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service Radio. Lucy Proctor is Producer. Editor is Richard Vadon. It was commissioned for Radio 4 by Daniel Clarke and for World Service Radio by Steve Titherington.

It will be broadcast every Tuesday at 11am on Radio 4 from 4 January 2022, and be available as a Box Set on BBC Sounds from 4 January 2022. And it will be broadcast on the World Service every Wednesday at 11.30am GMT from 5 January.