Joe Lycett vs The Oil Giant – John Donovan segment

By John Donovan

Channel 4 TV documentary Joe Lycett vs The Oil Giant which aired at 9pm in the UK, 24 Oct 2021. Segment featuring John Donovan. Related Wikipedia article. 

FROM CHANNEL 4 WEBSITE: Joe Lycett takes on Shell, as he investigates whether the oil giant is as eco-friendly as its advertising makes it out to be. Joe meets climate experts and investigates whether Shell are as eco-friendly as their advertising makes out, before making his own parody version of their ads. But will Shell sit up and listen?

Transcript extracts from the interview with John Donovan

OPENING SECONDS OF INTRO

00.24 JOHN DONOVAN: You’ve got to watch what you are doing. They’ve got a legal army  of a thousand lawyers

THE MAIN SEGMENT INVOLVES JOHN DONOVAN BEING INTERVIEWED BY JOE LYCETT IN A CAR PARK. EACH IN THE DRIVING SEAT OF THEIR RESPECTIVE CARS. BEGINS AT 09:26 MINS (Screenshot below)

JOE LYCETT: When you look into Shell you land very quickly on a man called John Donovan whose described as Shell’s No1 Enemy… essentially I going to meet a man in a car park which is not the first time I’ve done that unless Mums watching, in which its the very first time I’ve ever done that.

John Donovan there he is… Hello John

JOHN:  Hello Joe

JOE: Can I be honest, you don’t look like your picture but I’ll take it…

JOHN: Okay

JOE LYCETT NARRATION CUTS IN

25 years ago John Donovan bought the domain name royaldutchshellplc.com and began running a website that publishes leaked internal documents against Shell. A platform for disaffected whistleblowers. John became what has been described in the press as Shell’s nightmare. In all, he claims that his exposés have cost the company in excess of *11 billion dollars.

JOE: How does it feel to cost someone 11 billion dollars?

JOHN: It feels good (both break out into laughter)… but I caution anyone about dealings with Shell. They can be very intimidating… I found out that Shell had set up a global spying operation trying to trace where I was getting my information from…

JOE: So there was a team of people

JOHN: … a team of people

JOHN: yeah

JOE Presumably Shell would deny all of this?

JOHN: Well you would have to ask Shell… I can tell you that they have got a legal army of a thousand lawyers in-house and there’ve got unlimited financial resources. If you are perceived as an enemy of Shell then you have got to be you’ve got to watch what you are doing.

SEGMENT ENDS 11.19 MINS APPROX

SUBSEQUENT REFERENCE TO JOHN AT 11:38 MINS

JOE: Despite John’s warnings…

TRANSCRIPT EXTRACTS END

SCREENSHOTS FROM THE WEBSITE SHOWN AT 10:07

 

Other people interviewed by Joe for the documentary included the academic Mike Berners-Lee, the brother of the man who invented the Internet, Dr Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency and Darren Cullen, an artist who produces satirical advertising. If the members of the **Shell 7 supply me with their names I will add them here.

CORRECTION. The domain name was purchased 16 years ago, not 25.

*Authentic Shell internal email about the “billions in lost revenue…”

*The “Shell 7” inflicted £25,000 of damage to Shell’s UK headquarters. Against expectations, a jury found them not guilty of all charges.

RELATED

*Related coverage on the British Comedy Guide: Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back: Joe Lycett Climate Investigation: Ahead of the COP26 climate change summit, Joe Lycett takes on one of the world’s most powerful companies – Shell – as he investigates whether its eco-friendly advertising really paints the right picture of a corporation that still drills a huge amount of oil and gas. Joe meets climate experts and attempts to engage Shell in his own uniquely fearless fashion, before deciding to make his own version of their ads and tries to get his parody broadcast on national television. pdf version

*John Donovan is listed in the related British Comedy Guide Guest cast of “Joe Lycett Climate Investigation“.

*John Donovan and his royaldutchshellplc.com website are listed on a separate page devoted to John Donovan. pdf version “John Donovan is a whistleblower. He runs the website https://www.royaldutchshellplc.com.”

Wikipedia article: Joe Lycett vs the Oil Giant (which mentions John Donovan)

Yahoo Entertainment: Joe Lycett praised for shocking spoof ad as he pretends to be Shell CEO ‘s****ing out of his mouth’

John Donovan battles with Shell as reported in an article published 30 Sept 2021 under the headline: DONOVAN vs. SHELL: A 30 Years Epic battle against a corporate giant.

THE TIMES: Joe Lycett vs The Oil Giant review — taking Shell to task, or just silly laughs?

THE GUARDIAN: ‘Greta Thunberg would love it – Shell’s CEO less so’: Joe Lycett vs the Oil Giant review

YouTube: Joe Lycett Vs The Oil Giant | The Ad Shell Would NEVER Make

Wikipedia: Joe Lycett vs the Oil Giant

External video: “The Ad Shell Would NEVER Make”

Telegraph: Joe Lycett vs the Oil Giant, review: a protest that was a waste of time and energy

i: Joe Lycett vs The Oil Giant, Channel 4, review: A lowbrow but effective stand against greenwashing

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.