James And John - A True Story Of Prejudice And Murder By Chris Bryant

Episodes

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01The Move To London2024021920240220 (R4)Simon Russell Beale is a multi-award winning actor - he has received two BAFTAs, three Olivier Awards and a Tony Award - and was knighted for his services to drama.

Simon Russell Beale reads the story of the last men in Britain to be hanged for sodomy.

Simon Russell Beale reads historian and MP Chris Bryant's story of James Pratt and John Smith, two consenting adults who became the last men in Britain to be hanged for sodomy.

02An Assignation2024022020240221 (R4)Simon Russell Beale is a multi-award winning actor - he has received two BAFTAs, three Olivier Awards and a Tony Award - and was knighted for his services to drama.

Amidst pervasive antipathy towards homosexuality, James and John meet.

Simon Russell Beale reads Chris Bryant's story of the last men in Britain to be hanged for sodomy. Today, amidst pervasive antipathy towards homosexuality, James and John meet.

03The Offence2024022120240222 (R4)Simon Russell Beale is a multi-award winning actor - he has received two BAFTAs, three Olivier Awards and a Tony Award - and was knighted for his services to drama.

James Pratt and John Smith have borrowed a rented room and risked everything.

Simon Russell Beale reads. It's 1835, and, trapped by poverty and lack of privacy, James Pratt and John Smith have borrowed a rented room and risked everything.

04The Trial2024022220240223 (R4)Simon Russell Beale is a multi-award winning actor - he has received two BAFTAs, three Olivier Awards and a Tony Award - and was knighted for his services to drama.

James and John have been caught together, arrested and imprisoned. Now they await trial.

The moment they were caught together James Pratt and John Smith's lives changed. They were immediately arrested, and now, in Newgate, the bleakest of prisons, they await trial.

05 LASTThe Final Pleas2024022320240224 (R4)There was little chance of reprieve for the two men, but one last desperate hope remained.

There was little chance of reprieve, but one last desperate hope remained. James's wife, Elizabeth, began collecting names for a petition, in the hope of appealing to the King.