The Brighton Bomb: 1. A Matter of Timing
Description
When you get right down to it, everything in life is a matter of timing.
The clock that propels this story went unheard for three weeks, three days, six hours and thirty-six minutes…until the bomb it was attached to went off at 2.54am on Friday 12 October, 1984. The day of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s speech to the Conservative Party Conference in Brighton.
Which means the Prime Minister and all her cabinet are guaranteed to be in the Grand Hotel.
It's the biggest direct assault on the British parliamentary system since the Gunpowder Plot in 1605.
And in the bomber's mind, it’s only the start.
Written and presented by Glenn Patterson
Series Producer: Owen McFadden
Story Consultant and Sound Design: Alan Hall
Producer: Lena Ferguson
Archive Producer: Fran Rowlatt McCormick
Production Co-Ordinator: Hollie Wallace
Composer: Mark McCambridge
Sound Engineer: Claire Marquess
Mixing Engineer: Mike Woolley
Patrick Magee archive courtesy of Peter Taylor and Whistledown Productions
Executive Producer: Rachel Hooper
A Walk on Air production in association with Keo Films for BBC Radio 4
Alex trawls through Lord Lucan’s belongings from his speedily abandoned flat.
She finds incriminating books where he’s torn out pages on how to kill your wife, and is taken aback by photos that make her reconsider the story.
She draws together what makes this a compelling crime, and asks what...
Published 10/28/24
Our interest in Lord Lucan could have petered out after the inquest. But people start to spot him all over the world. Could he really have escaped the UK?
Alex von Tunzelmann explores what role this idea plays in our fixation with the Lucan case.
She hears how the media kept the story going,...
Published 10/28/24