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Afternoon Drama

Jonathan Alden

Nadia Williams

Jolyon Jenkins

Conal Dodds

Abigail Youngman

Drama on 4: The Last Tudor

The Last Tudor

20/09/2010

BBC Radio 4 - Drama on 4, The Last Tudor

A reality show contestant makes a bid to overthrow the royal family. Improvised drama.

Improvised drama, devised by Jolyon Jenkins and Abigail Youngman. A reality show contestant makes a bid to overthrow the royal family.

A reality show contestant decides that he has a greater claim to the throne than the current Royal Family. This improvised drama, told in a documentary format, charts his rise and fall, in a satire on celebrity, delusion and spin.

The story is based on a true story of Anthony Hall, a former policeman who in 1931 started to give public speeches claiming that he was the descendant of an illegitimate son of Henry VIII and therefore the last Tudor. Documents released by the National Archives show that his threats to the Royal Family started to alarm the police and Home Office, and that George V lobbied to have him quietly declared insane and put away without trial. 

The drama supposes that Anthony Hall's great grandson, a local government employee at Bristol City Council, discovers his family history and decides to exploit the royal claim as part of his bid to win a television talent show called the Fame Factor. This central character, called Murray Gray, dresses up as Henry VIII to raise money for charitable causes, and seeks pop stardom to escape his boring job dealing with parking fines. 

Initially the case of Murray Gray is simply one story in a history documentary about royal pretenders, but as Murray's gets more and more successful in the Fame Factor, events, and the documentary, spiral out of control.

The "documentary" is presented by real life presenter and producer Jolyon Jenkins, who also devised the drama with Abigail Youngman. Murray Gray is played by Jonathan Alden and his girlfriend Chantelle by Nadia Williams. Murray's PR agent Memphis Garfield is played by real life music promoter Conal Dodds.

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