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Drama: Crime

Three university students make a podcast about a cold case that happened 14 years earlier

Story by Gerard Stembridge. As part of their media degree, three university students make a podcast about a cold case that happened in Colecastle 14 years earlier.

BBC Radio 4 LW

Hiding Out: Series 1

Sophie Jo Wasson

Sanchia McCormack

Rhys Dunlop

Thomas Finnegan

Michael Patrick

Gerard Stembridge

Hiding Out: Series 1: Episode 1

Drama

Episode 1

Series 1

BBC Radio 4 - Hiding Out, Series 1, Episode 1

A young 22-year-old student, Natalie Driver, has been forced into hiding.

After working on a college podcast, student Natalie Driver fears for her safety and is forced into hiding.

As part of their final Media Degree assessment at NUC in Northern Ireland, three final year university students - Natalie Driver, JJ Collins and Vic Grant - decide to make a podcast about a cold case which happened in Colecastle fourteen years ago. On Saturday April 26th 2003, Toby Ellis was minding his four month old nephew, Derek Ellis. He nipped into his local newsagents and left the pram outside on the street. He claimed he left the child for no longer than two minutes. During this time, the baby was abducted and six days later the infant's body was discovered buried in a nearby wooded area, Mountford. Cause of death, a blow to the head. No one was ever charged with the murder and the case has remained on-going.

The first episode of Hiding Out is a podcast hosted by one of the students, Natalie; she reveals she is currently in hiding fearing for her safety. Having published their first podcast on The Murder at Colecastle, her fellow student Vic had received a call from someone who had heard the podcast claiming they had new evidence about the day the child was abducted. Vic and JJ met with the source. That was 3 days ago and no one has seen or heard from either Vic or JJ since... The only contact Natalie has received is a text sent from her classmate JJ's phone which reads "We're watching you. Stop this now." Natalie knows their disappearance is clearly linked to digging into the murder of Derek Ellis. If she finds them, she may finally find the truth of what happened in Colecastle. Natalie's nightly podcasts of 'Hiding Out' are attracting more and more interest - #whereisnatalie and #findvicandjj are rife with speculation. Are these three students actually in danger? Or - as their media lecturer believes - is this all an elaborate media hoax?

Gerard Stembridge wrote the screenplay for the film 'Ordinary Decent Criminal' starring Kevin Spacey and co-wrote the film 'Nora' about James Joyce and Nora Barnacle, starring Ewan McGregor. He has also directed several of his own screenplays including 'About Adam' starring Kate Hudson and Stuart Townsend. He recently wrote the feature film 'The Randomer' (2016) produced by the students of the Filmbase Masters Programme in Digital Feature Film Production in Dublin. He has also written four novels.

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