Murder, Mystery and My Family

Original version

The BBC South West region started on 20th April 1961 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One South West.

BBC One South West

Documentaries

Factual

Factual: Crime & Justice

Top criminal barristers Sasha Wass and Jeremy Dein reinvestigate historical cases.

Series 2

BBC Two

BBC Two is a TV channel that started broadcasting on the 20th April 1964.

BBC One London

London

Simulcast of network BBC One in high definition. From 03/11/2010

BBC One HD

Simulcast of BBC One Northern Ireland in high definition. From 24/10/2012

BBC One Northern Ireland HD

BBC Northern Ireland region started on 19th April 1955 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One Northern Ireland.

BBC One Northern Ireland

BBC One Wales

Wales

Simulcast of BBC One Wales in high definition. From 29/01/2013

BBC One Wales HD

The BBC East region started on 1st May 1959 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One East.

BBC One East

BBC One Cambridgeshire

BBC One Channel Islands

The BBC South region started on 5th January 1961 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One South.

BBC One South

BBC One Oxfordshire

BBC One West Midlands

BBC One region covering Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.

BBC One East Midlands

The BBC North East & Cumbria region started in 1959 (tbc) as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One North East & Cumbria.

BBC One North East & Cumbria

BBC One North West

The BBC West region started on 1st September 1957 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One West.

BBC One West

Formerly part of a wider BBC One South East region that included London and part of the South region. Separated from BBC One London 2001-09-03 following reorganisation of the South East region.

BBC One South East

BBC One Yorkshire

BBC One Yorks & Lincs

BBC One Scotland

Scotland

Simulcast of BBC One Scotland in high definition. From 14/01/2013

BBC One Scotland HD

BBC Two England

England

Simulcast of network BBC Two in high definition.

BBC Two HD

Until 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales (analogue) was known simply as BBC Two Wales. BBC Two Wales (digital) was BBC 2W. From 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales schedules on both analogue and digital became identical

BBC Two Wales

Simulcast of BBC Two Wales in high definition

BBC Two Wales HD

BBC Two Northern Ireland

Simulcast of BBC Two Northern Ireland in high definition

BBC Two Northern Ireland HD

Jeremy Dein

Sasha Wass

Mike Benson

Michael Klokkos

Zlatina Rankova

Lorna Hartnett

Simon Cooper

Chalkboard TV

Murder, Mystery and My Family: Series 2: Episode 7

Episode 7

BBC One - Murder, Mystery and My Family, Series 2, Episode 7

The barristers explore a case of domestic violence, adultery, revenge and murder in 1903.

Barristers Jeremy Dein and Sasha Wass re-examine a case involving domestic violence, adultery, revenge and murder in an impoverished working-class Yorkshire town in 1903.

Leading barristers Jeremy Dein and Sasha Wass explore a case involving domestic violence, adultery, revenge and murder in an impoverished working-class town.

Yorkshire, 1903. Mother of five Emily Swann ran to a neighbour’s house having just been assaulted by her husband William. A heavy drinker prone to violent outbursts, he’d recently learnt his wife and their former lodger John Gallagher had been having an affair. Gallagher, now lodging with the neighbour, flew into a rage, stormed into the Swann’s house, and over the course of two visits beat William Swann to death.

Emily Swann had followed John Gallagher into the house both times and was present when her husband was murdered, but did she join in the beating? The whole altercation was heard by the neighbours, some of whom claimed Emily had encouraged Gallagher. Despite protesting her innocence Emily was tried alongside Gallagher. Both were found guilty and hanged side by side at Leeds Armley prison.

125 years on, Emily Swann’s great-granddaughter, Felicity Davis, has developed a profound relationship with the case having herself been the victim of abuse growing up at the hands of her grandmother, Emily’s daughter Elsie. To make sense of her own experience, Felicity is determined to prove that Emily was a victim, not only of physical abuse but also of prejudice from the authorities and of a gross miscarriage of justice.

Jeremy and Sasha help Felicity get to the truth as they scrutinize the historic files, searching for information that could shed new light on a highly concerning case. They explore issues including ‘battered wife syndrome’, witness reliability and prejudice from the system of the day, but can they convince a judge that Emily’s conviction was unsafe?

Murder, Mystery and My Family: Series 2

BBC One

BBC One is a TV channel that started broadcasting on the 20th April 1964. It replaced BBC Television.

BBC 1

BBC1

Jeremy Dein and Sasha Wass re-examine historic murder cases 

Top criminal barristers, Jeremy Dein and Sasha Wass tackle potential miscarriages of justice as they re-examine historic murder cases on behalf of the family of those convicted.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Murder, Mystery and My Family

Series 2

Episode 7

Contributors

Genres

Formats

Brand

Series

BBC One South West

About BBC One