Murder, Mystery and My Family

Original version

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

Documentaries

Factual

Factual: Crime & Justice

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

Series 5

BBC Two

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

BBC One HD

BBC One London

London

BBC One Oxfordshire

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

BBC One West Midlands

BBC One Cambridgeshire

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 region covering Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.

BBC One East Midlands

BBC One Channel Islands

BBC One Yorkshire

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

BBC One West

BBC One North West

BBC One Yorks & Lincs

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

BBC One East

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

BBC One South

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

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

BBC One Wales HD

BBC One Wales

Wales

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

Simulcast of BBC Two Wales in high definition

BBC Two Wales HD

BBC Two Northern Ireland

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 Northern Ireland in high definition

BBC Two Northern Ireland HD

Sasha Wass

Jeremy Dein

James Pearson

Clare Wales

Mike Benson

Simon Cooper

Johanna Scammell

Michael Klokkos

Chalkboard TV

Murder, Mystery and My Family: Series 5: Jacoby

Jacoby

BBC One - Murder, Mystery and My Family, Series 5, Jacoby

Barristers Sasha and Jeremy investigate a whodunnit from 1920s London.

Barristers Sasha and Jeremy explore a classic whodunnit from 1922 in which a lowly pantry boy was charged with the murder of a titled lady in a London hotel.

Two of the UK’s top criminal barristers, Sasha Wass QC and Jeremy Dein QC, investigate a case from 1922 in which a lowly hotel pantry boy was convicted for the murder of a titled lady.  

On 13 March 1922, after an evening playing cards, wealthy widow Lady Alice White retired to bed at the Spencer Hotel in Marylebone. During the night she was subjected to a brutal assault, and the following morning a chambermaid discovered her covered in blood and clinging to life. She had suffered horrendous injuries, including a fractured skull, and died the following day.  

Police quickly launched an investigation, but with few clues to go on they were confronted with a baffling whodunnit.  

Eventually, 18-year-old hotel pantry boy Henry Julius Jacoby made a confession to police and was charged with the crime. However, at trial he pleaded his innocence, but it took the jury just 43 minutes to find him guilty. And on 7 June 1922, Henry Jacoby became one of the youngest people to be hanged in the United Kingdom in the 20th century.

Now, nearly 100 years later, Henry Jacoby’s relative Peter, whose grandmother cared for Jacoby when he was young, is seeking to question the safety of the original conviction and has called on the barristers to see what they make of this case. Exploring questions around Jacoby’s supposed confession and class prejudice, will Sasha and Jeremy find enough new evidence to convince judge David Radford that Henry Jacoby’s case was a miscarriage of justice?

Murder, Mystery and My Family: Series 5

BBC One

Barristers Jeremy Dein and Sasha Wass re-examine historic murder cases.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Murder, Mystery and My Family

Series 5

Jacoby

Contributors

Genres

Formats

Brand

Series

BBC One North East & Cumbria

About BBC One