Simon Russell Beale reads Chris Bryant’s story of the last men in Britain to be hanged for sodomy. Today, amidst pervasive antipathy towards homosexuality, James and John meet. Show more

Simon Russell Beale reads historian and MP Chris Bryant’s story of James Pratt and John Smith, two consenting adults who became the last men in Britain to be hanged for sodomy. Show more

Simon Russell Beale reads. It’s 1835, and, trapped by poverty and lack of privacy, James Pratt and John Smith have borrowed a rented room and risked everything. Show more

The moment they were caught together James Pratt and John Smith’s lives changed. They were immediately arrested, and now, in Newgate, the bleakest of prisons, they await trial. Show more

There was little chance of reprieve, but one last desperate hope remained. James's wife, Elizabeth, began collecting names for a petition, in the hope of appealing to the King. Show more