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Episode 3

Jack is reluctant to leave the house after being attacked by the Krays, but Billy Hill has other plans for him. Revenge is on the cards, while Brian gets his first taste of crime.

A new long-running drama series from G F Newman based on the characters from the multi-award winning writer's best-selling crime novel. Spanning six decades, it plots the course of one family against the backdrop of a revolution in crime as the underworld extends its influence to the very heart of the establishment, in an uncomfortable relationship of shared values.

Joey Oldman is a Russian Jew, who arrived in Britain before the war with only two words of English and married Cathy Braden. They had a son, Brian, and a daughter, Rose. Cathy's widowed mother, Gracie, takes up with a famous and glamorous gangster, Billy Hill, while her brother Jack wants to become World Light Heavyweight Boxing Champion. Both the army and the Kray twins interfere with this ambition. Jack is left feeling bitter and angry and plunges headlong into crime, running protection rackets and claiming a piece of other criminals' sometimes infamous pies. His actions become ever more savage and bizarre and harder to reconcile.

Haunted by the murder of his grandfather which he witnessed when he was six, Brian Oldman holds a terrible secret that he must keep for fear of his life as he falls deeper under his mother's spell. But there is a more disturbing secret he has yet to discover - one that will threaten his very existence. All the while he becomes a willing participant in the criminal underworld in the 1950s, where gangs such as the Krays and the Richardson are emerging to challenge the old guard in savage battles for territory.

Cast:
Joey Oldman..........Toby Jones
Cath Oldman..........Denise Gough
Brian Oldman.........Rory McMenamin
Jack Braden............Tom Weston-Jones
Gracie Braden.........Ruth Gemmell
Bobby Brown..........Charles Davies
Billy Hill...................Robert Glennister
D I Drury /
Fat Cecil..................Matthew Marsh
Frank Cockain.........Michael Eaves
Sammy Cohen /
Spotty.....................Jonathan Tafler
Leah Cohen............Jasmine Hyde
Ronnie Kray.............Lewis McLeod
P C Watling.............Nigel Cooke
Shop Owner............Theo Fraser Steele

With Ross Kemp as Narrator.

Written by G F Newman
Produced and directed by Clive Brill

A Pacificus production for Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

5 weeks left to listen

45 minutes

Last on

Sat 18 Sep 2021 21:00

Credits

Role Contributor
Joey Oldman Toby Jones
Cath Oldman Denise Gough
Brian Oldman Rory McMenamin
Jack Braden Tom Weston-Jones
Gracie Braden Ruth Gemmell
Bobby Brown Charlie Davies
Billy Hill Robert Glenister
DI Drury Matthew Marsh
Fat Cecil Matthew Marsh
Frank Cockain Michael Eaves
Sammy Cohen Jonathan Tafler
Spotty Jonathan Tafler
Leah Cohen Jasmine Hyde
Ronnie Kray Lewis MacLeod
PC Watling Nigel Cooke
Shop owner Theo Fraser Steele
Narrator Ross Kemp
Director Clive Brill
Producer Clive Brill
Writer GF Newman

Broadcasts

  • Wed 23 Oct 2013 14:15
  • Sat 18 Sep 2021 21:00

Meet the main characters

The principal protagonists in GF Newman's saga of crime and punishment, 'The Corrupted'.