Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

The 24 Names, by Jonathan Myerson

Episode 4 of 8

By September, everyone is in Nuremberg for the Trial of the Century. But the courtroom isn’t built, the Russians are delaying matters and none of the Nazis have lawyers.

September 1945. Everyone is gathering in Nuremberg for the trial. But the courtroom isn’t ready, the judges are still in Berlin and none of the Nazis have lawyers.

Seen through the eyes of Airey Neave, fluent German-speaker and first man to escape from Colditz, who has to serve the indictments. But the names of those to be indicted keep changing – and there are still some surprises.

Meanwhile, with less than a month until the trial is due to start, the Russians seem to be employing delaying tactics – is it because they might also be accused of war crimes? In fact, the Kremlin is having trouble providing translations of its documents – Stalin had executed most people in Russia who could speak a foreign language. And it’s Neave who now has to find the German lawyers to represent the 22 defendants.

Cast:
Major Airey Neave - FREDDIE FOX
Peggy - ROSIE SHEEHY
Robert H Jackson - JOSEPH MYDELL
Sir Geoffrey Lawrence - NICHOLAS WOODESON
Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe - FORBES MASSON
Judge Biddle - CLIVE WOOD
Iona Nikitchenko and other roles - HENRY GOODMAN
Joachim von Ribbentrop and other roles - JASPER BRITTON
Sir Norman Birkett - ANDREW WOODALL
Colonel Burton Andrus and other roles - JOSEPH ALESSI
Hermann Goering and other roles - NIGEL LINDSAY
Dan Kiley and other roles - ILAN GOODMAN
Colonel Gill and other roles - NATHAN WILEY
Henri Donnedieu de Vabres and other roles JONATHAN CULLEN

Sound Designer - ADAM WOODHAMS
Studio Manager - MARK SMITH
Casting Director - GINNY SCHILLER
Original Score - METAPHOR MUSIC
Writer and Director - JONATHAN MYERSON
Producer - NICHOLAS NEWTON

A Promenade Production for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 4 and ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Sounds

28 minutes

Last on

Fri 17 Sep 2021 14:15

Broadcast

  • Fri 17 Sep 2021 14:15

Why did the Nuremberg trial happen?

Why did the Nuremberg trial happen?

How unprecedented war crimes demanded proper international legal redress.

What happened after Nuremberg?

What happened after Nuremberg?

The authorities were ready for executions and prison sentences, but not acquittals...

The historical dramatist and his dissidents

The historical dramatist and his dissidents

Nuremberg director Jonathan Myerson lays out the challenges of writing historical drama

Nuremberg Remembered

Nuremberg Remembered

William Shawcross on the legacy of the Nuremberg Military Tribunal.