An Eye for a Killing: 5. The Reckoning
Limelight
BBC
4.4 • 698 Ratings
🗓️ 28 April 2023
⏱️ 34 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Welcome to hell. The true story of Scotland’s notorious serial killers, Burke and Hare.
On Christmas Day in 1828 the jury at the High Court decide that serial killer, William Burke, is guilty of the murder of Madgy Docherty. Burke is sentenced to be hanged and his body publicly dissected. A crowd of 25,000 people turn out to watch him die – while his accomplice, William Hare, walks free from the court.
Powerful five-part drama-documentary series from BBC Radio 4 with bonus scenes on BBC Sounds.
Written and dramatised by Colin MacDonald.
Narrator ….. Jack Lowden Burke ….. Gavin Mitchell Boyle ….. Paul Young Robert Knox ….. Simon Donaldson Janet Brown ….. Nicola Roy Mrs Wilson ….. Lucianne McEvoy Galbraith ….. Andy Clark John Fisher ….. Robert Jack Michael Campbell ….. James Rottger Other parts played by the cast.
Producer/director: Bruce Young
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:07.8 | This is an eye for a killing, the true story of Scotland's most notorious serial killers, burke and hair. |
| 0:18.4 | Episode 5, The Reckoning |
| 0:20.9 | Christmas Day morning |
| 0:28.5 | At the High Court in Edinburgh, the jury is out |
| 0:32.7 | in the trial of William Burke and Helen McDougall. |
| 0:36.2 | They are accused of the murder of Maggi Doherty, |
| 0:39.4 | an elderly Irish woman whose body was sold to the anatomist Dr. Robert Knox and was later found |
| 0:45.0 | stuffed in a box. What the jury doesn't know is that William Burke has confessed to 15 other |
| 0:50.9 | murders in a 10-month killing spree and that all the bodies were sold to the anatomist for cash. |
| 0:57.9 | Burke's partner in crime William Hare has turned King's evidence, |
| 1:02.2 | testifying against Burke and is now exempt from prosecution. |
| 1:06.4 | The jury returns from its deliberations. |
| 1:10.1 | Court, |
| 1:16.0 | foreman of the jury, have you reached a verdict? |
| 1:18.1 | We have. |
| 1:22.9 | We find William Burke guilty. |
| 1:29.1 | The charge against Helen McDougal is not proven. |
| 1:33.4 | The word passed down over nearly 200 years is that at this point, Burke turned to McDougall and said, |
| 1:37.3 | You're out of the scrape. |
| 1:40.2 | That could be true. |
| 1:42.5 | What is in the official records is the address to the jury of the Lord Justice Clark, David Boyle. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.