Pseudocide

Sydney, 1999. Shopping channel host Roberto de Heredia is being investigated by the authorities: they believe he sent a bomb – in a shoebox – to model and “Penthouse Pet” Simone Cheung. The parcel detonated in the hands of Simone’s boyfriend, Brett, and Roberto is about to stand trial for attempted murder. That’s when he vanishes. Hosted by: Alice Fiennes and Poppy Damon.Contributors:Susan Boyd, Brett Boyd’s sister. Liam Barlett, Channel 9 presenter. Bob Gibbs, former detective sergeant.

Kansas, 2001. Internet star Kaycee Nicole passes away from leukaemia. Her followers are devastated: they’ve been following Kaycee’s struggles with the disease in her online journal, “Living Colors.” The death of this cheerful college student is an unparalleled tragedy. But then, online sleuths begin to pull at the loose ends of her story – and that story begins to unravel. Hosted by: Alice Fiennes and Poppy Damon.Contributors:Saundra Mitchell, websleuthPatrick Cleary, former bloggerHalcyon, Kaycee Nicole’s friend and supervisorAcridrabbit, MetaFilter user

Melbourne, 1974. A British MP is arrested and, all over the world, the press goes wild. Months beforehand, John Stonehouse had gone swimming off a beach in Miami and never returned. He was presumed dead. Why did this seemingly successful politician commit pseudocide? Hosted by: Alice Fiennes and Poppy Damon.ContributorsGeoffrey Robertson QC, Stonehouse’s lawyerTheo Barclay, author

Kiev, 2018. Journalists gather at a press conference. They are expecting to be briefed on the assassination of war correspondent Arkady Babchenko – widely suspected to be the handiwork of Russian operatives. Instead, Arkady appears, alive and well, before the shocked audience. “I’m still alive – for the moment,” he says. Hosted by: Alice Fiennes and Poppy Damon.Contributors:Arkady BabchenkoOleskiy Tsymbaliuk, Arkady’s would-be assassinNataliya Gumenyuk, a Kiev journalistDima Kolchinsky, fixer

Brittany, 1907. The clothes of radical socialist Grace Oakeshott are found neatly bundled on a beach. Her body is never discovered, but everything points to a drowning at sea. Nearly a century later, the clues Grace left behind are pieced together, and the truth about what happened to her is finally revealed. Hosted by: Alice Fiennes and Poppy Damon.Contributors:Jocelyn Robson, social researcherSophie Dingemans, Grace’s great-granddaughter

Houston, 2015. Ramon Sosa is driving to the supermarket when he finds out that his wife is trying to kill him. They’re going through a divorce and Lulu has decided she wants him gone. That’s when Ramon and his friend Mundo hatch a plan to catch her in the act. Hosted by: Alice Fiennes and Poppy Damon.Contributors:Ramon SosaKelly Blackburn, case prosecutor

York, 1318. A nun is fed up with her life of poverty, chastity and obedience. So, Joan of Leeds does the obvious thing: she fakes a mortal illness and crafts an effigy “in the likeness of her body,” which is then buried by her Benedictine sisters. What life awaits Joan beyond the nunnery walls? Hosted by: Alice Fiennes and Poppy Damon.Contributors:Professor Sarah Rees-Jones, historianGary Brannan, keeper of archivesPaul Dryburgh, archivist and historianEllice Stevens, playwright

Dublin, 2018. Fernando is playing video games at home when his boss calls with some news: supposedly, he’s died in a motorbike accident. His football league has spent the weekend mourning his death. But Fernando is very much alive, and soon his face is on the front of newspapers everywhere. Someone at Fernando’s football club has lied about him – and that lie has taken on a life of its own.  Hosted by: Alice Fiennes and Poppy Damon.Guests:Fernando LaFuenteLuisa, Fernando’s wife