1 00:00:02,290 --> 00:00:07,070 The 1950s, and a contented post -war Britain was in the grip of a brutal 2 00:00:07,070 --> 00:00:08,070 backlash. 3 00:00:12,710 --> 00:00:18,290 It was against homosexuals when they were labelled pansies and queers. I 4 00:00:18,290 --> 00:00:23,550 homosexuality as a cancer eating into the roots of ordinary, decent human 5 00:00:23,550 --> 00:00:26,350 relations. I'm sentencing you to seven years. 6 00:00:26,590 --> 00:00:29,610 Every year, a thousand men were sent to jail for homosexual offences. 7 00:00:30,250 --> 00:00:32,890 The maximum sentence for buggery was life imprisonment. 8 00:00:34,910 --> 00:00:41,170 A great many people that I know of committed suicide when they were caught. 9 00:00:41,170 --> 00:00:44,470 was such a stigma, such a terrible thing to be gay. 10 00:00:46,610 --> 00:00:51,090 Then, a sensational trial involving a leading Fleet Street journalist and Lord 11 00:00:51,090 --> 00:00:53,430 Montague of Bewley electrified the nation. 12 00:00:53,950 --> 00:00:58,930 Its outcome so shook the establishment that life and the law for homosexuals. 13 00:00:59,310 --> 00:01:00,590 would never be the same again. 14 00:01:11,150 --> 00:01:14,930 In the wake of a scandal, Churchill's government set about thinking the 15 00:01:14,930 --> 00:01:18,630 unthinkable, reforming the law on homosexuality and prostitution. 16 00:01:19,310 --> 00:01:22,910 The forum would become celebrated as the Walforden Committee, after its 17 00:01:22,910 --> 00:01:24,210 chairman, John Walforden. 18 00:01:28,490 --> 00:01:35,210 I'm dreadfully sorry, Mr. Walton. Mrs. Cohen, I was just saying that the aim of 19 00:01:35,210 --> 00:01:41,370 this committee is to determine whether the law should be changed for 20 00:01:41,370 --> 00:01:44,970 and prostitutes and to find out why there's been an increase. 21 00:01:45,250 --> 00:01:48,050 The increase has been down to police arrest. 22 00:01:48,950 --> 00:01:52,350 Karen, at this rate, will have an overcrowding crisis in the prisons. 23 00:01:52,670 --> 00:01:53,670 Thank you, Mr. Rees. 24 00:01:53,930 --> 00:01:55,190 Perhaps we could... 25 00:01:55,420 --> 00:01:59,080 examine the facts and the evidence before we draw any conclusions. 26 00:02:00,020 --> 00:02:04,560 It's a fascinating subject, albeit a rather distasteful one. 27 00:02:05,540 --> 00:02:11,060 Bearing in mind the presence of the ladies, can I suggest we call the 28 00:02:11,060 --> 00:02:15,180 homosexuals Huntleys and the prostitutes Palmers? 29 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:20,080 Would you be so kind as to tell me what a Huntley does? Or rather, what is the 30 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:21,080 crime? 31 00:02:25,230 --> 00:02:31,590 It was announced from Sandringham at 10 .45 today that the king passed 32 00:02:31,590 --> 00:02:34,890 peacefully away in his feet earlier this morning. 33 00:02:39,690 --> 00:02:45,170 In 1952, Peter Wildblood, a 28 -year -old high -flying journalist for the 34 00:02:45,170 --> 00:02:47,530 Mail, was waiting by a London underground station. 35 00:02:50,550 --> 00:02:54,090 What followed would change the life of every gay man in Britain. 36 00:03:01,450 --> 00:03:02,450 Have you got a light? 37 00:03:03,490 --> 00:03:04,490 Sure. 38 00:03:13,070 --> 00:03:14,070 Thanks. 39 00:03:15,210 --> 00:03:16,210 You want to leave? 40 00:03:16,790 --> 00:03:17,850 How am I that obvious? 41 00:03:18,110 --> 00:03:19,110 Where are you stationed? 42 00:03:19,370 --> 00:03:20,370 At Ely Hospital. 43 00:03:23,430 --> 00:03:24,830 Do you have somewhere to stay tonight? 44 00:03:25,470 --> 00:03:27,870 Well, I was thinking of trying the Union Jack Club. 45 00:03:31,310 --> 00:03:32,310 I have a flat. 46 00:03:33,590 --> 00:03:36,450 It's not too far from here. 47 00:03:37,370 --> 00:03:38,370 Sounds perfect. 48 00:04:35,790 --> 00:04:36,790 What are you doing? 49 00:04:38,630 --> 00:04:40,590 Just checking we didn't wake the neighbours. 50 00:04:41,250 --> 00:04:43,590 Wouldn't it be funny if your neighbour added you to the wall? 51 00:04:44,010 --> 00:04:45,210 Exactly the same place. 52 00:04:46,710 --> 00:04:47,710 Not particularly. 53 00:04:48,210 --> 00:04:49,730 I'll phone the police, by the way. 54 00:04:57,630 --> 00:05:01,110 Surely the law is a deterrent to such unnatural practices. 55 00:05:01,450 --> 00:05:03,050 An interesting point, Mrs Killam. 56 00:05:03,570 --> 00:05:07,300 If there was a law... against men and women having sex. 57 00:05:07,660 --> 00:05:09,680 Do you think that would stop anyone? 58 00:05:10,460 --> 00:05:17,020 In the 1950s, you knew the police were there, you knew the law, and you knew 59 00:05:17,020 --> 00:05:18,020 they were getting tough. 60 00:05:18,500 --> 00:05:25,400 But I suppose, probably being young, one just said, OK, we can go on 61 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:27,080 living, it'll never happen to us. 62 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:33,840 No gay man dared to come out publicly in the 1950s. 63 00:05:34,300 --> 00:05:38,020 But London held the promise of an exciting gay underground with its 64 00:05:38,020 --> 00:05:40,120 pubs and illicit clubs in the West End. 65 00:05:41,220 --> 00:05:45,880 For gay men encountering it for the first time, it was a passport into a 66 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:46,880 world. 67 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:54,320 George Montague was convinced that he had some rare affliction until he 68 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:57,500 into this underworld for the first time at the age of 21. 69 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:02,580 I shall never forget the very first time I walked into a gay club in London 70 00:06:02,580 --> 00:06:03,820 called the Festival Club. 71 00:06:04,280 --> 00:06:10,260 I was 25, and I'd been fighting this thing for about four or five years, and, 72 00:06:10,300 --> 00:06:13,160 well, what the hell is wrong with me? Why am I like this? I must be the only 73 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:17,720 one. I walked into this room, large room with about 50 men in there. We were all 74 00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:20,020 criminals. We could be raided at any time. 75 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:25,440 And immediately, the most wonderful two or three hours of my life. 76 00:06:28,280 --> 00:06:30,860 You were pretty certain you were going to meet somebody you knew. 77 00:06:31,380 --> 00:06:32,380 And it was... 78 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:37,700 I think the word to use, it was sort of a little sort of Freemason world. 79 00:06:38,140 --> 00:06:40,420 We had secret ways of communicating. 80 00:06:41,020 --> 00:06:45,060 Illy Vicka, you know, about our face. Oh, look at the Illy Vicka on that, you 81 00:06:45,060 --> 00:06:50,680 know. I loved the idea of a secret society, an underground thing, which we 82 00:06:50,680 --> 00:06:51,680 shared. 83 00:06:53,100 --> 00:06:57,120 West End newsreel cinemas were another place for chance encounters in the dark. 84 00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:02,480 When Michael Brown... 85 00:07:02,700 --> 00:07:07,380 A 20 -year -old dental student first went to one in 1952. There was no 86 00:07:07,380 --> 00:07:08,380 of opportunity. 87 00:07:10,100 --> 00:07:15,320 There was someone on my right who pushed his knee against my right knee, and 88 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:21,500 then it happened on the left side, and then a hand came from behind, and then, 89 00:07:21,500 --> 00:07:25,720 lo and behold, a hand came from in front onto my knee. 90 00:07:26,140 --> 00:07:27,860 I was quite startled. 91 00:07:31,760 --> 00:07:37,560 Fear of arrest and jail prevented many from taking someone home, and fear of 92 00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:39,900 blackmail made sure the sex stayed anonymous. 93 00:07:41,480 --> 00:07:48,420 I met a man, took him back, sex went quite well, and he was in my situation. 94 00:07:48,900 --> 00:07:55,800 He didn't want to give his name, or real name anyway, but the 95 00:07:55,800 --> 00:08:00,020 back of my mind was, could this be Mr Wright? 96 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:03,720 which was very important to me. That's what I was really after. 97 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:06,280 It was an agonising dilemma. 98 00:08:06,500 --> 00:08:09,600 Risk exchanging names or lose Mr Wright. 99 00:08:11,440 --> 00:08:12,780 Can I get you some coffee? 100 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:14,520 No, thanks. Better get going. 101 00:08:15,540 --> 00:08:20,140 If you're in London and need a place to stay. 102 00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:21,560 Thanks. 103 00:08:22,020 --> 00:08:24,740 Um... Here. 104 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:28,760 Here. That's my work number. 105 00:08:40,290 --> 00:08:43,289 Thanks. Make sure the landlord doesn't see you. 106 00:08:43,850 --> 00:08:44,850 Okay, Pierre. 107 00:08:45,710 --> 00:08:46,710 I'm Eddie. 108 00:08:47,930 --> 00:08:48,930 Eddie McNally. 109 00:08:57,110 --> 00:08:58,570 Yes, of course, Mr Scarpel. 110 00:09:01,390 --> 00:09:04,650 The editor requests the pleasure of your company in his office. 111 00:09:06,090 --> 00:09:07,090 Did he say what? 112 00:09:15,430 --> 00:09:16,770 Been a naughty boy, have you? 113 00:09:19,130 --> 00:09:23,490 In 1952, the Daily Mail was a serious establishment newspaper. 114 00:09:23,990 --> 00:09:25,910 Its opinions were highly respectable. 115 00:09:26,410 --> 00:09:28,970 Its leading journalists, too, were public figures. 116 00:09:29,500 --> 00:09:31,980 expected to have impeccable private lives. 117 00:09:33,780 --> 00:09:40,220 Ladies and gentlemen, please raise your glasses to Peter 118 00:09:40,220 --> 00:09:43,620 Wildblood, our new royal correspondent. 119 00:09:44,140 --> 00:09:45,140 Well done, Peter. 120 00:09:45,220 --> 00:09:46,220 Congratulations. 121 00:09:58,680 --> 00:10:02,460 When I got up, it's three o 'clock in the morning. 122 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:04,960 The wife's still up. She's waiting for me. 123 00:10:05,220 --> 00:10:07,280 I'm thinking this is it, Stan. Your number's up. 124 00:10:08,140 --> 00:10:10,440 Good night, love. Good night, Oliver. Thank you. 125 00:10:12,940 --> 00:10:15,360 So she came over. She said, you reek of perfume. 126 00:10:16,020 --> 00:10:17,240 You're having an affair, aren't you? 127 00:10:17,860 --> 00:10:18,880 I said, no, I told her. 128 00:10:20,420 --> 00:10:25,320 I'm doing this secret undercover job, and I have to pretend to be a pansy. 129 00:10:25,600 --> 00:10:28,200 And I have to put perfume on so I smell like one of them. 130 00:10:28,820 --> 00:10:30,060 She only bloody believed it. 131 00:10:34,900 --> 00:10:39,660 No, not for me. I've got to go. One more for the ropey. No, really, I can't. 132 00:10:41,860 --> 00:10:42,940 You've got a date, haven't you? 133 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:45,240 Maybe. 134 00:10:45,660 --> 00:10:46,780 That's got its nerve, hasn't it? 135 00:10:47,140 --> 00:10:48,140 No. 136 00:10:50,380 --> 00:10:51,380 Someone else. 137 00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:03,000 With nowhere else to go, many men went for the risk of cottaging for anonymous 138 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:04,000 sex. 139 00:11:05,940 --> 00:11:12,560 The cottage, of course, is a public toilet used for pick -ups and sometimes 140 00:11:12,560 --> 00:11:14,320 for having sex on the premises. 141 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:18,720 And they were everywhere in the 50s. 142 00:11:19,380 --> 00:11:23,680 It is very simple, this lying in state. 143 00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:28,060 of a dead king and of incomparable beauty. 144 00:11:28,940 --> 00:11:35,160 The slow flicker of the candles touches gently the gems of the imperial crown. 145 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:39,760 Even that ruby that King Henry wore at Agincourt. 146 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:47,260 It touches the deep purple of the velvet cushion and the cool white flowers of 147 00:11:47,260 --> 00:11:52,440 the only... I'm romantic. 148 00:11:53,360 --> 00:11:59,860 I don't really like sleaze, but the situation forced me into sleazy things 149 00:11:59,860 --> 00:12:02,480 fear of, well, for personal safety. 150 00:12:10,860 --> 00:12:12,100 Cup of tea, Mother? 151 00:12:12,380 --> 00:12:13,380 Yes, please. 152 00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:16,060 Father? Yes, please, Peter. 153 00:12:30,350 --> 00:12:31,590 My first front page. 154 00:12:31,890 --> 00:12:32,890 Oh, thank you. 155 00:12:34,830 --> 00:12:35,830 Oh. 156 00:12:36,330 --> 00:12:37,410 Can I keep this? 157 00:12:37,610 --> 00:12:38,630 Yes, it's for you. 158 00:12:44,990 --> 00:12:46,250 Elizabeth, only 25. 159 00:12:46,930 --> 00:12:49,490 Oh, that responsibility and so young. 160 00:12:50,290 --> 00:12:52,490 He's always got Philip to turn to for support. 161 00:12:52,770 --> 00:12:54,490 You could do with someone supporting you. 162 00:12:56,010 --> 00:12:58,890 Behind every successful man, there's a supportive wife. 163 00:12:59,390 --> 00:13:02,250 There are many successful men who are not married. 164 00:13:03,470 --> 00:13:06,910 Besides, I don't really see the point. 165 00:13:10,830 --> 00:13:15,690 I don't want to be deceiving myself if I lived with a woman. 166 00:13:16,430 --> 00:13:20,150 The trouble with you, Peter, is you've spent too long living on your own. 167 00:13:20,950 --> 00:13:22,030 It's not natural. 168 00:13:23,910 --> 00:13:25,490 My parents never knew. 169 00:13:26,190 --> 00:13:29,770 I didn't come out at all to anyone until my mother had died, and then I did. 170 00:13:30,670 --> 00:13:31,730 And that was 1982. 171 00:13:32,430 --> 00:13:34,230 The thing was unspeakable. 172 00:13:34,630 --> 00:13:37,290 It didn't get talked about at all. 173 00:13:37,730 --> 00:13:42,750 Everyone was in the closet except Quentin Crisp, as far as I know. You 174 00:13:42,750 --> 00:13:47,790 You just live... ..a lie. 175 00:13:48,630 --> 00:13:50,010 That's what you're living, a lie. 176 00:13:50,230 --> 00:13:51,370 You act. 177 00:13:51,570 --> 00:13:54,570 You have to learn to act and not give yourself away. 178 00:13:56,590 --> 00:14:00,170 May I first of all say, Lord Hailsham, how very grateful we are to you for 179 00:14:00,170 --> 00:14:03,710 finding time to come here and help us in this extremely complex and difficult 180 00:14:03,710 --> 00:14:07,730 matter. May I ask members of the committee if they have any points to 181 00:14:07,730 --> 00:14:08,709 the paper? 182 00:14:08,710 --> 00:14:11,550 I have one or two points I'd like to ask. 183 00:14:12,930 --> 00:14:18,270 The first one of which is how you reached the conclusion on page one that 184 00:14:18,270 --> 00:14:21,330 homosexuals are made and not born. 185 00:14:21,810 --> 00:14:23,530 Well, from 1938... 186 00:14:24,280 --> 00:14:29,080 to 1954, there has been an increase of the order of a multiple of four, which 187 00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:31,300 actually a conservative estimate. 188 00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:37,160 This increase must be down to something more than congenital factors. 189 00:14:38,580 --> 00:14:43,920 Lord Hilsham, do you think that the increase in court appearances 190 00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:45,780 an increase in behaviour? 191 00:14:46,380 --> 00:14:47,460 Undoubtedly so. 192 00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:51,800 Quite obviously, the war created... 193 00:14:52,250 --> 00:14:57,530 A situation in which many people who had not been homosexual before, in peace 194 00:14:57,530 --> 00:15:00,010 time, found it happening. 195 00:15:00,270 --> 00:15:05,290 They were away from their family and their homes for a long time. 196 00:15:09,810 --> 00:15:12,050 I'm sorry, Lord Harrison, I'm not sure I follow you. 197 00:15:13,170 --> 00:15:16,890 Well, in the Middle East, for instance, of which I have had personal experience, 198 00:15:17,210 --> 00:15:18,490 there were a number of cases. 199 00:15:18,990 --> 00:15:20,950 You see, troops catch it. 200 00:15:21,370 --> 00:15:23,830 then spread it on when they return home. 201 00:15:24,130 --> 00:15:25,750 Do you think that it's like a disease? 202 00:15:26,210 --> 00:15:28,490 Indeed it is, an incurable disease. 203 00:15:29,670 --> 00:15:33,450 Contagious, incurable and self -perpetuating. 204 00:15:35,090 --> 00:15:37,270 Interesting, very interesting. 205 00:15:38,050 --> 00:15:42,250 As well as politicians, many doctors thought that homosexuality was 206 00:15:43,190 --> 00:15:47,410 The BMA saw it as an illness and that it should be treated like a public health 207 00:15:47,410 --> 00:15:48,410 problem. 208 00:15:49,580 --> 00:15:53,000 Philip Bean was 18 when he was sent to the doctor by his mother. 209 00:15:53,620 --> 00:15:57,440 We talked about me and my sex life. 210 00:15:58,620 --> 00:16:03,780 And he prescribed some pills, which made my tits sore. 211 00:16:05,120 --> 00:16:07,060 That was all they did for me as well. 212 00:16:07,480 --> 00:16:09,300 I never did find out what they were. 213 00:16:09,520 --> 00:16:15,120 Their ideas of curing you were scarcely bear thinking about. 214 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:16,800 They used drugs. 215 00:16:17,440 --> 00:16:18,700 They used... 216 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:24,040 electric shock treatment, many of the sort of things that you'd use on the 217 00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:25,040 insane, indeed. 218 00:16:25,420 --> 00:16:32,300 Well, in the one case I do know is this guy who went to 219 00:16:32,300 --> 00:16:35,400 a psychiatrist and given aversion therapy. 220 00:16:36,100 --> 00:16:41,480 He was shown photographs or a photograph of a nude male and then given an 221 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:42,480 electric shock. 222 00:16:56,199 --> 00:16:58,180 Well, but... Hello, Pete. 223 00:16:58,600 --> 00:16:59,600 It's Eddie. 224 00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:02,080 Pete, can you hear me? 225 00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:03,360 Yes, sorry. 226 00:17:03,420 --> 00:17:04,599 It's not a very good line. 227 00:17:05,460 --> 00:17:06,920 I've got leave this weekend. 228 00:17:07,319 --> 00:17:08,660 I was going to come to London. 229 00:17:09,619 --> 00:17:10,700 Well, that's marvellous. 230 00:17:11,780 --> 00:17:13,240 Should I meet you in the usual place? 231 00:17:14,099 --> 00:17:16,819 OK. I'll be there at seven o 'clock. 232 00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:19,440 I look forward to seeing you. 233 00:17:19,859 --> 00:17:20,859 Me too. 234 00:17:42,350 --> 00:17:46,390 When Edward McNally met up again with Peter Wildblood, it was the start of an 235 00:17:46,390 --> 00:17:49,090 affair that would change their lives and change history. 236 00:17:50,750 --> 00:17:52,290 I hear it's a very good play. 237 00:17:53,750 --> 00:17:54,750 Well, stranger. 238 00:17:57,030 --> 00:17:58,030 Mr. Kent. 239 00:18:03,830 --> 00:18:05,630 Do you normally go for men like me? 240 00:18:06,470 --> 00:18:07,570 Am I your type? 241 00:18:12,490 --> 00:18:13,790 I'm not sure if I have a type. 242 00:18:17,510 --> 00:18:18,510 What about you? 243 00:18:19,410 --> 00:18:20,590 What's your type? 244 00:18:22,150 --> 00:18:23,150 Someone like you. 245 00:18:24,370 --> 00:18:26,470 And what type am I then? 246 00:18:28,630 --> 00:18:29,630 Clever. 247 00:18:30,550 --> 00:18:31,550 Well educated. 248 00:18:33,150 --> 00:18:34,150 Ambitious. 249 00:19:08,810 --> 00:19:12,470 Dear Pete, arrive back okay, safe and sound. 250 00:19:13,530 --> 00:19:15,170 Thanks for a wonderful weekend. 251 00:19:16,510 --> 00:19:17,930 I've got it bad, sweetheart. 252 00:19:18,730 --> 00:19:21,530 In fact, I haven't felt so happy for a long time. 253 00:19:22,790 --> 00:19:24,270 This is being written in bed. 254 00:19:24,890 --> 00:19:28,430 Wish you were here, but the RAF have definite views on that. 255 00:19:29,770 --> 00:19:31,070 I'm enclosing a photo. 256 00:19:36,270 --> 00:19:37,890 My dearest darling Eddie. 257 00:19:39,020 --> 00:19:41,040 I was so relieved to hear from you at last. 258 00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:44,860 I can't tell you how worried I was about you. 259 00:19:50,460 --> 00:19:53,400 Alan Horsfall would become a gay rights campaigner. 260 00:19:53,700 --> 00:19:58,080 But in the early 1950s, he was scrupulous about keeping his affairs 261 00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:01,120 He never wrote affectionate letters to anybody. 262 00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:04,540 He never kept diaries. He never kept address books. 263 00:20:05,130 --> 00:20:09,390 He never told anybody where you worked or gave them your telephone number. He 264 00:20:09,390 --> 00:20:12,210 never took anybody home unless you knew them very well. 265 00:20:12,830 --> 00:20:14,910 And a whole string of things. 266 00:20:18,830 --> 00:20:25,130 Do you fancy going on holiday together? 267 00:20:26,530 --> 00:20:31,070 Yeah. A friend has offered me the use of his beach hut in August. 268 00:20:33,680 --> 00:20:34,680 I'm really sorry, Pete. 269 00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:38,520 I could have promised my friend Johnny I'd go on holiday with him. 270 00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:40,840 You should tell me. 271 00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:43,140 He's a good friend from work. 272 00:20:47,700 --> 00:20:49,060 There's nothing going on between us. 273 00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:51,200 He's my confidant. 274 00:20:52,180 --> 00:20:53,900 You haven't told him about us, have you? 275 00:20:54,260 --> 00:20:55,260 Yeah. 276 00:20:55,560 --> 00:20:56,560 About Tristan. 277 00:20:57,940 --> 00:21:00,620 Honestly, he won't tell us all. 278 00:21:06,410 --> 00:21:07,410 Why don't you bring him along? 279 00:21:10,010 --> 00:21:13,390 Why? I don't see why not. A hut sleeps four people. 280 00:21:14,970 --> 00:21:15,970 What is it, Monty? 281 00:21:16,870 --> 00:21:17,870 Lord Montague. 282 00:21:21,170 --> 00:21:26,510 You know a lord? Yes, but it's not quite how you'd imagine it to be. 283 00:21:27,470 --> 00:21:30,310 I found Peter Wildblood a rather amusing person. 284 00:21:30,590 --> 00:21:31,950 He had a good sense of humour. 285 00:21:32,290 --> 00:21:35,490 He'd been all over the place. He'd been... 286 00:21:36,530 --> 00:21:42,250 sent by his editor to have some very interesting stories to cover. And I 287 00:21:42,250 --> 00:21:46,350 him entertaining and very worthwhile to meet with. 288 00:21:47,070 --> 00:21:52,190 At 25, Lord Montague, the third Baron of Bewley, was a socialite and one of the 289 00:21:52,190 --> 00:21:53,730 youngest peers in the House of Lords. 290 00:21:54,590 --> 00:21:58,570 At his stately home in Hampshire, he was setting up Britain's first motor 291 00:21:58,570 --> 00:22:01,710 museum. They run as well now as 50 years ago. 292 00:22:02,690 --> 00:22:07,000 However... He was about to become a household name for the weekend he spent 293 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:10,300 Bewley on August 21st, 1952. 294 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:18,440 Lord Montagu had invited Wild Blood McNally and his RAF friend Johnny 295 00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:22,380 to stay in his beach hut, a safe haven on the edge of his estate. 296 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:26,340 Shall I try, Lord Montagu? I seem to have an awkward look. 297 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:30,700 Well, thank you, Johnny. But please, call me Edward. 298 00:22:39,750 --> 00:22:40,750 Well done. 299 00:22:41,530 --> 00:22:43,050 All a bit primitive, I'm afraid. 300 00:22:44,430 --> 00:22:45,850 Luxury compared to the RAF. 301 00:22:46,430 --> 00:22:48,030 Oh, God, for that matter. 302 00:22:48,390 --> 00:22:49,029 Come on! 303 00:22:49,030 --> 00:22:50,030 Come on, Johnny! 304 00:22:51,110 --> 00:22:51,590 A 305 00:22:51,590 --> 00:22:59,530 little 306 00:22:59,530 --> 00:23:00,530 bit more. 307 00:23:01,130 --> 00:23:02,750 Yep. No, Johnny. 308 00:23:03,370 --> 00:23:04,370 Yeah. 309 00:23:04,670 --> 00:23:05,670 That's it. 310 00:23:08,980 --> 00:23:09,980 Yes. 311 00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:21,300 There you go. 312 00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:24,700 There's plenty of food inside, so you shouldn't go hungry. 313 00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:25,939 Thanks, Edward. 314 00:23:25,940 --> 00:23:28,720 Are you going to stay and have a drink with us? I'd love to, but I've left my 315 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:30,520 cousin Michael and some friends up at the house. 316 00:23:31,120 --> 00:23:32,380 Why don't you bring them over there? 317 00:23:32,860 --> 00:23:33,860 We can have a party. 318 00:23:34,340 --> 00:23:35,340 I might just do that. 319 00:23:54,959 --> 00:24:00,100 Peter Whiteblood was a bit shy in a way. In other words, he wouldn't be in the 320 00:24:00,100 --> 00:24:05,440 middle of a conversation with other people. He'd be more likely leaning 321 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:06,219 the wall. 322 00:24:06,220 --> 00:24:07,220 There you are. 323 00:24:07,580 --> 00:24:11,100 That night, wild -blood McNally and Reynolds slept in the beach hut. 324 00:24:12,140 --> 00:24:15,700 Lord Montague and his cousin, Pitt Rivers, returned to Pallet House. 325 00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:21,060 What exactly happened that evening would become the talk of the nation. 326 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:27,820 I knew Michael Pitt Rivers, who was very much top bracket. 327 00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:29,920 He and I were great friends. 328 00:24:30,220 --> 00:24:36,160 But it didn't bother him at all that my father was a country butcher and he was 329 00:24:36,160 --> 00:24:36,779 an Arab. 330 00:24:36,780 --> 00:24:37,860 We were just friends. 331 00:24:38,100 --> 00:24:41,200 I think that was a great example of it all. 332 00:24:41,580 --> 00:24:46,260 He said, I'll take you to all the places that no decent young man should go to. 333 00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:56,980 1950s Britain was a class -ridden society, but homosexuality transcended 334 00:24:56,980 --> 00:24:57,980 boundaries. 335 00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:01,360 Aristocrats happily mixed and had sex with East End dockers. 336 00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:08,780 It was a threat to the social order, and time for a clampdown. 337 00:25:14,860 --> 00:25:19,780 My dear Eddie, I'm so sorry. I've been trying to write to you for weeks, but 338 00:25:19,780 --> 00:25:20,780 never seem to make it. 339 00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:22,960 I'm up to my eyes in work. 340 00:25:23,180 --> 00:25:25,660 There seems to be so much coronation stuff happening. 341 00:25:27,260 --> 00:25:32,400 I'm getting a lot into the paper, and the editor is very pleased, so I'm 342 00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:33,800 stinging them heavily for expenses. 343 00:25:35,880 --> 00:25:39,460 The editor has mentioned that the diplomatic correspondence job might be 344 00:25:39,460 --> 00:25:41,680 up, which will mean far more money. 345 00:25:42,020 --> 00:25:46,220 The last man who had the job got £4 ,500 a year. 346 00:25:46,740 --> 00:25:49,960 I'll be able to buy a house and even get my own country retreat. 347 00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:54,800 Edward is back from his tour of New York. 348 00:25:55,140 --> 00:25:59,180 He brought back a lot of records, including a very sexy one of Marlena 349 00:25:59,180 --> 00:26:00,180 singing in German. 350 00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:05,020 By the way, Edward sends love to you and Johnny. 351 00:26:06,410 --> 00:26:07,410 Take care of yourself. 352 00:26:08,070 --> 00:26:09,310 And come down here soon. 353 00:26:10,170 --> 00:26:12,010 All my love, P. 354 00:26:20,090 --> 00:26:21,130 What's up? You been fired? 355 00:26:22,910 --> 00:26:23,910 No. 356 00:26:25,470 --> 00:26:27,030 I've just got the diplomatic job. 357 00:26:29,290 --> 00:26:31,170 You chummy bugger. 358 00:26:32,290 --> 00:26:33,370 You've hit the jackpot. 359 00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:42,580 Big responsibility, that job. 360 00:26:44,220 --> 00:26:46,160 They'll be watching your every move. 361 00:26:47,460 --> 00:26:51,720 Wild Blood's promotion propelled him into a world of intelligence briefings 362 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:52,800 foreign office secrets. 363 00:26:53,140 --> 00:26:54,140 Cheers. 364 00:26:55,560 --> 00:26:58,520 It would also launch him into the heart of the Cold War. 365 00:27:01,560 --> 00:27:04,660 Yes, indeed, May Day in Moscow is the most important occasion. 366 00:27:04,980 --> 00:27:08,980 Its aim being to emphasise the power and solidarity of the Soviet Union. 367 00:27:10,350 --> 00:27:12,550 Cold War paranoia was at its peak. 368 00:27:14,350 --> 00:27:19,070 Two senior foreign office diplomats, Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean, had just 369 00:27:19,070 --> 00:27:20,070 defected to Moscow. 370 00:27:20,450 --> 00:27:22,450 They were traitors, and they were gay. 371 00:27:24,030 --> 00:27:27,090 Maclean was bisexual, Burgess homosexual. 372 00:27:27,950 --> 00:27:32,410 Not content with hunting for reds under the bed, Churchill's government began a 373 00:27:32,410 --> 00:27:36,630 hunt for reds in the bed, in a crusade to flush out homosexuals from the 374 00:27:36,630 --> 00:27:38,090 government, the armed forces. 375 00:27:38,590 --> 00:27:40,630 and every influential sphere of society. 376 00:27:41,050 --> 00:27:43,210 If I may speak frankly, Mr. Wolfenden. 377 00:27:43,770 --> 00:27:45,010 Please do. 378 00:27:45,750 --> 00:27:50,390 I am worried about what is happening to this nation. The number of homosexual 379 00:27:50,390 --> 00:27:52,190 cases is terrifying. 380 00:27:52,490 --> 00:27:56,570 If this evil is allowed to continue, it will corrupt the nation. 381 00:27:58,030 --> 00:27:59,990 My apologies to the ladies present. 382 00:28:00,290 --> 00:28:04,110 Don't worry, Chief Constable. I think we've moved on from Huntlett and Palmer. 383 00:28:07,470 --> 00:28:11,850 I'm extremely pleased that this committee has been set up to warn the 384 00:28:11,850 --> 00:28:12,850 this danger. 385 00:28:13,150 --> 00:28:14,150 Yes. 386 00:28:14,610 --> 00:28:20,770 Well, our main focus is to determine the relevance of this law. 387 00:28:21,490 --> 00:28:22,810 Could the law be changed? 388 00:28:24,550 --> 00:28:30,390 I see there was an increase in arrests related to homosexual offences in 1953 389 00:28:30,390 --> 00:28:33,030 after you became chief constable. 390 00:28:33,250 --> 00:28:35,830 There was an increase in homosexual activity. 391 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:39,340 And the Home Secretary was keen to stem the tide. 392 00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:40,680 I see. 393 00:28:40,700 --> 00:28:47,240 You were quoted in the newspaper as saying that you planned to rip the 394 00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:49,480 off all England's filth spots. 395 00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:52,680 Can you explain exactly what you meant by that? 396 00:29:20,300 --> 00:29:21,660 I'm arresting you in gross indecency. 397 00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:31,800 With 398 00:29:31,800 --> 00:29:38,700 full hearts, 399 00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:39,720 we salute. 400 00:29:40,060 --> 00:29:41,060 Perfect. 401 00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:47,440 This young, gracious lady upon whom the royal obligation rests. 402 00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:10,240 In 1953, the purge against homosexuals intensified. 403 00:30:10,620 --> 00:30:14,400 One tactic was the use of undercover police as argent provocateurs. 404 00:30:15,520 --> 00:30:17,960 Jimmy Jacks was one of many trapped by this method. 405 00:30:18,620 --> 00:30:22,860 There was a toilet at the beginning of the cemetery and an agent provocateur, 406 00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:27,460 which I found out later it was, came next to me in the toilet. 407 00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:31,760 He'd be standing there and, what they used to say, exposing himself. 408 00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:34,500 Sometimes he'd be wanking. 409 00:30:35,100 --> 00:30:36,680 Not supposed to, I believe. 410 00:30:37,020 --> 00:30:39,100 He said, I'm arresting you for importuning. 411 00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:45,740 But he was an agent provocateur and I told the magistrate this when I was 412 00:30:45,740 --> 00:30:48,940 arrested and he just didn't believe me. 413 00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:52,540 At the very moment the policeman looked over the top of the wall, he put his 414 00:30:52,540 --> 00:30:57,140 penis through the hole and I was charged with gross indecency. I never touched 415 00:30:57,140 --> 00:30:58,900 him, I wasn't interested in the slightest. 416 00:30:59,340 --> 00:31:04,020 But ironically, I was charged and convicted of gross indecency. 417 00:31:04,570 --> 00:31:07,390 which I had done dozens and dozens of times. 418 00:31:07,630 --> 00:31:09,830 But on that particular occasion, I was innocent. 419 00:31:10,570 --> 00:31:12,430 It didn't make any difference. Get off me! 420 00:31:12,810 --> 00:31:14,130 Get off me! 421 00:31:14,510 --> 00:31:17,110 Leave him alone and I'll call the police. We are the police. 422 00:31:19,010 --> 00:31:22,810 The Home Secretary said he was going to rid England of the plague of 423 00:31:22,810 --> 00:31:25,130 homosexuality, and he meant it too. 424 00:31:26,450 --> 00:31:27,510 So we were scared. 425 00:31:55,180 --> 00:31:56,180 Oh, honey. 426 00:31:56,280 --> 00:31:57,740 What if the landlord heard you? 427 00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:01,039 Not then. 428 00:32:01,040 --> 00:32:02,040 Don't go out. 429 00:32:03,140 --> 00:32:04,140 Did he see you? 430 00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:05,360 No. 431 00:32:05,600 --> 00:32:06,620 Calm down, will you? 432 00:32:15,180 --> 00:32:16,180 Here. 433 00:32:16,640 --> 00:32:18,200 A little something to celebrate your promotion. 434 00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:24,160 Very kind of you, but you didn't have... 435 00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:25,880 Put it on. 436 00:32:39,540 --> 00:32:40,540 Come and have a drink. 437 00:32:40,780 --> 00:32:43,340 I can't. I have to prepare for this night out conference. 438 00:32:44,020 --> 00:32:45,020 You're always working. 439 00:32:45,220 --> 00:32:46,340 It's getting so boring. 440 00:32:49,680 --> 00:32:51,160 I'm thinking about what you said in your letter. 441 00:32:51,860 --> 00:32:52,799 What letter? 442 00:32:52,800 --> 00:32:53,800 The one before last. 443 00:32:54,780 --> 00:32:55,920 Said you were going to buy a house. 444 00:32:56,340 --> 00:32:58,020 And? I could come live with you. 445 00:32:58,760 --> 00:33:00,320 I could be your manservant. 446 00:33:00,560 --> 00:33:01,560 Are you mad? 447 00:33:01,900 --> 00:33:04,940 If someone saw us out together, that would be it. My life would be over. 448 00:33:06,740 --> 00:33:08,240 Have you been keeping my letters? 449 00:33:09,340 --> 00:33:10,340 Yes, of course. 450 00:33:11,280 --> 00:33:12,280 So when do you keep mine? 451 00:33:14,400 --> 00:33:15,400 No. 452 00:33:17,560 --> 00:33:19,740 When you get back to Ely, make sure you burn them. 453 00:33:20,260 --> 00:33:21,260 All of them. 454 00:33:44,170 --> 00:33:48,930 In 1953, the government were making every attempt to stem the tide of filth. 455 00:33:49,550 --> 00:33:53,710 But while the police could hardly arrest every gay man in Britain, a high 456 00:33:53,710 --> 00:33:56,930 -profile trial would stand as a salutary example to the nation. 457 00:34:01,570 --> 00:34:03,830 There's no room, get off! Oh, don't be like that. 458 00:34:05,710 --> 00:34:07,410 Move over, I'll sit on your left. 459 00:34:09,250 --> 00:34:11,650 Get your boot off me joystick, do you mind? 460 00:34:24,080 --> 00:34:25,780 it's a lovely, sunny day. 461 00:34:27,260 --> 00:34:30,199 And these two nancy boys have gone for a walk in the park. 462 00:34:31,340 --> 00:34:34,300 One turns to the other, he says, it's nice out. 463 00:34:34,699 --> 00:34:37,480 Yeah, says the other, I think I'll get mine out. 464 00:34:39,040 --> 00:34:44,340 Dearest Eddie, I would hate to hurt you and really never meant to. 465 00:34:46,500 --> 00:34:49,280 Please believe me when I say that nothing has changed. 466 00:34:51,179 --> 00:34:54,780 I love you as much now as I did when we spent that wonderful holiday together, 467 00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:57,700 which I honestly think was the happiest time I ever had. 468 00:35:02,440 --> 00:35:04,540 This is the kind of letter I never write. 469 00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:11,440 Dearest, you mean such a terrible lot to me that I can't put it into words. 470 00:35:12,920 --> 00:35:17,040 To find out how very, very much I love you, please come back to me. 471 00:35:17,710 --> 00:35:20,650 And we'll have the most wonderful time we've ever spent together. 472 00:35:22,590 --> 00:35:24,070 All the love I've ever known. 473 00:35:25,450 --> 00:35:26,450 P. 474 00:35:40,090 --> 00:35:41,090 Who's P? 475 00:35:42,710 --> 00:35:44,150 A girlfriend, Sergeant. 476 00:35:56,080 --> 00:36:00,960 The military police's next arrest was McNally's friend, Johnny Reynolds. 477 00:36:19,500 --> 00:36:20,500 It's Lord Montagu. 478 00:36:21,720 --> 00:36:22,720 Liar! 479 00:36:23,420 --> 00:36:24,420 He is. 480 00:36:25,320 --> 00:36:26,440 It's Lord Montagu. 481 00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:45,740 The police now had their perfect, high -profile name. 482 00:36:50,320 --> 00:36:57,200 In the turbulence of this anxious and active world, many people are leading 483 00:36:57,200 --> 00:36:59,680 uneventful, lonely lives. 484 00:37:00,820 --> 00:37:06,300 The upward course of a nation's history is due, in the long run, to the 485 00:37:06,300 --> 00:37:09,380 soundness of hearts of its average men and women. 486 00:37:11,580 --> 00:37:17,700 And so it is that this Christmas Day, I want to send a special message of 487 00:37:17,700 --> 00:37:19,180 encouragement and good cheer. 488 00:37:20,040 --> 00:37:24,980 To those of you whose lot is cast in dull and uninvited surroundings. 489 00:37:26,160 --> 00:37:31,620 To those whose names will never be household words, but to whose work and 490 00:37:31,620 --> 00:37:33,560 loyalty we owe so much. 491 00:37:38,460 --> 00:37:40,420 How long have you got off for Christmas? 492 00:37:41,400 --> 00:37:45,720 I'm back on the 2nd of January and then I fly out to Berlin on the 9th for the 493 00:37:45,720 --> 00:37:46,720 Fall Powers Conference. 494 00:37:47,560 --> 00:37:48,560 Berlin? 495 00:37:49,830 --> 00:37:51,150 It'll be dangerous, will it? 496 00:37:51,410 --> 00:37:54,970 My love, the war's over. It's probably safer there than it is in London. 497 00:38:05,170 --> 00:38:06,170 Oh, 498 00:38:06,390 --> 00:38:12,950 no, no, no, no. Please, sit down. 499 00:38:15,310 --> 00:38:16,510 Thank you, Sergeant McCready. 500 00:38:16,990 --> 00:38:18,350 OK, sir, I'll go and see if you need me. 501 00:38:23,660 --> 00:38:26,920 My name's Superintendent Jones. I'm with the Hampshire Constabulary. 502 00:38:28,400 --> 00:38:29,400 Do I understand? 503 00:38:30,340 --> 00:38:32,400 Well, the matter's been passed over to us. 504 00:38:32,900 --> 00:38:37,480 Now, I want you to tell me about the times you spent with Wildblood. 505 00:38:38,120 --> 00:38:40,200 Well, they told them everything I knew. 506 00:38:42,340 --> 00:38:46,440 You know, in a civilian court, the maximum term for buggery is life 507 00:38:46,440 --> 00:38:47,440 imprisonment. 508 00:38:48,820 --> 00:38:52,880 If a judge takes pity on you, well, you'll get seven years. 509 00:38:55,400 --> 00:38:59,440 In prison, your cell door will be marked with the term pervert, and every day 510 00:38:59,440 --> 00:39:02,700 for seven years, you'll face abuse from the other prisoners. 511 00:39:04,080 --> 00:39:06,120 You have no evidence. We have your letters. 512 00:39:06,800 --> 00:39:10,980 And we have evidence from two of your previous boyfriends. You remember George 513 00:39:10,980 --> 00:39:11,980 and Jerry? 514 00:39:12,740 --> 00:39:14,900 Well, they're prepared to testify against you in court. 515 00:39:16,680 --> 00:39:18,680 Did you know Wildblood's going to move out soon? 516 00:39:19,180 --> 00:39:21,140 His new boyfriend's moving in with him. 517 00:39:22,830 --> 00:39:25,190 I don't believe you. Oh, his name is Charles. 518 00:39:27,710 --> 00:39:29,910 Wilder calls him his manservant. 519 00:39:57,580 --> 00:39:58,900 I didn't help you, McNary. 520 00:40:01,720 --> 00:40:03,680 You just need to turn Queen's evidence. 521 00:40:04,360 --> 00:40:08,780 You make a brief statement in court that you and Wildblood had a relationship 522 00:40:08,780 --> 00:40:10,260 and you'll be immune from prosecution. 523 00:40:13,780 --> 00:40:15,360 What all happened to Wildblood? 524 00:40:16,100 --> 00:40:17,620 Well, he'll get off with a fine. 525 00:40:18,140 --> 00:40:19,600 He can afford a good lawyer. 526 00:40:21,540 --> 00:40:24,680 Now, you should be aware that your friend Reynolds has already agreed to 527 00:40:24,680 --> 00:40:25,680 Queen's evidence. 528 00:40:35,400 --> 00:40:36,400 How old are you, Reynolds? 529 00:40:37,680 --> 00:40:38,680 21. 530 00:40:39,380 --> 00:40:41,760 You'll be nearly 30 by the time you get out of jail. 531 00:40:42,320 --> 00:40:46,580 I know your friend McNally won't be going to prison. 532 00:40:47,740 --> 00:40:50,920 He's agreed to testify in court against Montague and Wildblood. 533 00:40:51,680 --> 00:40:52,720 You can do the same. 534 00:40:53,900 --> 00:40:57,420 If you testify against Montague, you'll be free. 535 00:40:57,820 --> 00:40:59,340 All the charges will be dropped. 536 00:41:03,020 --> 00:41:05,780 Don't spend any time worrying about Lord Montague. 537 00:41:06,940 --> 00:41:09,620 You don't think they put a peer of the realm in jail, do you? 538 00:41:14,560 --> 00:41:19,280 Making gay men name names leading to chain prosecutions was a favourite 539 00:41:19,280 --> 00:41:20,280 tactic. 540 00:41:20,840 --> 00:41:23,640 Anthony was working in Manchester when he was caught by it. 541 00:41:24,220 --> 00:41:30,480 When I said to the policeman, I can't give you that name, they said to me, but 542 00:41:30,480 --> 00:41:32,100 you're not leaving here till you do. 543 00:41:32,650 --> 00:41:38,170 The police would bully a young, vulnerable guy and get the names from 544 00:41:38,170 --> 00:41:42,590 threaten him. If he didn't give them the names of everyone he knew that was gay, 545 00:41:42,830 --> 00:41:47,030 they would take him home to his parents and tell his parents and his friends. 546 00:41:47,310 --> 00:41:49,490 He took my shoelaces off my tie. 547 00:41:49,990 --> 00:41:54,810 I was in the cell for about nine to ten hours. 548 00:41:55,010 --> 00:41:59,830 And there was no depth that they wouldn't crawl in the effort to get... 549 00:42:00,940 --> 00:42:02,020 to get a conviction. 550 00:42:02,400 --> 00:42:03,920 I told the addressers that. 551 00:42:04,940 --> 00:42:08,980 And I went to put them down the loo that they had in this cell. 552 00:42:09,220 --> 00:42:10,740 But I saw there was no chain. 553 00:42:11,700 --> 00:42:14,340 So I ate the pieces of paper. 554 00:42:15,200 --> 00:42:18,920 I actually mentioned that because I was so scared that they would find them. 555 00:42:23,160 --> 00:42:27,220 Wildblood, unaware that McNally was in a cell, was preparing to travel to the 556 00:42:27,220 --> 00:42:28,740 Four Powers Conference in Berlin. 557 00:42:43,790 --> 00:42:45,390 Peter Wildblood? Yes. 558 00:42:45,610 --> 00:42:48,950 I'm Superintendent Jones from the Hampshire Constabulary. This is 559 00:42:48,950 --> 00:42:50,710 Smith from New Scotland Yard. 560 00:42:51,050 --> 00:42:54,910 We have a warrant for your arrest, charging you with conspiracy and buggery 561 00:42:54,910 --> 00:42:59,050 arising from your association with Lord Montague and two airmen. We need to 562 00:42:59,050 --> 00:42:59,908 search your flat. 563 00:42:59,910 --> 00:43:01,770 Where's your search warrant? It's back at the station. 564 00:43:05,670 --> 00:43:08,110 Look, I have to fly to Berlin today. 565 00:43:08,490 --> 00:43:09,490 Is this your handwriting? 566 00:43:12,010 --> 00:43:13,430 I need to phone my solicitor. 567 00:43:13,710 --> 00:43:14,990 He won't be in his office yet. 568 00:43:16,610 --> 00:43:20,870 So, Mr. Wildblood, where do you hide all your love letters? 569 00:43:21,910 --> 00:43:22,950 I don't keep letters. 570 00:43:27,550 --> 00:43:28,550 No? 571 00:43:29,430 --> 00:43:30,610 Where is this from, then? 572 00:43:32,910 --> 00:43:33,910 Someone in the Navy? 573 00:43:34,630 --> 00:43:35,890 No, it's from my mother. 574 00:43:42,879 --> 00:43:44,320 I suppose these are not queer, are they? 575 00:44:23,020 --> 00:44:28,780 My dear Peter, I have a week to go before night duty, then into seclusion. 576 00:44:29,120 --> 00:44:30,380 Will you miss me? 577 00:44:31,000 --> 00:44:34,880 I hope so, because I am missing you something awful. 578 00:44:38,180 --> 00:44:39,860 Are these from Edward McNally? 579 00:44:45,340 --> 00:44:46,340 Yes. 580 00:44:49,180 --> 00:44:52,720 Simultaneously. There were dawn raids at two of England's most distinguished 581 00:44:52,720 --> 00:44:56,920 addresses, Pitt Rivers Estate in Dorset and Palace House in Bewley. 582 00:45:00,920 --> 00:45:07,780 Police pushed their way past 583 00:45:07,780 --> 00:45:11,260 the butler, burst into the bedroom and arrested Lord Montague. 584 00:45:14,960 --> 00:45:19,680 The press had been tipped off. 585 00:45:20,040 --> 00:45:23,420 and were waiting to turn Lord Montague's arrival at the police station into 586 00:45:23,420 --> 00:45:24,420 banner headlines. 587 00:45:24,880 --> 00:45:31,600 Of course, my arrest did have quite a dramatic effect on a whole lot of 588 00:45:31,600 --> 00:45:37,380 people. It said that the skies of Georgia were black with smoke. People 589 00:45:37,380 --> 00:45:38,380 loved it. 590 00:45:41,480 --> 00:45:43,300 Can you still travel to Berlin? 591 00:45:45,160 --> 00:45:47,520 No. They've taken my passport. 592 00:45:51,440 --> 00:45:53,620 Can't be too serious if they've released you. 593 00:45:54,540 --> 00:46:00,480 I'm on bail until the trial Yeah 594 00:46:00,480 --> 00:46:18,040 He's 595 00:46:18,040 --> 00:46:19,240 going to be in the papers tomorrow 596 00:46:22,760 --> 00:46:26,220 You should know that I'm being charged over offences arising out of my 597 00:46:26,220 --> 00:46:28,940 friendship with another man. 598 00:46:30,660 --> 00:46:33,640 It doesn't matter what they say you've done. You're still my son. 599 00:46:34,840 --> 00:46:36,680 And I will always stand by you. 600 00:46:38,340 --> 00:46:43,780 I'm going to need a lawyer. 601 00:46:50,920 --> 00:46:52,620 Your father and I have them saving. 602 00:46:54,620 --> 00:46:56,680 We were keeping them until you got married. 603 00:46:58,300 --> 00:46:59,880 Perhaps this is more important. 604 00:47:01,360 --> 00:47:03,140 There are 17 charges. 605 00:47:03,400 --> 00:47:07,380 The prosecution's case is built on the evidence from McNally and Reynolds. 606 00:47:07,800 --> 00:47:10,800 However, there's a good chance that we can prove that they're an unreliable 607 00:47:10,800 --> 00:47:13,840 source. Sorry, what is the evidence from McNally and Reynolds? 608 00:47:14,180 --> 00:47:17,200 They've turned Queen's evidence against you, Montague, and Pitt Rivers in 609 00:47:17,200 --> 00:47:18,940 exchange for immunity from prosecution. 610 00:47:20,240 --> 00:47:23,580 We need to point out that McNally and Reynolds are two men who would be facing 611 00:47:23,580 --> 00:47:24,680 criminal charges themselves. 612 00:47:26,580 --> 00:47:30,820 The scene was set for the most sensational court case of its kind since 613 00:47:30,820 --> 00:47:34,720 Wilde. Homosexuality was suddenly center stage in British life. 614 00:47:53,640 --> 00:47:55,640 Montague, Wildblood, Pitt Rivers... 615 00:47:55,640 --> 00:48:02,500 Wildblood and Pitt 616 00:48:02,500 --> 00:48:06,400 Rivers were charged with gross indecency and, most seriously, buggery. 617 00:48:07,100 --> 00:48:10,240 Montague with gross indecency and attempted buggery. 618 00:48:10,740 --> 00:48:15,300 All three with conspiring to enable homosexual offences to take place. 619 00:48:24,720 --> 00:48:29,280 Despite Wildblood's request for women to be present, an all -male jury would 620 00:48:29,280 --> 00:48:30,280 decide their fate. 621 00:48:41,160 --> 00:48:46,820 The case against Peter Wildblood and Lord Montague was entirely dependent on 622 00:48:46,820 --> 00:48:49,400 credibility of the evidence from McNally and Reynolds. 623 00:48:57,930 --> 00:49:02,290 The cross -examination would centre around the Bewley Beach Hut Party of 624 00:49:02,290 --> 00:49:03,530 1952. 625 00:49:09,010 --> 00:49:15,530 The prosecuting counsel was Cocky Roberts, who was a well -known 626 00:49:15,530 --> 00:49:19,510 was a rather return figure, a rather bullying sort of person. 627 00:49:23,370 --> 00:49:26,110 What did you do at the Beach Hut? 628 00:49:28,650 --> 00:49:33,850 They were drinking music from a portable radio. 629 00:49:35,190 --> 00:49:37,770 Now, in this beach hut, there are two rooms, are there not? 630 00:49:39,950 --> 00:49:40,950 Yes. 631 00:49:42,330 --> 00:49:45,210 And did you stay all the time in one room or not? 632 00:49:47,870 --> 00:49:48,870 No. 633 00:49:49,250 --> 00:49:53,050 I thought Montague and I went into the bedroom. 634 00:49:54,410 --> 00:49:56,310 And what happened in the bedroom? 635 00:49:58,060 --> 00:49:59,640 We laid in bed. 636 00:50:01,120 --> 00:50:02,120 And then? 637 00:50:06,600 --> 00:50:08,280 Mutual masturbation. 638 00:50:11,680 --> 00:50:16,740 And on this occasion, did anything occur prior to masturbation? 639 00:50:19,000 --> 00:50:22,900 I think he wanted me to commit buggery. 640 00:50:25,040 --> 00:50:27,780 But you told him you did not want to. 641 00:50:30,140 --> 00:50:31,140 Yes. 642 00:50:35,980 --> 00:50:36,660 Lord 643 00:50:36,660 --> 00:50:44,440 Montague, 644 00:50:44,560 --> 00:50:51,100 you heard Reynolds say that on three occasions various intimate acts took 645 00:50:51,100 --> 00:50:52,100 between you. 646 00:50:52,160 --> 00:50:53,160 I did. 647 00:50:53,370 --> 00:50:55,850 You're telling the jury there's no truth in that whatever. 648 00:50:56,290 --> 00:50:59,130 I am? A complete invention. 649 00:50:59,730 --> 00:51:00,730 It is. 650 00:51:03,350 --> 00:51:07,050 Yes. Would you take letter number 16, please? 651 00:51:08,410 --> 00:51:09,410 Yes, I have it. 652 00:51:11,110 --> 00:51:12,110 Hmm. 653 00:51:12,770 --> 00:51:14,010 Dear Johnny. 654 00:51:16,310 --> 00:51:21,670 Well, I understand that Christian names aren't anybody's currency, but... 655 00:51:22,110 --> 00:51:24,350 You did get to know him rather quickly, didn't you? 656 00:51:24,650 --> 00:51:28,050 When I first met him, I was introduced to him as Johnny Rannell. 657 00:51:28,330 --> 00:51:29,590 So I called him Johnny. 658 00:51:30,750 --> 00:51:33,210 He did call me Lord Montague once or twice. 659 00:51:34,130 --> 00:51:35,810 And I told him to call me Edward. 660 00:51:40,210 --> 00:51:45,110 How many people did you have staying with you on the weekend of August 23rd, 661 00:51:45,110 --> 00:51:46,510 1952? 662 00:51:47,730 --> 00:51:50,690 Five guests staying with me, I think. And my sister. 663 00:51:51,230 --> 00:51:55,030 Yes, that'll be five men and your sister at the house. 664 00:51:55,450 --> 00:51:56,650 Yes, that's correct. 665 00:51:58,070 --> 00:52:01,250 And did the five men go down to the beach hut on the Sunday night? 666 00:52:02,330 --> 00:52:05,710 Yes. Had you arranged for a party to take place there that night? 667 00:52:05,970 --> 00:52:06,970 I had not. 668 00:52:07,570 --> 00:52:10,650 Peter Wildblood had asked us to come down there for a drink. 669 00:52:11,390 --> 00:52:13,250 Reynolds was told that dancing occurred. 670 00:52:14,850 --> 00:52:15,850 Between men. 671 00:52:16,330 --> 00:52:17,430 Do you deny this? 672 00:52:18,070 --> 00:52:19,070 I do. 673 00:52:20,720 --> 00:52:22,520 Was anyone the worse for the drink? 674 00:52:22,940 --> 00:52:27,840 I noticed that McNally and Reynolds were a little merry towards the end of the 675 00:52:27,840 --> 00:52:28,840 party. 676 00:52:29,060 --> 00:52:33,280 A little out of the usual atmosphere, were they? I'm not sure I know what the 677 00:52:33,280 --> 00:52:34,560 usual atmosphere is. 678 00:52:34,760 --> 00:52:39,260 Oh, Lord Montague, you are all their social superiors. 679 00:52:39,940 --> 00:52:42,400 I should imagine that's a matter of opinion, Mr. Roberts. 680 00:52:42,720 --> 00:52:47,840 Reynolds has said that at some time in the proceedings you led him through to 681 00:52:47,840 --> 00:52:48,840 inner room in the hut. 682 00:52:49,280 --> 00:52:53,780 There you went on to the bed and you behaved indecently together. 683 00:52:54,560 --> 00:52:59,480 Is that untrue? It is quite untrue. And that after you tried to commit buggery 684 00:52:59,480 --> 00:53:04,060 with him, is that also untrue? Yes. Not a word of truth in it at all? None 685 00:53:04,060 --> 00:53:05,060 whatsoever. 686 00:53:07,880 --> 00:53:09,700 The trial was front -page news. 687 00:53:10,420 --> 00:53:16,060 A scandal that sparked a public debate and unprecedented public interest in 688 00:53:16,060 --> 00:53:17,060 homosexuality. 689 00:53:18,570 --> 00:53:23,230 It was the first big case of its kind and being who it was. 690 00:53:23,450 --> 00:53:26,770 Yeah, it was a big story. It was not only in the British press, it was in the 691 00:53:26,770 --> 00:53:29,430 American press and a lot of European press as well. 692 00:53:30,270 --> 00:53:35,530 And it was one of the things, only one of the things, that made people more 693 00:53:35,530 --> 00:53:38,210 fearful of an oncoming clampdown. 694 00:53:38,530 --> 00:53:40,730 You read every word several times. 695 00:53:40,970 --> 00:53:44,250 You buy all the paper, you don't only buy one paper, you buy several and read 696 00:53:44,250 --> 00:53:45,250 every bit. 697 00:53:46,010 --> 00:53:47,430 Do you know the accused? 698 00:53:48,040 --> 00:53:49,040 Wild Blood? 699 00:53:50,500 --> 00:53:51,500 Yes. 700 00:53:51,980 --> 00:53:53,800 When did you first meet him? 701 00:53:55,020 --> 00:53:56,840 February 1952. 702 00:53:57,220 --> 00:54:00,140 How did you come to meet Wild Blood? 703 00:54:00,840 --> 00:54:07,820 Well, I was just standing outside near Piccadilly Tube Station when 704 00:54:07,820 --> 00:54:09,900 I noticed this gentleman. 705 00:54:11,160 --> 00:54:13,840 And I spoke to him and he spoke to me. 706 00:54:14,080 --> 00:54:15,120 What did he say? 707 00:54:18,030 --> 00:54:19,610 Back with him to where he lived. 708 00:54:20,170 --> 00:54:21,170 And did you? 709 00:54:22,970 --> 00:54:25,530 Yes. And did you stay the night? 710 00:54:28,130 --> 00:54:29,130 Yes. 711 00:54:30,630 --> 00:54:31,870 Where did you sleep? 712 00:54:32,810 --> 00:54:35,210 In the bedroom in his flat. 713 00:54:37,130 --> 00:54:39,330 And did anything occur between you? 714 00:54:42,550 --> 00:54:44,650 We committed buggery with each other. 715 00:54:45,030 --> 00:54:47,130 Please speak up, Mr McNally. 716 00:54:48,590 --> 00:54:52,550 We committed buggery with each other. Now, look, let's be quite clear of your 717 00:54:52,550 --> 00:54:58,150 meaning. When you say we committed buggery with each other, what exactly 718 00:54:58,150 --> 00:54:59,150 do to him? 719 00:54:59,650 --> 00:55:04,390 I put my penis up his anus, and he put his up mine. 720 00:55:07,570 --> 00:55:14,550 Would you look at exhibit number 721 00:55:14,550 --> 00:55:15,890 14, please? 722 00:55:19,120 --> 00:55:22,020 Did you write this letter to wild blood? 723 00:55:24,520 --> 00:55:28,680 Yes. In it you write, thanks again for a wonderful weekend. 724 00:55:30,280 --> 00:55:32,620 I've really got it bad, sweetheart. 725 00:55:33,500 --> 00:55:39,720 In fact, haven't felt so happy for a long time. This is written in bed. 726 00:55:40,600 --> 00:55:46,820 Wish you were here, but the RAF have definite views on these matters. 727 00:55:48,400 --> 00:55:51,900 You're right. I really got it bad, sweetheart. 728 00:55:55,060 --> 00:55:56,780 What did you mean? 729 00:55:59,500 --> 00:56:02,180 I was in love with Peter Wildblood. 730 00:56:47,880 --> 00:56:54,500 Mr. McNally, during 1952 and 1953, 731 00:56:54,880 --> 00:57:01,000 were you what you would describe as in love with Peter Wildblood? 732 00:57:03,320 --> 00:57:04,320 Yes, sir. 733 00:57:04,480 --> 00:57:08,040 And when you wrote him these letters, of which we've heard, did you mean those 734 00:57:08,040 --> 00:57:09,040 expressions of sentiment? 735 00:57:10,780 --> 00:57:11,780 Yes, sir. 736 00:57:12,200 --> 00:57:13,320 These acts. 737 00:57:15,370 --> 00:57:17,330 You say were committed by you and by him. 738 00:57:18,170 --> 00:57:21,370 Would you have permitted these acts if you had not been in love with him? 739 00:57:21,930 --> 00:57:22,930 No, sir. 740 00:57:22,950 --> 00:57:25,990 You knew, of course, that Reynolds was a homosexual. 741 00:57:28,210 --> 00:57:29,210 A pervert. 742 00:57:31,610 --> 00:57:32,610 Did you know? 743 00:57:34,430 --> 00:57:35,169 Yes, sir. 744 00:57:35,170 --> 00:57:38,050 Did you ever commit any acts of indecency or buggery with him? 745 00:57:39,390 --> 00:57:40,390 No, sir. 746 00:57:40,470 --> 00:57:44,110 Was the reason that you did not commit acts of buggery with him... 747 00:57:44,520 --> 00:57:46,120 Because you are not in love with him? 748 00:57:47,080 --> 00:57:48,080 Yes, sir. 749 00:57:48,280 --> 00:57:53,860 So it comes to this, that it is only if you are in love that you commit these 750 00:57:53,860 --> 00:57:54,860 acts? 751 00:57:55,680 --> 00:57:56,680 Yes, sir. 752 00:57:57,520 --> 00:58:02,540 When Sergeant found letters from Wildblood in your kit bag, how were they 753 00:58:02,540 --> 00:58:03,540 signed? 754 00:58:03,980 --> 00:58:05,100 By the letter P. 755 00:58:05,700 --> 00:58:09,360 Well, then did they know that the letters were indeed from Peter 756 00:58:11,240 --> 00:58:12,240 I told them. 757 00:58:15,830 --> 00:58:16,830 Told them. 758 00:58:17,150 --> 00:58:19,790 There were other letters in your kit that were found, were there not? 759 00:58:22,170 --> 00:58:24,870 Yes, sir. Were they from people with whom you'd committed acts of gross 760 00:58:24,870 --> 00:58:25,970 indecency or buggery? 761 00:58:27,110 --> 00:58:33,770 There was one other person that I committed an act of gross indecency. 762 00:58:35,450 --> 00:58:36,450 Not buggery. 763 00:58:36,510 --> 00:58:37,670 And his name was George? 764 00:58:40,630 --> 00:58:41,468 Yes, sir. 765 00:58:41,470 --> 00:58:42,750 Had you been in love with that man? 766 00:58:43,950 --> 00:58:44,950 No, sir. 767 00:58:44,990 --> 00:58:50,490 Ah, but you permitted an act of gross indecency even though you were not in 768 00:58:50,490 --> 00:58:51,490 love. 769 00:58:51,930 --> 00:58:52,930 Yes. 770 00:58:54,690 --> 00:59:00,070 You were examined by Dr. Mant on the 14th of January, 1954. 771 00:59:02,090 --> 00:59:06,590 Yes. You reported that the findings were consistent with anal intercourse having 772 00:59:06,590 --> 00:59:09,610 taken place on many occasions. Did you know about this report? 773 00:59:11,070 --> 00:59:14,030 No. You are, are you not? 774 00:59:14,700 --> 00:59:16,140 An habitual bugger. 775 00:59:16,340 --> 00:59:21,040 No. With how many men have you committed, let's say, first of all, acts 776 00:59:21,040 --> 00:59:22,040 indecency? 777 00:59:22,620 --> 00:59:25,740 I do not remember. How many is that? 778 00:59:26,000 --> 00:59:30,460 Oh, I... I just do not remember. 779 00:59:30,700 --> 00:59:34,100 During 1952 and 1953, you worked as male nurse at RAF Ely. 780 00:59:34,460 --> 00:59:36,280 Yes. Did you bugger any of the patients? 781 00:59:36,580 --> 00:59:38,640 No. You didn't think it would be good for their health? 782 00:59:39,240 --> 00:59:40,240 No. 783 00:59:40,680 --> 00:59:42,620 I was there to look after the patients. 784 00:59:43,050 --> 00:59:45,690 Perhaps you could enlighten the jury as to how many men have buggered you. 785 00:59:49,610 --> 00:59:52,030 Four. And did you give their names to the police? 786 00:59:54,270 --> 00:59:57,230 I do not know the names of the men that buggered me. 787 00:59:57,870 --> 01:00:00,170 So you do not know their names? 788 01:00:02,570 --> 01:00:03,570 The one. 789 01:00:04,670 --> 01:00:06,930 Peter Wildblood. 790 01:00:12,399 --> 01:00:15,760 Peter Wildblood was the name, I suppose, the police and the RAF were most 791 01:00:15,760 --> 01:00:17,060 interested in, was it not? 792 01:00:18,720 --> 01:00:22,000 Yes, sir. Mr. McNally, I want you to understand quite clearly what I'm 793 01:00:22,000 --> 01:00:22,999 to you. 794 01:00:23,000 --> 01:00:26,000 I suggest to you that you never had any kind of indecent relationship whatsoever 795 01:00:26,000 --> 01:00:29,860 with Peter Wildblood. I did, sir. I suggest to you that you're making up 796 01:00:29,860 --> 01:00:32,980 story in order to avoid punishment for other offences that you've committed 797 01:00:32,980 --> 01:00:33,980 other men. No, sir. 798 01:00:34,120 --> 01:00:36,920 I suggest you are, by your own statement in this court, a sodomite and a 799 01:00:36,920 --> 01:00:40,000 pervert, and I further suggest that you've been telling lies to save your 800 01:00:40,000 --> 01:00:41,360 skin. No, sir! 801 01:00:41,800 --> 01:00:42,900 No further, Your Honour. 802 01:00:48,840 --> 01:00:51,320 It was now Wildblood's turn to take the stand. 803 01:00:51,900 --> 01:00:56,660 All that stood between prison and freedom was his ability to lie on oath 804 01:00:56,660 --> 01:00:58,140 front of the judge and jury. 805 01:00:59,760 --> 01:01:04,710 Between the end of the holiday on August 31st and... Christmas of 1952, did you 806 01:01:04,710 --> 01:01:05,750 correspond with McNally? 807 01:01:06,010 --> 01:01:10,230 Yes, I wrote to him once or twice. In what kind of terms did you write to him? 808 01:01:10,930 --> 01:01:14,230 In affectionate terms, but nothing more at that point. 809 01:01:15,230 --> 01:01:17,150 What kind of letters was he writing to you? 810 01:01:18,010 --> 01:01:21,950 Um, they were extremely sentimental. 811 01:01:25,270 --> 01:01:30,590 Emotional, I should say. And they contained endearments of an unusual kind 812 01:01:30,590 --> 01:01:31,850 two men to exchange. 813 01:01:33,480 --> 01:01:35,980 He has told us that for many years he's been a homosexual. 814 01:01:36,920 --> 01:01:38,560 Did you know that in 1952? 815 01:01:38,800 --> 01:01:39,800 No, I didn't know that. 816 01:01:40,100 --> 01:01:42,500 What were your feelings for him at the end of January 1953? 817 01:01:43,440 --> 01:01:44,700 I was fond of him. 818 01:01:46,240 --> 01:01:50,880 I was grateful to him for his affection. 819 01:01:53,060 --> 01:01:54,420 It helped me with my loneliness. 820 01:01:57,220 --> 01:02:00,880 I was extremely lonely at the time. 821 01:02:01,900 --> 01:02:05,540 Was there any buggery or gross indecency that took place between you and McNally 822 01:02:05,540 --> 01:02:07,640 when he stayed with you? No, none at all. 823 01:02:08,820 --> 01:02:09,820 No further questions? 824 01:02:14,720 --> 01:02:18,060 McNally was infinitely your social inferior, was he not? 825 01:02:18,500 --> 01:02:19,640 That is absolute nonsense. 826 01:02:21,760 --> 01:02:26,220 Now, with regard to intellect, would you agree that McNally and you didn't even 827 01:02:26,220 --> 01:02:27,740 meet on the same plane at all? 828 01:02:27,980 --> 01:02:30,960 I think he was quite an intelligent person. 829 01:02:31,420 --> 01:02:33,100 He was not educated, but he was intelligent. 830 01:02:33,460 --> 01:02:38,360 Yes, what I'm after is what was the common link that bound together you, a 831 01:02:38,360 --> 01:02:44,080 highly intelligent journalist, with Corporal McNally, who started in the pit 832 01:02:44,080 --> 01:02:45,058 in Glasgow. 833 01:02:45,060 --> 01:02:48,940 As a journalist, I meet with all kinds of people. Yes, you don't invite them 834 01:02:48,940 --> 01:02:49,940 to stay for the weekend. 835 01:02:50,540 --> 01:02:51,680 I don't see why not. 836 01:02:51,920 --> 01:02:55,460 Nor write them letters, dearest darling Eddie. 837 01:02:56,040 --> 01:02:59,900 I know it is foolish to write letters couched in those terms, but it is no 838 01:02:59,900 --> 01:03:03,380 better or worse if they are my social inferiors or superiors. 839 01:03:03,620 --> 01:03:06,880 In one of your letters, you write of having the most wonderful holiday at 840 01:03:06,880 --> 01:03:08,720 Bewley. What made it wonderful? 841 01:03:09,400 --> 01:03:11,320 The weather was beautiful. 842 01:03:11,780 --> 01:03:14,340 We were spending it in very pleasant surroundings. 843 01:03:14,560 --> 01:03:18,940 For the first few days, we had the sea to bathe in on our doorstep. It was a 844 01:03:18,940 --> 01:03:22,400 wonderful change from the life I had been living in London. 845 01:03:23,060 --> 01:03:24,060 The weather. 846 01:03:24,590 --> 01:03:26,430 Would you look at Exhibit 23, please? 847 01:03:28,350 --> 01:03:32,570 Would I be wrong in describing this, if I may use the term, as a sexy 848 01:03:32,570 --> 01:03:33,570 photograph? 849 01:03:35,250 --> 01:03:36,250 Not particularly. 850 01:03:38,230 --> 01:03:42,730 Am I wrong in thinking that the male organ is in a state of erection? 851 01:03:44,770 --> 01:03:45,950 Yes, I think you're quite wrong. 852 01:03:47,410 --> 01:03:50,270 It's simply the way the organ is arranged inside the trunks. 853 01:03:52,110 --> 01:03:56,690 The prosecution's case hung in the balance, but Wildblood's most critical 854 01:03:56,690 --> 01:03:58,790 of truth still lay ahead. 855 01:04:07,890 --> 01:04:11,770 As the trial entered its second week, there were hints of a shift in press and 856 01:04:11,770 --> 01:04:12,770 public opinion. 857 01:04:13,370 --> 01:04:17,870 The press are laying odds of 11 to 2 on all three of us being acquitted. 858 01:04:22,480 --> 01:04:25,480 But the biggest sensation was yet to come. 859 01:04:26,860 --> 01:04:32,680 Mr Wildblood, when you entered this box, you did go and call him out and tell 860 01:04:32,680 --> 01:04:34,600 the whole truth and nothing but the truth. 861 01:04:35,220 --> 01:04:36,460 You realise that? 862 01:04:36,900 --> 01:04:37,900 Yes. 863 01:04:38,460 --> 01:04:43,460 You are aware that in this court we have McNally, your friend of some 21 months, 864 01:04:43,780 --> 01:04:47,580 describing what took place between him and you? 865 01:04:48,300 --> 01:04:51,080 We know some of the letters that passed between you. 866 01:04:52,140 --> 01:04:55,160 And you still persist in saying that you've told the whole truth? 867 01:04:55,720 --> 01:04:57,880 Yes, I say I have told the whole truth. 868 01:04:58,480 --> 01:05:03,960 Have you any suggestion to put forward to explain why McNally would tell such 869 01:05:03,960 --> 01:05:05,940 wicked lies against you? 870 01:05:06,280 --> 01:05:08,180 Yes, I should have thought it was perfectly obvious. 871 01:05:08,540 --> 01:05:12,220 He's either doing it to save his own skin or doing it to save somebody 872 01:05:12,500 --> 01:05:19,160 But how can he save his own skin by telling what happened between 873 01:05:19,160 --> 01:05:22,480 you? Your Honour, these questions are suppositional. 874 01:05:22,920 --> 01:05:27,320 I do not think, Mr Roberts, that it would do the jury any good to speculate 875 01:05:27,320 --> 01:05:28,620 the motives of another man. 876 01:05:30,260 --> 01:05:35,000 You say that you did not know that McNally was a practising pervert. Is 877 01:05:35,000 --> 01:05:36,000 correct? 878 01:05:36,060 --> 01:05:38,960 I think we need to agree on some sort of vocabulary. 879 01:05:39,760 --> 01:05:43,260 Is that not an exhaustive definition of the term homosexual? 880 01:05:43,720 --> 01:05:47,360 A practising pervert? Only in the sense in which the word has been used in this 881 01:05:47,360 --> 01:05:51,970 court. But a pervert is a man who, from wickedness, gets desire from an 882 01:05:51,970 --> 01:05:52,970 unnatural function. 883 01:05:54,690 --> 01:05:55,690 I think so. 884 01:05:55,910 --> 01:05:59,330 Whereas a homosexual is a man who, from accident of birth, has unnatural 885 01:05:59,330 --> 01:06:00,430 desires. Is that correct? 886 01:06:01,490 --> 01:06:02,490 Yes. 887 01:06:05,790 --> 01:06:10,790 Mr. Wildblood, nothing during this trial has been brought against your 888 01:06:10,790 --> 01:06:13,070 character. You can hold your head up high. 889 01:06:14,570 --> 01:06:16,190 But are you a homosexual? 890 01:06:29,320 --> 01:06:32,660 Mr. Wildblood, please answer the question. 891 01:06:42,820 --> 01:06:48,680 I am a homosexual. 892 01:07:01,770 --> 01:07:06,230 Well, I admired Peter Wildwood very much because he was completely honest and 893 01:07:06,230 --> 01:07:07,229 spoke the truth. 894 01:07:07,230 --> 01:07:14,050 I admire Peter Wildwood's bravery in confessing his homosexuality at that 895 01:07:14,050 --> 01:07:16,870 stage, but I think it was a tactical error. 896 01:07:17,210 --> 01:07:22,170 Well, I thought it was great, and I thought he was extremely brave, and I 897 01:07:22,170 --> 01:07:23,009 brave enough. 898 01:07:23,010 --> 01:07:27,330 I think that any chance he had of being found not guilty disappeared at that 899 01:07:27,330 --> 01:07:28,330 time. 900 01:07:32,490 --> 01:07:35,410 The jury was out for four and a half hours. 901 01:07:37,170 --> 01:07:41,090 You have all three been found guilty of serious offences. 902 01:07:41,350 --> 01:07:44,890 New Montague, less serious offences than the other two. 903 01:07:45,890 --> 01:07:50,270 I have paid greatest attention to everything that has been said on your 904 01:07:50,650 --> 01:07:55,190 but of course it is quite impossible for these offences to be passed over. 905 01:07:56,670 --> 01:07:59,910 I'm dealing with you in the most lenient way that I possibly can. 906 01:08:00,630 --> 01:08:01,630 New Montague. 907 01:08:02,670 --> 01:08:04,410 will go to prison for 12 months. 908 01:08:05,170 --> 01:08:08,610 You, Pitt Rivers, for 18 months. 909 01:08:09,270 --> 01:08:12,610 And you, Wild Blood, for 18 months. 910 01:08:19,490 --> 01:08:23,830 Wild Blood's daring declaration of his homosexuality had sealed the 911 01:08:24,770 --> 01:08:29,069 But the severity of the sentences shocked an increasingly sympathetic 912 01:08:33,000 --> 01:08:37,260 Because at that time we had no idea what people were thinking outside, nor did 913 01:08:37,260 --> 01:08:40,140 we know what the attitude was going to be with other people. 914 01:08:41,040 --> 01:08:44,840 But nobody foresaw the reaction as the defendant left the prison. 915 01:08:46,020 --> 01:08:47,040 Keep your head down. 916 01:08:47,399 --> 01:08:48,600 They can't hurt us now. 917 01:08:54,300 --> 01:08:56,580 Lord Montague, keep your head up. 918 01:08:57,000 --> 01:08:58,000 Well done. 919 01:09:02,109 --> 01:09:03,109 Wobbler. 920 01:09:06,470 --> 01:09:07,470 Wobbler. 921 01:09:25,210 --> 01:09:26,210 Pick a wobbler. 922 01:09:26,890 --> 01:09:28,370 The pizza. The pizza. 923 01:09:33,229 --> 01:09:37,350 The trial created the first groundswell of press and public opinion that the law 924 01:09:37,350 --> 01:09:38,350 was too harsh. 925 01:09:41,310 --> 01:09:44,050 The crusade against homosexuals had backfired. 926 01:09:44,350 --> 01:09:48,290 In the wake of the trial, a Home Office committee was set up to look at the law. 927 01:09:48,470 --> 01:09:51,210 It would become famous as the Walforden Committee. 928 01:09:53,470 --> 01:10:00,190 Chief Constable, do you think that homosexuality between 929 01:10:00,190 --> 01:10:05,180 consenting males... in private, should be decriminalised. 930 01:10:06,720 --> 01:10:09,120 I would expect a tremendous increase if this were to happen. 931 01:10:09,820 --> 01:10:13,840 Punishment keeps it down. Why is it that other countries have adopted a more 932 01:10:13,840 --> 01:10:14,840 tolerant view? 933 01:10:16,220 --> 01:10:21,840 I have visited and consulted policemen in France, Italy, Scandinavia and 934 01:10:21,840 --> 01:10:22,840 America. 935 01:10:23,680 --> 01:10:28,860 And I feel you never hear of any country with higher morals than this country. 936 01:10:30,540 --> 01:10:32,060 Except probably Canada and Fiji. 937 01:10:46,260 --> 01:10:50,120 I'm worried that these sessions are not yielding enough facts. 938 01:10:50,900 --> 01:10:55,380 In all my view, they're committed in grave danger of becoming a farce. 939 01:10:57,360 --> 01:10:59,020 Really? How so? 940 01:11:01,040 --> 01:11:06,040 How can we determine whether the laws of homosexuality should be changed without 941 01:11:06,040 --> 01:11:08,440 hearing evidence from homosexuals? 942 01:11:23,480 --> 01:11:29,440 I've been wondering whether we should be hearing from... 943 01:11:30,000 --> 01:11:31,000 Our Huntleys. 944 01:11:31,940 --> 01:11:35,680 But how can we have criminals giving evidence before a Home Office inquiry? 945 01:11:37,260 --> 01:11:39,200 If we do it behind closed doors. 946 01:11:40,700 --> 01:11:42,600 Off the record, sort of thing. 947 01:11:44,060 --> 01:11:46,780 We could put an advertisement in a newspaper. 948 01:11:47,840 --> 01:11:52,200 With respect, Mr. Wolfenden, we'll have every Huntley coming out of the 949 01:11:52,200 --> 01:11:54,420 woodwork. We'll be made to look like fools. 950 01:11:54,680 --> 01:11:56,460 I think you're quite wrong, Mrs. Curran. 951 01:11:57,260 --> 01:11:59,640 I can't see anyone being brave enough to come forward. 952 01:12:02,840 --> 01:12:06,480 Three of our huntlies have volunteered to come forward. 953 01:12:06,780 --> 01:12:07,780 Volunteered? 954 01:12:08,200 --> 01:12:10,820 I take it all three want to be anonymous. 955 01:12:11,180 --> 01:12:13,220 No, there's one who's prepared to give his name. 956 01:12:15,740 --> 01:12:19,080 Peter Wildblood was released from prison in March 1955. 957 01:12:20,100 --> 01:12:23,080 He was now committed to campaigning for homosexual rights. 958 01:12:26,800 --> 01:12:30,280 The Walforden Committee would give him the perfect opportunity to make his 959 01:12:30,280 --> 01:12:31,280 known. 960 01:12:56,200 --> 01:12:58,160 My name is Peter Wildblood. 961 01:12:59,020 --> 01:13:03,020 And what evidence and expertise do you bring to us, Mr Wildblood? 962 01:13:03,840 --> 01:13:05,180 I am a homosexual. 963 01:13:08,020 --> 01:13:14,100 Peter Wildblood really did very well. He was turning himself into a crusader to 964 01:13:14,100 --> 01:13:20,920 have the law changed, and he wrote a very successful book, and good luck to 965 01:13:21,300 --> 01:13:24,700 Two years later, the committee published their long -awaited report. 966 01:13:25,370 --> 01:13:29,550 It put forward Peter Wildblood's main recommendation that homosexual acts 967 01:13:29,550 --> 01:13:33,030 between consenting adults in private should be decriminalised. 968 01:13:34,210 --> 01:13:40,830 It was such a wonderful turning point because we were also relieved 969 01:13:40,830 --> 01:13:47,670 that, in fact, you know, without doing anything outrageous, too outrageous in 970 01:13:47,670 --> 01:13:52,390 public, you could do it in private, do things in private. 971 01:13:52,990 --> 01:13:58,210 And I thought, I think most gay people thought that, that it, you know, was 972 01:13:58,210 --> 01:14:02,150 excellent. It took another ten years for Parliament to make it law. 973 01:14:02,890 --> 01:14:08,890 When we felt we knew we were safe, we could get rid of the two single beds and 974 01:14:08,890 --> 01:14:13,330 we could get a double bed and we could live together as a couple. 975 01:14:14,030 --> 01:14:18,310 It was a hell of a... And looking back on it, it was a hell of a statement to 976 01:14:18,310 --> 01:14:22,170 make. We were very pleased to meet the son. 977 01:14:22,860 --> 01:14:29,220 Very old men who proudly told us they'd been together for 47 978 01:14:29,220 --> 01:14:36,120 years. And so it gave us much pleasure to top that and say 54 years. 979 01:15:05,130 --> 01:15:09,490 We've got more programmes that note homosexuality's decriminalisation. 980 01:15:09,490 --> 01:15:14,670 night from 10, gay men whose lives interconnect over 36 hours in London, 981 01:15:14,670 --> 01:15:19,650 -off drama Clapham Junction. And Tuesday night from 5 past 11, how gay sex 982 01:15:19,650 --> 01:15:24,110 changed the world, how the sex life of Britain changed for good, and how gay 983 01:15:24,110 --> 01:15:26,310 lifestyles became socially acceptable. 984 01:15:26,850 --> 01:15:31,410 Up next, though, Farooza Balk, Nev Campbell and Rachel True, a .k .a. the 985 01:15:31,410 --> 01:15:34,370 bitches of Eastwick. Horror fantasy, my friends. 986 01:15:35,000 --> 01:15:36,000 in the craft.