Episodes
| Episode | First Broadcast | Repeated | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 20130819 | A Latin American true crime classic set in Argentina. On the evening of the 9th June 1956 in an apartment in Buenos Aires, between twelve and fourteen men were arrested on suspicion of involvement in a rebellion against the Argentine government. A few hours later, the local police chief received orders to execute them. Almost all were innocent. In compelling prose, Rodolfo Walsh recreates the events of that night and its aftermath. Pre-dating Capote's IN COLD BLOOD by over a decade, OPERATION MASSACRE is regarded throughout Latin America as the original work of modern 'true crime.' This classic of reportage has been admired by writers a diverse as Jorge Luis Borges and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It has just been translated into English for the first time. Read by Nigel Anthony Abridged and produced by Jane Marshall A Jane Marshall production for BBC Radio 4. On an evening in 1956, a group of men gather in an apartment in Buenos Aires to play cards | |
| 02 | 20130820 | Episode 2 Florida was an unremarkable suburb of the Vicente Lopez district of Buenos Aires in the Summer of 1956, when a group of neighbours assembled in the back apartment of a house to play cards and listen to a boxing match on the radio. In the front apartment the owner of the house listened to the same fight with an acquaintance, whilst his wife got ready for bed. Meanwhile across the city General Valle and General Tanco were planning an uprising against the government, which set in train a macabre chain of events for the unsuspecting men in Florida. Read by Nigel Anthony. Abridged and produced by Jane Marshall A Jane Marshall production for BBC Radio 4. Neighbours gather in a Buenos Aires house oblivious to the macabre events about to unfold. | |
| 03 | 20130821 | Episode 3 A police raid on a house in Buenos Aires has astounded the unsuspecting residents. But as they are bundled onto a truck most of them think they have nothing to fear. Little do they know that they are suspected of conspiring in a rebellion against the government. Read by Nigel Anthony Aridged and produced by Jane Marshall A Jane Marshall production for BBC Radio 4. | |
| 04 | 20130819 | 20130822 (R4) | The men arrested from a house in Buenos Aires have been questioned by police and then put on a truck, understanding that they are being transferred to La Plata. However, the truck doesn't drive to La Plata but to a deserted wasteland where the men are forced out onto the road at gun point. And they still have no idea what is happening to them or why. Read by Nigel Anthony Abridged and produced by Jane Marshall A Jane Marshall production for BBC Radio 4. The arrested men are forced out of a police truck at gunpoint on a deserted road. |
| 05 LAST | 20130823 | Seven of the condemned men arrested in a house in Buenos Aires have escaped a botched execution. Seriously injured, Livraga has been found wandering down a road and rushed to a clinic by an unsuspecting policeman. Here the nurses bravely try to prevent further harm befalling him. Read by Nigel Anthony Abridged and produced by Jane Marshall A Jane Marshall production for BBC Radio 4. Seven men have escaped a botched execution. The injured Livraga is now in a clinic. |