The History Podcast – The Magnificent O'Connors

Episode 4: The Rise and Fall of Jimmy O'Connor
Host: BBC Radio 4
Date: October 10, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode charts the remarkable personal and professional journey of Jimmy O'Connor: from small-time London criminal wrongly convicted of murder and facing the hangman's noose, to celebrated TV scriptwriter mixing with celebrities on Mykonos. It explores the devastating consequences of Jimmy's conviction on his wife Nemone Lethbridge, one of the UK’s first female barristers, and their family. The episode also follows the O’Connors' determined efforts—decades later—by son Ragnar, brother Milo, and their now 93-year-old mother, to finally unearth the truth and clear Jimmy’s name. The search for lost trial transcripts and key statements drives both the narrative and the family’s passionate quest for justice.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Hidden Burden: Family and Professional Fallout

• Nemone’s Career Destroyed: After marrying Jimmy in secret in 1959, Nemone had her promising barrister career cut short when the marriage was revealed due to Jimmy's reputation as a convicted murderer. (01:08)
  • “Mum was thrown out of the profession she loved because the man she married was, in the eyes of the rest of the world, a murderer.” – Ragnar (01:22)
• Enduring Stigma: The family reflects on the lifelong impact of this injustice, both personally and professionally.
  • Nemone comments on modern recourse: "You know, nowadays I'd go to the industrial tribunal or something." (01:45)

2. The Long Hunt for Lost Evidence

• Decades Searching for the Trial Transcript: The O’Connor family details their exhaustive, often dispiriting pursuit of the full transcript from Jimmy's 1942 trial—a record seen as crucial to contesting the conviction.
  • “My dad was looking for it his entire life, my mum’s been looking for it all our lives… There comes a point where you just despair.” – Milo (04:06)
• Breakthrough at the Archives: In a moment of near-mythical luck, Milo finally finds the full transcript at Kew.
  • “It literally was the last thing we were looking at … and there it is. The whole transcript of summing up. And we've always known that was the important thing to see.” – Milo (05:48)

3. From Notoriety to Cultural Influence: Jimmy’s Writing Career

• Rise as a Writer: Jimmy transforms adversity into creativity, becoming a key voice in the "Angry Young Men" cultural movement. Prisons’ dismissal of his writing as "too extreme and violent" becomes a badge of honour.
  • “1960s was a great time to be a working-class man with a story to tell.” – Ragnar (08:45)
• Collaboration with Ken Loach: Jimmy’s work, in partnership with influential figures like Ken Loach, brings new realism to British TV, notably through plays like Three Clear Sundays (1965), dramatizing the death penalty with raw immediacy.
  • "What energy and comedy and zest for life he had. And his writing matched that." – Ken Loach (10:47)
  • Three Clear Sundays is recognised as pivotal in the national debate about capital punishment. (11:19–12:34)

4. Art as Retribution: Layers of Meaning in Jimmy’s Work

• Personal Parallels: Ragnar speculates that casting George Sewell Jr. in Three Clear Sundays was Jimmy’s coded message to George Sewell Sr.—a key (possibly coerced) witness at Jimmy's trial.
  • “I can't believe that getting George Sewell Jr. to play that part of Johnny is a coincidence.” – Ragnar (14:51)

5. Downturns, Divorce, and Enduring Hardship

• Career Decline, Drinking, and Paranoia: As TV fashions change, Jimmy’s work dries up, leading to bitterness and increased isolation.
  • “He got angrier and angrier after.” – Nemone (17:42)
  • Recording phone calls to protect his ideas exemplifies growing distrust. (18:02)
• Failed Legal Appeals: Despite the engagement of high-powered solicitor David Napley and a fleeting recantation by key witness Sewell, their appeal is rejected by the Home Office as lacking sufficient grounds. (19:01–22:11)
  • “There is no… it’s just—” “There's no desire for just justice.” – Ragnar & Nemone (22:17)
• Family Breakdown and Survival: The combination of professional setbacks and personal struggles leads Nemone and Jimmy to finally divorce in 1973.
  • “He had some very good years. We also had some very difficult ones.” – Nemone (23:54)
  • Post-divorce, the family lives in poverty, “off lentils and the generosity of family and friends.” – Ragnar (25:27)

6. Redemption and Return

• Nemone’s Return to the Bar: In 1981, after decades of professional exile, Nemone is finally welcomed back into legal chambers, reflecting slow changes in the profession.
  • “He was extremely eccentric… He accepted black men and women. Horror, shock, horror, shock, horror. And he gave me a tendency.” – Nemone (25:46)

7. Final Revelations and Cliffhanger

• Still Haunted by Injustice: Even as his public platform fades, Jimmy fights to clear his name, culminating in a poignant 1991 radio interview asserting continued hope.
  • “Hope deferred maketh the heart grow sick. There's always hope.” – Jimmy (27:22)
• A Critical New Discovery: The episode ends on a dramatic note with the family uncovering a major statement from John Andrews, potentially unlocking new truths about the murder for which Jimmy was convicted.
  • “We got a strange phone call… from a guy who said, I've got a terrible weight of conscience on me. We've got it all, Mum. It’s open now.” – Milo (29:09)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “What happened to her was plain wrong. And that's a big part of why we're trying again to get Dad's conviction overturned.” – Ragnar (01:57)

• “It's like finding the mythical dorky bird or something.” – Milo, on discovering the transcript (04:22)

• “They've been called everything from messiahs of the milk bars to the new intellectuals.” – Nemone, on the Angry Young Men movement (08:45)

• “Well, as it says in the Scriptures, hope deferred maketh the heart grow sick. There's always hope.” – Jimmy (27:22)

• “There’s no desire for just justice.” – Nemone (22:17)

• “We got it all, Mum. It’s open now.” – Milo, after finding the crucial statement (29:09)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:08 – Nemone’s forced exit from the legal profession
• 04:06 – Decades of searching for the trial transcript
• 05:48 – Milo’s discovery of the lost transcript
• 08:45–09:45 – Emergence of Jimmy as part of the Angry Young Men
• 10:25 – Ken Loach describes meeting and collaborating with Jimmy
• 11:19–12:34 – Broadcast and impact of Three Clear Sundays
• 14:36–15:18 – George Sewell connection and possible subtext
• 17:23 – Onset of career downturn and personal decline
• 19:39–20:51 – Solicitor’s findings on witness coercion
• 22:17 – Reflection on legal stonewalling
• 25:46 – Nemone’s return to the bar
• 27:22 – Jimmy’s hope for exoneration, 1991 radio interview
• 28:08–29:19 – Discovery of crucial new statement, setup for next episode

Tone and Style

The episode maintains an intimate, often raw tone: blending historical investigation, poignant family testimony, and moments of dry wit, especially in Nemone’s reflections. There’s a persistent sense of injustice, determination, and the messy complications of public and private life after an infamous conviction.

Next on The Magnificent O'Connors:
A startling confession and the appearance of a lost statement threaten to upend the whole campaign for Jimmy’s exoneration.