Acclaimed production 'Dial Medicine for Murder' comes to the Haywards Heath Arts festival

Saturday the 16th of September 2023 sees Dr. Harry Brunjes and Dr. Andrew Johns take to the stage at the Hub Theatre in Haywards Heath to present their pathological discussion 'Dial Medicine for Murder.'

With successful runs at the Edinburgh fringe, coupled with appearances up and down the country, as well as a US tour. This is the story and juxtaposition of the two most notorious British physicians of the 20th Century, Dr Harold Shipman & Dr John Bodkin Adams. Comparing and contrasting the background, arrest, trial, legacy and psychopathology of both individuals interspersed with film footage and contemporaneous news items. The show is presented as a consultation with Dr Harry Brunjes & Dr Andrew Johns who first met as medical students at Guys Hospital followed by careers in general medicine and forensic psychiatry respectively and who both have connections with Shipman and Bodkin-Adams.

Dr Harry Brunjes says of the show, “In the production Andrew and I compare the background, arrest, trial and legacies of both doctors. We examine the victims’ stories, the odd circumstances of multiple deaths, and ask the big question: why was one convicted and the other wasn’t? We reflect on the haunting prospect of: could it happen again? But also detail the regulatory changes that have become part of day to day clinical practice since the Shipman conviction. We invite the audience to question us which invariably leads to an astonishing and fascinating debate. As two doctors we have been surprised by the attention we have received and certainly were not expecting to be ‘on tour’ at this stage in our careers. To conclude if anything our set is an insight into the pathological mind and a demonstration of how both the medical and legal systems reacted and adapted to two individuals who were the greatest serial killers in Britain in the twentieth century and yet were both loved and respected family doctors. We hope you enjoy it.”

Tickets are on sale now with all proceeds being donated to the festivals charity partners, ‘Hope and Homes for Children’ supporting their work with the children in Ukraine and also the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

Further Details and ticketing information can be found at www.haywardsheathartsfestival.co.uk