“I was naked having a strip search and I just know James was somewhere laughing his head off.” Who was James Le Mesurier?   When he fell to his death in Turkey in 2019 James Le Mesurier left behind a tangle of truths and lies. Mayday tells the extraordinary real story of the man who organised the White Helmets – rescuers who film themselves pulling survivors from bombed out buildings in rebel-held areas of Syria – and investigates claims that, far from being heroes, they are part of a very elaborate hoax. James Le Mesurier – his detractors say – was a British secret agent, pulling the strings. So when his body was found by worshippers on their way to morning prayers, there were a lot questions.  Produced, written and presented by: Chloe Hadjimatheou
Editor: Emma Rippon 
Researcher: Tom Wright
Mixed by: Neil Churchill
Arabic translation and additional research: Vanessa Bowles, Abdul Kader Habak
Turkish researcher: Nevin Sungur
Narrative Consultant: John Yorke
Original music: Nick Mundy and Bu Kolthoum
Production Coordinator - Gemma Ashman REFERENCES “Investigation into death of White Helmets co-founder” - CBC News: The National, 11 Nov 2019 – video from New York Al Jazeera James Le Mesurier home video – family collection

Mayday - Ep 2. The Pizza in the Suitcase

This feed has moved. Listen to find the new one, plus the series you might have missed and what's coming up... Intrigue: ‘Jaw-dropping’, ‘gripping’, ‘bingeable,’ ‘thrilling’ – dramatic true stories and investigations that reveal how the world really works. Don't miss an episode - just search for 'Intrigue' and re-subscribe or follow: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000nfh

Personal Journals

Society & Culture

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

True crime

How to find the new Intrigue feed, plus the series you might have missed and what's coming up... Intrigue: ‘Jaw-dropping’, ‘gripping’, ‘bingeable,’ ‘thrilling’ – dramatic true stories and investigations that reveal how the world really works. Don't miss an episode - just search for 'Intrigue' and re-subscribe or follow: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000nfh

Intrigue: This feed has moved

In this last programme of the series, the community of Cayucos is watching on and wondering how things will develop. Is there a way to handle a situation like this, where homelessness and wealth collide. Where a damaged man and a frail older woman come together to share a life? The unusual romance between Dave and Carolyn captured the attention of the BBC Journalist Sue Mitchell as it was unfolding on her street. She spends a lot of time in California, she married an American and her award-winning journalism has been about the lives of people like Dave who inhabit the dangerous margins of society. New episodes will be released on Thursday, wherever you get your podcasts. If you’re in the UK, listen to the latest full series of Intrigue first on BBC Sounds. https://bbc.in/3WEQS5W Million Dollar Lover is produced at BBC Audio by the team behind The Boy in the Woods and is presented by Sue Mitchell. The series is scripted by Winifred Robinson; the producers are Sue Mitchell and Joel Moors; the dramaturg is Flo Dessau and sound design is by Tom Brignall. The editor is Philip Sellars. With special thanks to BBC Radio 4's Commissioning Editor Daniel Clarke.

Million Dollar Lover – Ep 10. Final Plot

With Carolyn’s daughters powerless to act, it looks like Dave might be on the brink of a receiving a small fortune from his 80 year old lover, Carolyn. She has promised to take care of him and says that he is the best thing to happen in her life. Her daughters do not believe she is in her right mind, but they cannot find anyone prepared to help them. It is shaping up for a distressing battle when suddenly events take a turn for the worse. The unusual romance between Dave and Carolyn captured the attention of the BBC Journalist Sue Mitchell as it was unfolding on her street. She spends a lot of time in California, she married an American and her award-winning journalism has been about the lives of people like Dave who inhabit the dangerous margins of society. New episodes will be released on Thursday, wherever you get your podcasts. If you’re in the UK, listen to the latest full series of Intrigue first on BBC Sounds. https://bbc.in/3WEQS5W Million Dollar Lover is produced by R&M; Production, the team behind The Boy in the Woods and is presented by Sue Mitchell. The series is scripted by Winifred Robinson; the producers are Sue Mitchell and Joel Moors; the dramaturg is Flo Dessau and sound design is by Tom Brignall

Million Dollar Lover – Ep 9. Missing You

Things are reaching a head as worries grow about Carolyn’s decision to sell two houses, on a single plot. One of the houses is home to her grandson and his family and Carolyn does not appear to be totally sure about her decision. Her daughters are so concerned that they approach the estate agent begging him to stop things. If he does not and the sale goes ahead, Dave could be looking at a sizeable amount of money being transferred into his name. Carolyn’s daughters could be seeing their worst nightmares coming true. And a homeless man who rode into Cayucos on a bike could soon be on the brink of achieving the sort of stability he could never have dreamed of. The relationship between Dave and Carolyn captured the attention of the BBC Journalist Sue Mitchell as it was unfolding on her street. She spends a lot of time in California, she married an American and her award-winning journalism has been about the lives of people like Dave who inhabit the dangerous margins of society. New episodes will be released on Thursday, wherever you get your podcasts. If you’re in the UK, listen to the latest full series of Intrigue first on BBC Sounds. https://bbc.in/3WEQS5W Million Dollar Lover is produced at BBC Audio by the team behind The Boy in the Woods and is presented by Sue Mitchell. The series is scripted by Winifred Robinson; the producers are Sue Mitchell and Joel Moors; the dramaturg is Flo Dessau and sound design is by Tom Brignall. The series Editor is Philip Sellars

Million Dollar Lover – Ep 8. Taking Control

In the idyllic seaside town of Cayucos, on the Californian coast, property is expensive, a home here can easily cost a million dollars or more. The property boom which has made people of Carolyn’s generation well off, has priced so many out of the market and made it expensive to rent. There is a growing problem with homelessness, a world that Dave knows well. Even now that he is living with Carolyn he has not cut his ties with the homeless and is determined to help when he can. When Dave returns to Riverside, on the outskirts of Los Angeles, he visits some of the friends he lived alongside on the river bottom. There are tarpaulin covers stretching for miles, largely hidden by the trees and it is down there that we meet Rebecca. She is a crystal meth addict and offers him the pipe: he has made so much of leaving this world behind, but has he really? In that same visit he goes back to the Gavilan mountains, a spaghetti Western landscape that is sun scorched and inhospitable. It was here that Dave lived with a famous Hollywood actress. A story which hardly seems true but which is and one which quickly raises new worries about Carolyn’s safety at his hands. The relationship between Dave and Carolyn captured the attention of the BBC Journalist Sue Mitchell, an investigative journalist who reports on the lives of people like Dave who inhabit the dangerous margins of society. New episodes will be released on Thursday, wherever you get your podcasts. If you’re in the UK, listen to the latest full series of Intrigue first on BBC Sounds. https://bbc.in/3WEQS5W The series is scripted by Winifred Robinson; the producers are Sue Mitchell and Joel Moors; the dramaturg is Flo Dessau and sound design is by Tom Brignall

Mayday - Ep 2. The Pizza in the Suitcase

Download our free app to listen on your phone