The Brighton Bomb: 1. A Matter of Timing

When you get right down to it, everything in life is a matter of timing.

The clock that propels this story went unheard for three weeks, three days, six hours and thirty-six minutes…until the bomb it was attached to went off at 2.54am on Friday 12 October, 1984. The day of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s speech to the Conservative Party Conference in Brighton. Which means the Prime Minister and all her cabinet are guaranteed to be in the Grand Hotel. It's the biggest direct assault on the British parliamentary system since the Gunpowder Plot in 1605. And in the bomber's mind, it’s only the start.

Written and presented by Glenn Patterson

Series Producer: Owen McFadden Story Consultant and Sound Design: Alan Hall Producer: Lena Ferguson Archive Producer: Fran Rowlatt McCormick Production Co-Ordinator: Hollie Wallace Composer: Mark McCambridge Sound Engineer: Claire Marquess Mixing Engineer: Mike Woolley Patrick Magee archive courtesy of Peter Taylor and Whistledown Productions

Executive Producer: Rachel Hooper

A Walk on Air production in association with Keo Films for BBC Radio 4