The Trial of Leopold & Loeb: Dickie & Babe
A 90-minute modern 'radio play'
- hear the evidence from the jury benches -
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A Trial of the Century
Chicago. 1920.
The true story that inspired Donna Tartt’s The Secret History
The Trial of Leopold and Loeb: Dickie & Babe revisits one of the most unsettling criminal cases of the twentieth century. It is a feature-length (90-minute), standalone audiobook in the tradition of a radio play.
The Leopold and Loeb case has echoed through literature and culture for a century, influencing writers from Patrick Hamilton to Donna Tartt, and film directors such as Alfred Hitchcock. Its enduring fascination lies not only in what happened, but in the questions it continues to raise.
Set against the social and intellectual climate of 1920s Chicago, it invites listeners into a world shaped by early-modern psychology, cultural anxieties about homosexuality, and shifting ideas about crime and responsibility.
Written as a dramatic narrative and performed by a full cast of stage actors — including performers with backgrounds at the Royal Shakespeare Company and other leading theatre companies — the production brings language, character, and voice to the foreground. The result is an intimate listening experience, designed to draw the listener in gradually, with the narrative momentum and psychological pull of a classic thriller.
Why is this a Trial of the Century?
At its centre stands Clarence Darrow, one of the most formidable defence attorneys of his time. Brought in to save two young men who had confessed in detail to a calculated killing, Darrow made a decisive choice: he steered the case away from questions of guilt and toward the nature of responsibility itself. In a courtroom already gripped by public outrage, his arguments drew on psychology, environment, and the limits of free will, culminating in a sentencing hearing that would become one of the most famous in American legal history. Running beneath the proceedings, often unspoken but unmistakably present, was the relationship between Leopold and Loeb. Evidence of their intimacy surfaced indirectly — shaped by a legal and social climate in which such matters could not be openly named. The result was a layer of tension within the trial itself: a dynamic that both illuminated and obscured the bond between the two defendants and their extraordinary crime, and which continues to influence how the case is understood today.Trials of the Century Audiobooks
This is the first in the Trials of the Century series, which features true-crime courtroom battles with historical depth. Next up: The Trial of Dr Crippen, set in Edwardian London, followed by The Trial of Patty Hearst, set in 1970s California.Further reading
For a detailed historical account of the Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb case, see Famous Trials .
Cast & production
Narrator
Sandra Parsons
Growing up in Germany, where her father was controller of BFBS (British Forces Broadcasting Services), Sandra spent much of her childhood listening to the radio, enjoying everything from The Clitheroe Kid to Dick Barton – Special Agent (not-so-true crime).
She went on to become a journalist, first at The Times, where she launched its features supplement T2, and then at the Mail, where she is Literary Editor.
She teaches yin yoga in her spare time and, in a possible throwback to her early ambition to be a doctor (thwarted by the requirement of being good at physics and chemistry), is the author of Age Less: how I reduced my biological age from 60 to 20… and how you can too. Out now.
ACTOR
Oliver Senton
Plays Dr William White
A National Youth Theatre alumnus and Bristol Old Vic–trained actor, Oliver’s career spans stage, screen, and radio. He is currently touring in a Royal Shakespeare Company First Encounters production, playing King Lear.
His work ranges from Mamma Mia! to BBC dramas and long-running TV favourites including EastEnders, Casualty and Hollyoaks. He has also collaborated with leading experimental artists and companies such as Ken Campbell, Slung Low and Showstopper! The Improvised Musical.
Recent credits include The School for Scandal (Dubrovnik), Coriolanus (National Theatre), The Gifting (Leeds 2023/Slung Low), Trigger Point (ITV/Hat Trick) and A Christmas Carol (RSC).
Actor
Anna Devlin
Plays Lorraine Nathan
Anna is a stage, TV, and film actor. Her work spans major studio productions, acclaimed BBC documentaries and high-profile streaming dramas. She is best known for playing Primrose Chattoway in HBO’s The Nevers, with further screen credits including Amazon’s Hanna, BBC Two’s Novels That Shaped Us and The Joy of Oscar Wilde, and Syfy’s 12 Monkeys.
Her feature film work includes playing a young Aileen Getty in All the Money in the World (directed by Ridley Scott), Kat and the Band and the BFI/BBC Films drama Sick(er). On stage, Anna has appeared at the Almeida Theatre performing in Before the Party (Directed by Matthew Dunster). Her recent and upcoming projects include What It Feels Like for a Girl, directed by Ng Choon Ping.
Recent voice credit: Jinhsi in Wuthering Waves (Kuro Games). Anna’s also an artist (limited prints and fab tattoos).
Actor
Nathan Osgood
Plays Clarence Darrow
Nathan has worked across Broadway, the National Theatre, the Royal Court, Chichester and the West End, and his screen credits range from Florence Foster Jenkins and Mission Impossible to The Honourable Woman, Undercover and Holby City.
He is known to cinema audiences for roles in Holmes & Watson—where he played Mark Twain—Me and Orson Welles, and Criminal, and more recently for performances in The English and Central Intelligence. Nathan also works extensively in BBC Radio Drama, winning an Earphones Award for his audiobook narration of Bill Bryson’s The Road to Little Dribbling, with further notable reads including Middlesex.
In video games, he has voiced fan-favourite characters including Old Luke Skywalker in Lego Star Wars, The Fixer in Cyberpunk 2077, and roles in GoldenEye 007, Looks to Kill and The Division.
ACTOR
Mark Holden
Plays Dr Wiliam Healy
A British-born Canadian actor of Nigerian descent, Mark’s career spans film, television, theatre and voice across the UK, Canada, and South Africa.
He is best known to TV audiences for playing CIA handler John Lynn in Deep State, with further screen credits including World War Z, Captain Phillips, The Infiltrator, Riviera, 24: Live Another Day, The X-Files and Stargate SG-1. On stage he originated the role of James Morse in the West End production of Pretty Woman: The Musical and has performed with the National Theatre, the Royal Court, Chichester and on Broadway.
Mark’s videogame work includes Doctor Paradox in Cyberpunk 2077, Nikolas in Dying Light 2: Stay Human, and roles in Lego Star Wars, GoldenEye 007 and The Division. He also wrote, produced and starred in the award-winning short film The Double Deal.
Before becoming an actor, Mark served as a police officer.
actor
Max Furguson
Plays Richard ‘Dickie’ Loeb
Originally from the Yorkshire Dales, Max trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, graduating with First Class Honours in Collaborative and Devised Theatre.
His screen work includes a series-regular role as Elliot Hayes in The Bay (ITV), with further television credits in Doctors (BBC One) and Casualty (BBC).
On stage he has appeared in To Kill a Mockingbird at the Gielgud Theatre (Sonia Friedman), Felt at Southwark Playhouse, O and I (Trish Wadley Productions) and a range of devised and physical-theatre work with companies including the Wardrobe Ensemble, Hope Theatre and Complicité Associates.
Max is a neurodivergent actor and multi-faceted artist whose talents also include puppetry.
actor
Zachary Fall
Plays Nathan ‘Babe’ Leopold
A Franco-American actor of Jewish-Tunisian heritage, Zachary trained at Drama Centre London and is a founding member of Woven Voices.
Zachary made his stage debut as the young Prince of Wales in his father Jean-Claude Fall’s production of Richard III, touring France and Switzerland, and has since worked across television, theatre and voice in the UK and Europe.
His screen credits include Poldark, Funny Woman, Genius: Picasso, Guilt, Versailles and Crossing Lines, performing opposite actors such as Antonio Banderas, Clémence Poésy, Aidan Turner and William Fichtner.
Zachary also works extensively in voiceover, with recent videogame roles in Lies of P and Classified: France ’44, alongside ADR and character work for A Plague Tale: Innocence, The Division 2 and major clients including Spotify, Adidas and Google.
actor
mitchell mullen
Plays Judge John R. Caverly
Originally from Massachusetts and now based in London, Mitchell’s screen career spans major studio films, prestige television and international streaming drama.
His recent credits include Industry (BBC), Champagne Problems (Netflix), Here (Sony Pictures), Delia (World Productions), The Man Who Fell to Earth (CBS), The New Pope (HBO), Run On (Netflix), Catastrophe (Channel 4/Amazon), Deep State (Epix/Fox TV) and No One Gets Out Alive (Netflix).
He is known for roles such as CIA Director Wincamp in The Man Who Fell to Earth and The Ambassador in the 2022 film Marlowe, directed by Neil Jordan, with earlier film credits including About Time.
Mitchell also works extensively in voice, contributing to video game projects for Ubisoft and Guerrilla Games, including Horizon Zero Dawn and Steep.
Actor
Glenn Wrage
Plays Robert Crowe
Born in Queens and trained at the William Esper Studio in Manhattan, Glenn’s career spans film, television, animation and an extensive body of video game performance work.
His screen credits include Saving Private Ryan, Blue Iguana, Running Scared, Veep and Dead Babies, alongside commercial work across the UK and US.
He is a prolific voice and performance-capture artist, with roles in Batman: Arkham Knight, Mirror’s Edge, Aliens vs. Predator, Dead Island 2, Horizon Forbidden West, Dying Light 2: Stay Human and Atomic Heart, as well as long-running animated series such as Thomas & Friends, Chop Socky Chooks and New Captain Scarlet.
Glenn continues to voice major characters across leading titles including RoboCop: Rogue City, Elden Ring: Nightreign, Zet Zillions and Commandos: Origins.
Writer & Director
Ben Devlin
A former court reporter at London’s Old Bailey, Ben’s award-winning career spans major documentary series, factual entertainment, talk shows, and high-end adventure formats.
He has served as Creative Director at ITN Productions, an Executive Producer at the BBC, and was part of the team that shaped Graham Norton’s chat show during its original Channel 4 launch.
Ben’s work includes large-scale international projects such as Will Smith’s Welcome to Earth (Disney+ / National Geographic) and Chris Hemsworth’s Limitless (Disney+), as well as acclaimed factual films including Richard Hammond Meets Evel Knievel (BBC) and the HBO series A World of Calm.
Composer & Sound Designer
Aidan Grant
Originally from Hopeman, a small fishing village on the Moray Coast of Scotland, Aidan has made North London his home, where he composes, edits, and plays the fiddle, banjo, guitar, bagpipes, and the bodhran… you get the idea!
Unsatisfied with that, he is also a member of a multitude of folk bands, playing gigs ranging from local breweries in London’s East End to the British Embassy in Addis Ababa.
He is also a luthier – he makes his own violins.
Editor
Jarek Zaba
Jarek Zaba is an audio editor and producer with experience across narrative documentary, fiction podcasts and oral history work. He has worked on award-winning documentaries for BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service, as well as scripted and archive-led projects for institutions including the National Archives.
His credits include sound design for Buried (BBC Radio 4), editorial work on multiple BBC World Service titles, and serving as series producer on two series of Broadway to Brazil, a 13-episode documentary series.
He was also sound designer on The Ghost Ship, a BBC World Service and Smoke Trail production.
Editor, Sound Designer, Audio Supervisor
Nick Bridge-Butler
Nick Bridge-Butler is a sound designer, mixer and audio supervisor with over two decades of experience working across film, television, documentary and interactive media.
His screen credits include The World’s Most Dangerous Borders, Sensation, Mortal World and Pleasure Island, alongside a wide range of short-form narrative and documentary projects. He has worked with the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Amazon and Al Jazeera.
He is currently Lead MA Lecturer in Audio Post-Production at MetFilm School, based at Ealing Studios, and previously served as Head Lecturer in Post-Production Audio Engineering at Alchemea College. Since 2005, he has also taught at the National Film and Television School, RADA and BIMM London.