Episode 5: In the last episode of A Summer of Spying, Sarah brings together her thoughts about the experience. Plus, not included in the e-book, listen out for a conversation with someone intimately connected to the case.

This limited five part series draws from the extended version of A Summer of Spying, published by Sandstone Press as an e-book: sandstonepress.com/books/a-summer-of-spying The book is dedicated to Emma Kittle-Pey in recognition of the ten years she has dedicated to teaching creative writing at Colchester Writenight in Essex.

Sandstone Press have published four of Sarah's novels, the most recent of which deal with a different kind of spying in 1970s Moscow: sandstonepress.com/authors/sarah-armstrong

Thank you to all at Sandstone Press for allowing this adaptation of the original e-book, especially to Robert Davidson, the managing director, for allowing me to experiment with the text in different forms, and to the editor of the e-book, Nicola Torch, for her help and suggestions.

Thanks to Arts Council England for awarding me a grant to pursue this adaptation. Thanks also to Sue Dawes for editing and script assistance, to Luke Bull for being in charge of social media and additional writing, and to James Imrie for original music, sound engineering and bearing with me.

Episode 4: The Defendant takes the stand. Evidence and testimonies from the previous days collide with the reality of the Defendant and his own, not charmless, account. As the expectation of a verdict looms near, the jury struggles towards a decision, and Sarah finds herself further ingrained into the courtroom proceedings. 

Episode 3: The third witness recalls his experience of the night and does not hold back with his accusations against the defendant. The effects of Covid-19 on the courtroom are examined in detail and the difficulties of sustaining an in-person judicial system during a pandemic become clear. Against the stifling, unventilated heat of the courtroom, the case grinds on.

Episode 2: Two witnesses take the stand and present their versions of the occasion. The events that occurred inside the house are outlined, and the violent details of the accusations become clear. The night is relived through various forms of evidence. The incident, the arrest, the ride to the station: all are reborn as court-sanctioned evidence, lawful surveillance for the jurors' attention.

Episode 1: Chelmsford Crown Court, 2020. Local author Sarah Armstrong is called up to jury service as the Covid-19 pandemic stalls most aspects of daily life. The shift from being a member of the public to a juror in the criminal justice system is disorientating enough, without the added complications of a global health crisis. In this episode, the charges are heard and the CCTV evidence is shown: there is little doubt as to what happened, but why it happened is a whole other story. 

I have approached the description of this case as a fiction writer. Everything I have chosen to include or exclude is influenced by my own interests, the place and time of this specific trial, and the many feelings inspired by the idea of home, and especially home in 2020. This is my version of the trial. Another juror with different interests would have an entirely different memory.