A Necessary Evil?

The untold story of two infamous labourers called Burke and Hare who embarked on a year-long killing spree in Edinburgh during the 19th century to provide corpses for the famous anatomist of the day, Dr Robert Knox. The common perception is that Burke and Hare were Scottish graverobbers. But as this programme reveals, they were were serial killers from Northern Ireland. Presented by Dr Alice Roberts and Dr Mark Hamilton, this programme uses dramatic reconstruction and modern forensic policing methods to investigate how one of the most macabre chapters in medical history inadvertently helped push forward medical progress.