Jon Savage

Jamie Reid

Shows paintings, graphics and drawings by the London artist and discusses his connection with the punk movement

Up They Rise

The gripping, noirish tale of a gambler's attempt to beat France's state-run betting system.

The Incredible Story of the Most Audacious Gambler in History

Monsieur X

'Doped' is the gripping true-story racing thriller set in Britain in the 1950s and early 1960s. Combining a potent mix of horse racing, drugs, sex, class, crime, gambling and the monarchy, it tells the true story of one of the biggest doping scandals in British racing history. In March 1962 an audacious attempt to nobble one of the royal horses alerted police to a well organised band of racecourse criminals, backed by murderous London gangsters. The subsequent Flying Squad pursuit of the gang brought the quaintly deferential world of racing into sharp conflict with the harsher realities of the 'You've never had it so good' era. This also coincided with the birth of the annual Dick Francis novel. The cast of characters is headed by William Roper, a debonair ex RAF Sergeant turned oddsmaker. His team included an ex jockey, numerous underpaid stable lads, an upper class gambling addict and a violent professional gangster who went on to face charges with the Kray twins in 1969. But the most fascinating member of Roper's firm was a beautiful and selfpossessed young Swiss woman called Micheline Lugeon who became the bookmaker's lover.

The Real Life Story of the 1960s Racehorse Doping Gang

Doped

Patrice des Moutis was a handsome, charming and well educated Frenchman with an aristocratic family, a respectable insurance business, and a warm welcome in the smartest Parisian salons. He was also a compulsive gambler and illegal bookie. Between the late 1950s and the early 1970s, des Moutis made a daring attempt to beat the French state-run betting system. With a genius for mathematics and a deep love and understanding of the horse-racing world – not to mention excellent relationships with all the top trainers and jockeys – he applied himself to his task with vigour and meticulous research. A series of spectacular coups netted him (and his friends, with whom he generously shared his predictions) the equivalent of millions of pounds, and soon saw him nicknamed Monsieur X and hailed as a hero by a public desperate to see someone get one over on the state. Des Moutis' success so alarmed the authorities that they repeatedly changed the rules of betting in an effort to stop him. And so a battle of wills began, all played out on the front pages of the daily newspapers as the general public willed des Moutis on to ever greater successes. He remained one step ahead of the authorities until finally the government criminalised his activities, driving him into the arms of the underworld. Eventually the net began to close, high-profile characters found themselves the target of the state's investigation, and people began turning up dead. This long-running cat and mouse game – with the law on one side and des Moutis and the gangsters on the other – is a dazzling tale of glamour, riches, violence and ultimately tragedy.

The incredible story of the most audacious gambler in history

This biography of Chris Isaak captures his charismatic appeal, seen through music and acting. Chris Isaak is one of the few performers who can pull off both infectious rockers and heartfelt ballads with utter conviction and unrivaled style - Rolling Stone.

Jamie Reid

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