In 1726, 26 year old mother of three, Mary Toft gave birth to a rabbit. And then another. And then another. All were stillborn – some were just rabbit body parts – but all were the fruit of her loins.

Local surgeon John Howard confirmed the phenomenon, delivering several live rabbits himself. He wrote of his findings to the Secretary of George I. The King, intrigued, sent his personal anatomist Nathaniel St Andre to investigate who soon concluded that Toft was telling the truth and was preternaturally giving birth to rabbits.

Mary quickly became a national sensation and was brought to London to be studied at length but inevitably Mary broke and she confessed – the whole thing was a hoax.

Mary was imprisoned, and she, the medical profession and even the country were publicly ridiculed. Mary herself was immortalized in a sketch by Hogarth. After five months of incarceration, Mary was released, returning to Godalming, her children, her husband and her old life. She later claimed she made up the rabbit tale “to get so good a living that I should never want as long as I lived.”

Cast:

Mary ….. Anna Madeley
Joshua ….. Will Young
John Howard ….. Rupert Graves
St Andre ….. Nickolas Grace
Sir Richard ….. Patrick Ryecart
George I ….. Ian Masters

Broadcast date: Friday 22nd April, 2011 (2:15pm) (60 Mins.)

*Special thanks to Nicholas Deustch.