In Media Portrayals and Popular Culture
Doun the close and up the stair,
But an' ben wi' Burke and Hare.
Burke's the butcher, Hare's the thief,
Knox, the boy that buys the beef.
Folk tales about "Burkers" attacking travelers, especially children, to sell their cadavers are still common in Scotland.
Marcel Schwob told their story in the last chapter of Imaginary Lives (1896.) Jorge Luis Borges, who recognizes Schwob as an influence of his own A Universal History of Infamy, wrote that this story was the most successful one in the book.
The Burke and Hare murders are referenced in Robert Louis Stevenson's short story, "The Body Snatcher", which portrays two doctors in Robert Knox's employ responsible for buying the corpses from the killers.
The 1945 film The Body Snatcher, directed by Robert Wise, stars Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. The murders were adapted into a 1948 film with the working title Crimes of Burke and Hare; however, the British Board of Film Censors deemed its topic too disturbing and insisted that references to Burke and Hare be excised. The film was redubbed with alternative dialogue and characters, and was released as The Greed of William Hart.
Dylan Thomas' 1953 screenplay, The Doctor and the Devils, is a retelling of the Burke and Hare murder story, in which the names of the characters were altered. It was realised as a film in 1985 which starred Timothy Dalton as Dr Rock (Thomas' characterisation of Dr Knox) and was directed by Freddie Francis.
The 1960 film The Flesh and the Fiends starred Peter Cushing as Knox, Donald Pleasence as Hare and George Rose as Burke. The following year, The Anatomist featured Alastair Sim as Knox.
The New Exhibit, a 1963 episode of The Twilight Zone, features Burke and Hare along with several other historical murderers as exhibits in a wax museum tended by curator Martin Balsam.
The 23 November 1964 episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, "The McGregor Affair" featured Burke and Hare as characters. Andrew Duggan starred as McGregor, a man who hauls items for Burke and Hare. Burke was played by Arthur Malet, and Hare by Michael Pate.
In the 1965 T.V show The Munsters, season 1, Herman Munster (Fred Gwynne) is showing home movies In which we see two grave robbers. Herman claims that he knew them (Burke and Hare) back in the day.
The 1971 film Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde transported Burke and Hare into the late Victorian era and portrayed them as being employed by Dr. Jekyll. Burke was played by Ivor Dean and Hare by Tony Calvin.
The 1971 film Burke & Hare starred Derren Nesbitt as Burke and Glynn Edwards as Hare.
In the 1989 children's show Tugs, two scrap dealers are known as Burke and Blair, a parody of the two corpse dealers.
In 1999 a novel inspired by Burke and Hare, Grave Robbers, was written by Robin Mitchell and published by Luath Press, Edinburgh.
The 2004 Doctor Who audio drama Medicinal Purposes placed the Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) amidst the events of the murders; the play featured Leslie Phillips as Dr. Knox and David Tennant (who would later become the Tenth Doctor) as Daft Jamie.
I Sell The Dead, a 2008 comedy horror film, has pub patrons claiming career grave-robbers Willie and Arthur are successful rivals for Burke and Hare's notoriety.
Burke & Hare, a comedy film loosely based upon the historical case, starring Simon Pegg as Burke and Andy Serkis as Hare, and directed by John Landis, began filming in early 2010, and was released in the UK on 29 October 2010. It received a North American release in 2011.
In April 2012, Channel 4 TV featured on its Four Rooms show the card case made out of skin taken from William Burke's hand.
The stage musical "Bloodless: The Trial of Burke and Hare" had its Toronto premiere in October 2012.
Read more about this topic: Burke And Hare Murders
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