At 2:47 a party starts at Michael Barrymore’s house: there are nine people present. At 5:08 emergency services are called. ibid. caption
The immediate assumption for everybody was that the victim was gay. Because who the hell would go home with Michael Barrymore and a group of young men? It certainly seemed to be a pretty nasty gay poolside party. ibid. reporter
‘There was no third party involved in the death … This was a case of immersion, as I call it, or drowning … I would describe the injuries to the anus as horrific.’ ibid. pathologist
‘This may not be drowning and you should be aware of that.’ ibid. pathologist #2 to rozzers
The Essex Police investigation into Stuart Lubbock’s death concludes with no criminal charges. A coroner’s inquest is held to determine the cause of death. ibid. captions
‘The entertainer Michael Barrymore has refused to answer questions about alleged drug taking at his home on the night a man was found dead in his swimming pool.’ ibid. BBC news
‘Stuart had been the victim of a serious sexual assault.’ ibid. pathologist
Do you ever want to see Michael Barrymore on television again. Yes 090 190 44 41 No 090 190 44 42. ibid. Richard & Judy Show phone-in
Essex Police launch an investigation into Michael Barrymore’s public claims that Stuart Lubbock’s anal injuries were inflicted at the hospital after his death. ibid. caption
‘Stuart was assaulted quite possibly in the Jacuzzi … To make it look like a drowning thrown in the swimming pool. I believe very much that Stuart Lubbock was raped and murdered that night. ibid.
We have been invited to a highly exclusive event. We will be spending this Sunday evening at our neighbour Shawn’s Superb Owl [Super Bowl] Party. What We Do in the Shadows s2e3: Brain Scrambles, Nandor, BBC 2020
Our neighbour Sean has kindly invited us to his for what he described as a boys’ only night. What We Do in the Shadows s3e5: The Chamber of Judgement, Laszlo
Today’s a very special day. It’s my master’s Accession Day. What We Do in the Shadows s3e8: The Wellness Centre, Guillermo
Nandor’s deprogramming is taking longer than we thought … What We Do in the Shadows s3e9: A Farewell, Guillermo
Colin Robinson is dying. Colin Robinson will be dead by sunrise. ibid.
For the past thirty years ecstasy has become one of America’s top club drugs. It’s had a major effect on fashion, music and how we party. Drugged s1e3: High on Ecstasy, 2011
The crystal form of the drug … MDMA. ibid.
Temperature can rise rapidly without them noticing. ibid.
‘You never get all your stores back up to the way they were before you took MDMA.’ ibid. user
The Cancun Strip, Mexico: Thousands of American college students head to the Strip to enjoy one long beach party. Drugs Inc s7e4: Cancun Spring Break, National Geographic 2015
Cancun: where the party never stops. Where Cartel enforcers operate in the shadows. Drugs Inc s7e22: Cartel Games
Drugs are changing: the old generation of party drugs – ecstasy and cocaine – are out. And mephedrone, ketamine and GHB are in. These new party drugs are cheap. Crazy For Party Drugs, BBC 2013
Mephedrone was banned in 2010 but started out as a legal high. ibid.
‘Mephedrone is the Devil’s Dandruff, I call it’. ibid. bloke with broken ankle in Leeds General Infirmary
GHB is a liquid high popular on the party scene – but one drop too much can send you over the edge. ibid.
The best number for a dinner party is two – myself and a dam’ good head waiter. Nubar Gulbenkian, cited Daily Telegraph 14th January 1965
1967: The Summer of Love: Sex, drugs and rock-n-roll. But not all peace, love and understanding. The explosion that summer came from a mix of naive idealism, mysticism, radical politics and chemistry. All bubbling to the surface on the west coast of the United States. The Summer of Love: How Hippies Changed the World I: The Making of a Hippy, BBC 2017
This is the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. It’s the place where the hippy was born on January 14th 1967. San Francisco’s underground newspaper Oracle put a call-out for all strands of what it called the counter-culture to gather here for a party like no party in history. A party that would change the world for ever. ibid.
No sooner had the party began then it started to unravel. The Summer of Love: How Hippies Changed the World II: Where Have All the Flowers Gone?
June 1967 and San Francisco was on the brink on a hippy revolution. ibid.
He got Brexit done and now he was giving the North the chance to take back control. And even more amazing I had a job in his government. Partygate, Channel 4 2023
After a few weeks events started to happen. Other European countries were locking down but the boss was resisting. Death rates were rising fast. ibid.
It’s no wonder they’re called the Hail Mary Wards. ibid.
A few days after the Drinks in the Garden, I got an invitation from the boss’s Principle Private Secretary. ibid.
Party No1: 20 May 2020 … Leaving Drinks: 12 June 2020 … Party No2: 18 June 2020 … Party No3: PM’s birthday 19 June 2020 … Party No4: 13 November 2020 … Party No5: 13 November 2020 … Party No6: 27 November 2020 … Party No7: 15 December 2020 … Party No8: 17 December 2020 … Party No9: 17 December 2020 … Party No10: 17 December 2020 … Party No11: 18 December 2020 … Party No12: 14 January 2021 … Party No13: 16 April 2021 … Party No14: 16 April 2021 … ibid.
Sue Gray report p16: There was a minor altercation. ibid. captions
‘What was an office is now a shithole. Get someone to clean it up.’ ibid. head of civil service
Is there anything we don’t have a party for? ibid.
Wine-time Fridays were built into the Downing Street calendar. ibid.
‘People need boundaries. They respond well to boundaries and it’s our job to give them those boundaries. That is what we are doing. They’re not meant for us.’ ibid. party-goer
‘Let me begin in all humility …’ ibid. Johnson to parliament
And then it became the drugs capital of Europe. Ibiza Narcos I: Disorganised Crime, observer, Sky Documentaries 2024
You soon realised it can be quite dark. Gangsters, cartels, people big and strong enough to kick the fuck out of you. ibid.
A lot of hash smoking, a lot of acid being taken. ibid. early days
This was the start of the party island Ibiza was to become … The hippies were the ones who started the party scene. ibid.
Organised groups from France, England, Italy, they see a market, they come and take the market. ibid.
At the beginning the mafias were more hidden. ibid.
They started spending money in Ibiza in an exaggerated way … We are able to see that problems are coming. ibid.
People started talking about this new drug – ecstasy. ibid.
The police targeted the hippies originally, even though the professional crime groups had started to come in, because they were easy targets. ibid.
You could see by the way the clubs were developing, and the drugs scene was growing, that it was all gonna explode. Ibiza Narcos II: No Sleep Till Wednesday, observer
The rave scene was just about people who wanted to escape their lives. ibid.
Ibiza was the best place on earth to take party drugs. ibid.
People started to get greedy, and things started to change. ibid.
Before we all came, the island was this beautiful, lovely spot. We were the one who brought all of this club life to Ibiza. ibid.
Ibiza is a land of inconsistencies. As I kid I loved it. ibid.
None of these has been as dramatic, as drastic, and with devastating consequences as mass tourism. To arrive in the morning and see the rivers of vomit and urine in the streets. ibid. islander
It’s a pity because they were almost always young. ibid. Rozzer
I realised that I was damaging my mind. ibid. hardcore pill-taker
The more money you were making, the more cocaine you did. ibid. geezer
You come here, you are in paradise. Ibiza Narcos III: Giving It the Absolute Big ’Un, early club promoter
If you didn’t die, you had a story to tell next day. ibid.
Sometimes one bullet is better than twenty words. ibid. old-time gangster
Cocaine brought with it a new, colder type of criminal. ibid. journalist
Ibiza was a very loving place. But I never went nowhere without guns and knives. ibid. gangster