The creator of France's 'Untouchables' episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 14, 2026 · 29 MIN

The creator of France's 'Untouchables'

from BBC · host BBC

Laurent de Cherisey was fresh out of business school and looking forward to earning a lot of money when his sister had a car accident that left her severely disabled. This led him to rethink everything. Including finding faith. He founded what has become a string of houses where accident victims and non-accident victims live side by side. They’re called the Simon of Cyrene houses, named after the man Jesus chose to help him carry his cross. The project was financed in part by the box office receipts for the hit comedy 'Untouchable' at the request of the aristocratic tetraplegic accident victim whose story inspired the film. We talk to Laurent about his journey and to some Simon of Cyrene house-dwellers about what’s good about these places… why it works bringing together people of very different social classes, ethnic and religious backgrounds and, above all, very different physical and mental capacities. Producer/Presenter: John Laurenson Series Producer: Rajeev Gupta Editor: Chloe Walker Production Coordinator: Mica Nepomuceno

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Aug 14, 2026

Embed this episode

NOW PLAYING

The creator of France's 'Untouchables'

0:00 29:06

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

No similar episodes found.

No similar podcasts found.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of BBC?

This episode is 29 minutes long.

When was this BBC episode published?

This episode was published on August 14, 2026.

Can I download this BBC episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.
URL copied to clipboard!