Extraordinary Stories of Britain

Discover how war, crime and chaos shaped Britain’s money. From wooden money to lusturous gold Guineas to Isaac Newton hunting forgers, this episode reveals the stories behind Britain’s currency. The dramatic history that gave us the coins and notes still used today.

The extraordinary history Britain’s money.  Where kings mutilate moneyers, coins spark riots and fortunes are made, debased, clipped and forged.  This podcast shows how money isn’t just metal — it’s about power, violence, trust, and the magic of the philosopher’s stone

The Diary of a Graverobber dramatises the true-life story of Joseph Naples, a London gravedigger in the early 1800s who slips into the city’s darkest trade — stealing corpses to sell to surgeons. Driven by poverty and desperation, Naples is lured into ruthless Borough Gang, only to be consumed by guilt, betrayal, and the ghosts of those he unearthed. 

From Stonehenge to Greenwich, Celtic seasons to Roman calendars, candle clocks to knocker-uppers  -  and John Harrison’s chronometer. This podcast tells the story of how language, and technology shaped the way we keep time.

The story of William Terriss - Victorian London’s beloved stage hero. While audiences flocked to the Adelphi Theatre, a troubled bit-part actor plotted his downfall. What followed was a sensational courtroom drama, and a ghost story that haunts the theatre to this day.

Hear the story of the extraordinary life of Samuel Johnson.  The sicky, part blind, provincial boy, a failure at Oxford University he went on to create the first great dictionary of the English language.

Christopher Marlowe was the star writer of the 1580s.   The Elizabethans flocked to his plays.   But Kitt’s life was shrouded in mystery. Was he a secret agent? A Catholic spy? A double agent for Queen Elizabeth’s government.  There is evidence that he was heretical atheist.  And he may have been England's first gay poet   Hear how this ended with a murder mystery on May 30, 1593.

Amazing stories of animals in Britain.  From performing pigs, to medal-winning pigeons.  From war elephants to bears who appeared in Shakespeare plays.  From a runaway goose to the famous ravens in the Tower of London. 

Hear the history of Christmas traditions.  Who invented the Christmas card?  Why do we say Merry Christmas? Who put up the first Christmas tree in England?  How old is Father Christmas? And why did Canterbury riot over Christmas?   Find out in this podcast

From September 1940 to May 1941 London was the target of a brutal bombing campaign.  We tell the story of the eight months of misery and resistance.    From the spirit of London’s East End,  to a special team that saved St Pauls Cathedral. From the evacuated children, to the families sleeping on the underground.  Hear about the firefighters, bomb squads, the home guard and the unique role of London’s women.

 

This podcast tells the dramatic story of the life of Charles Dickens.  When his father was imprisoned for debt,  he had to work as a child labourer.   The excitement of his first publication,   his troubled early romance, eventual marriage, success and secret affair – and relentless campaigning to improve the life of the poor and needy

St Mary’s Bethlem was England’s first psychiatric hospital.  This podcast tells the story of the hospital, from its medieval origins to its home in a grand 17th century palace.  We follow the lives of its famous inmates: the woman who tried to kill King George III, the first documented case of paranoid schizophrenia and a brilliant Victorian artist who murdered his father.  

In 1665 plague devastated England.  The remote Derbyshire village of Eyam was spared the horror - until a tailor bought a roll of cloth from London.   To stop the pestilence spreading, the local vicar closed down Eyam -  and the villagers were locked in.  Hear the dramatic story of the plague village in this podcast.

Our history of London pubs pubcast visits the oldest tavern in London, including a pub haunted by phantasmal spirits.  Hear about Parliamentary boozers, the smallest bar in the world, the Pilgrim Fathers Mayflower pub,  and Gandalf’s riverside alehouse.

What is the oldest pub name in Britain? And the most popular pub name in the country? Where is our oldest pub?   What are the boozy origins of the nursery rhyme “Pop Goes the Weasel”? What caused the London beer flood?  And where is Britain’s most haunted pub? Find out in our latest History of Beer podcast

The story of Beer.  From Britain’s first brewer,  to ancient  ales made with psychedelic plants.     From rules on Viking drinking horns to the English king who drank himself to death.   From the rise of female brewers,   to a drunk Queen Elizabeth I.  From the legend of the ale-conner, to pubs forced to change names.  

The story of sewage:  from the Romans taxing urine,  to York's Bog on the Bridge; from Henry VIII's Groom of the Stool, to pure finders selling dog faeces.  Hear about the life of a Gong Farmer,  and how a lav affair with toilets lead to the Great Stink, which brought London's mighty Thames to a standstill.  

This special history podcast brings to life the stories of beloved pets and their owners during the dark days of WW2.   From a cat who lost his tail, to a pussy who warned its family about an impending air raid.  From a heroic church cat, to felines in the trenches.   All brought together using personal stories, newsreel, dramatised events and music. 

We investigate the history of cats:  from mummified felines in the British Museum to George the Lion who lived in the Tower of London;  from the world’s favourite pantomime cat, to the pussy who helped write an English dictionary. Hear about only cat to win the prestigious wartime Dickin Medal, and political cats  - from Churchill's mouser to the famous Downing Street Larry.