Death at the Savoy Mansions: Post-War London's Drug Underworld

Death at the Savoy Mansions: Post-War London's Drug Underworld

During the victory celebrations of World War One, a rising star is found dead in her bed after a suspected overdose.


22-year-old Billie Carlton’s death caused shockwaves across the nation, adding fuel to a growing moral panic about sex, scandal and drugs.


Anthony and Maddy are joined by Virginia Berridge, Professor of History and Health Policy at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, to explore the path to drug criminalisation in postwar London following the death of Billie Carlton. Together, they uncover the extraordinary history of drugs in Soho - London’s most notorious neighbourhood in the 1920s.


Historic Soho has been brought to life in the new BBC show Dope Girls, which tells the story of Soho when female gangs ran the nightclubs after the First World War. You can watch it on BBC iPlayer now.


All music from Epidemic Sounds.


After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast.

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Episoder(275)

The Dark Mystery of Princess Caraboo

The Dark Mystery of Princess Caraboo

Today we are celebrating the upcoming publication of Maddy's new book 'Hoax: Truth and Lies in the Age of Enlightenment' by sharing one of the stories from it. This is the story of a fake Princess fro...

7 Mai 52min

The Haunting of Cock Lane

The Haunting of Cock Lane

Today we are celebrating the upcoming publication of Maddy's new book 'Hoax: Truth and Lies in the Age of Enlightenment' by sharing one of the stories from it. The haunting of Cock Lane is the most ic...

4 Mai 1h 5min

Speaking with the Dead: Ancient Necromancy

Speaking with the Dead: Ancient Necromancy

In Ancient Mesopotamia, the boundary between the living and the dead was not always fixed... some even believed it could be crossed. But why would the living seek counsel from the dead? How common wer...

30 Apr 45min

Dark Side of Prehistoric Britain

Dark Side of Prehistoric Britain

Across prehistoric Britain people raised vast stone circles, buried their dead in monumental tombs, and left offerings in rivers and bogs. Archaeologists have uncovered skeletons bearing signs of viol...

27 Apr 43min

Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

On a summer day in Sarajevo in 1914, a young man fired two rounds of his pistol in the middle of the street, killing a Royal couple... He didn't know it then, but his actions would cause a chain react...

23 Apr 49min

Titanic's Biggest Myths Debunked

Titanic's Biggest Myths Debunked

Is it true that third-class passengers were locked below decks? Or that more lifeboats would have saved more lives? Did the band really play as the Titanic went down? Anthony is joined once again by t...

20 Apr 57min

The Murder that Shook Mary Queen of Scots

The Murder that Shook Mary Queen of Scots

On the night of Saturday the 9th of March, 1566, a pregnant Mary Queen of Scots was having a dinner party.It was a night that ended in the brutal murder of one of her closest friends, David Rizzio, le...

16 Apr 47min

The Victorian Sex Scandal of Fanny & Stella

The Victorian Sex Scandal of Fanny & Stella

The Victorians are seen as the ultimate guardians of rigid gender boundaries.When Fanny Park and Stella Boulton transgressed those imagined lines, they triggered a scandal that reached the length and ...

13 Apr 58min

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