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.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episoder(261)

Final Days of Rasputin

Final Days of Rasputin

Grigori Rasputin, Russian mystic, survived multiple assassination attempts on the same night. He was poisoned, he was shot, he was drowned in a freezing St Petersburg river. His corpse was emasculated...

2 Jan 202541min

Is the Loch Ness Monster real?

Is the Loch Ness Monster real?

What lurks beneath the dark waters of Loch Ness? The legendary monster? A piece of Celtic folklore? A warning of the Nazis' rise to power? A fraudster?Today Anthony and Maddy are examining grainy phot...

30 Des 202443min

Mystery of the Ghost Ship: Mary Celeste

Mystery of the Ghost Ship: Mary Celeste

In 1872 the ghost ship Mary Celeste is found sailing across the Atlantic without a single crew member left on board. Theories over what happened on the Mary Celeste range from insurance fraud to a vio...

26 Des 202437min

Who was the "Elephant Man"? Joseph Merrick's True Story

Who was the "Elephant Man"? Joseph Merrick's True Story

The life of Joseph Merrick, the man they dared to call "The Elephant Man", will fill you with pain and anger. He was treated so cruelly by society that he found becoming a freak show exhibit preferabl...

23 Des 202447min

Inside the Foundling: London's First Orphanage (Part 2)

Inside the Foundling: London's First Orphanage (Part 2)

(2/2) We find out what life inside the Foundling Hospital was like as we complete the heartbreaking and heartwarming history of London's first orphanage. We discover a building that contained so many ...

19 Des 202440min

Lost Children of Georgian London (Part 1)

Lost Children of Georgian London (Part 1)

Today Anthony and Maddy look into the heartbreaking history of the Foundling Hospital, now London’s saddest museum. Starting in the 18th century, hear the story of Thomas Coram, the hospital's founder...

16 Des 202449min

Predicting Death: Strange History of the Premonitions Bureau

Predicting Death: Strange History of the Premonitions Bureau

Can we see beyond the veil, glimpse the future before it arrives? John Barker, a psychiatrist with a fascination for the unexplained, thought maybe we could. In 1966, he created a bureau for people wh...

12 Des 202439min

Ireland's First Witch: Medieval Murderer? (Part 2)

Ireland's First Witch: Medieval Murderer? (Part 2)

(Part 2/2) Anthony returns to his hometown of Kilkenny to conclude the tale of the first person to be executed for witchcraft in Ireland. Set 700 years ago in 1324, this is the story of a successful b...

9 Des 202449min

Populært innen Samfunn

rss-spartsklubben
giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
konspirasjonspodden
aftenpodden-usa
popradet
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
rss-nesten-hele-uka-med-lepperod
rss-henlagt-andy-larsgaard
wolfgang-wee-uncut
grenselos
min-barneoppdragelse
alt-fortalt
synnve-og-vanessa
rss-dette-ma-aldri-skje-igjen
frokostshowet-pa-p5
rss-dannet-uten-piano
fladseth
rss-frekvens-med-anine-olsen
198-land-med-einar-trnquist