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(261)

Bodies in the Walls: Postwar London's Darkest Crime

Bodies in the Walls: Postwar London's Darkest Crime

John Reginald Christie was the most notorious murderer of his era. On the outside he was every inch the Old Fashioned Englishman, respectable norms personified. But inside the walls and under the floo...

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Who was Jack the Ripper? The Doctor (Suspect 4)

Who was Jack the Ripper? The Doctor (Suspect 4)

Part 4/4. By looking at the men accused of being Jack the Ripper, we uncover dark truths about Victorian society - and our own. Why were these men, most of them almost certainly innocent, singled out ...

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Burke & Hare: Scotland’s Most Notorious Serial Killers

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Discover the true story of Burke and Hare’s murderous rampage through the streets of Edinburgh, all to serve the needs of the city’s scientific minds. We're rerunning this early episode to mark the re...

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Who was Jack the Ripper? The Artist (Suspect 3)

Who was Jack the Ripper? The Artist (Suspect 3)

Part 3/4. By looking at the men accused of being Jack the Ripper, we uncover dark truths about Victorian society - and our own. Why were these men, most of them almost certainly innocent, singled out ...

30 Sep 202450min

Wounds of Christ: Macabre History of Stigmata

Wounds of Christ: Macabre History of Stigmata

The wounds that Christ received on the cross - the stigmata - have had a strange afterlife, reappearing on the flesh of followers from St Francis of Assisi right through to the present. The stigmata a...

26 Sep 202435min

Who was Jack the Ripper? The Barber (Suspect 2)

Who was Jack the Ripper? The Barber (Suspect 2)

Part 2/4. By looking at the men accused of being Jack the Ripper, we uncover dark truths about Victorian society - and our own. Why were these men, most of them almost certainly innocent, singled out ...

23 Sep 202451min

Ned Kelly: Australia's Notorious Outlaw

Ned Kelly: Australia's Notorious Outlaw

Ned Kelly is a murdering, bank-robbing, Australian folk hero. What is the true history of this mythic figure? And how did an outlaw - or bushranger - rise up to become a symbol for a new nation?Anthon...

19 Sep 202438min

Who was Jack the Ripper? The Prince (Suspect 1)

Who was Jack the Ripper? The Prince (Suspect 1)

Part 1/4. By investigating the men accused of being Jack the Ripper, we uncover dark truths about Victorian society - and our own. Why were these men, most of them almost certainly innocent, singled o...

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