The Real Witch Hunts: Persecution & Panic
Witch hunts blazed across Europe from the 1400s right into the 1700s. Their terror has been burned into the collective memory. But how accurate are the pictures we have in our heads?For this episode, ...
16 Nov 202341min
The Man Who Hanged Nazis: Albert Pierrepoint
For Albert Pierrepoint, execution was a family affair. His father and uncle were hangmen and from the 1940s until the late 1950s Albert was Britain's "Number One" executioner. Which meant he was the o...
12 Nov 202337min
Ghost Fetishes: From Ancient World to Victorians
What is spectrophilia? Well, it's a fetish for ghosts (as well as mirrors), so being turned on by anything lurking in the non-physical realm. What are the historic origins of this fetish and phenomeno...
9 Nov 202325min
Origins of the Loch Ness Monster
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...
6 Nov 202341min
Guy Fawkes & the 1605 Gunpowder Plot
Other countries celebrate their victories and independence. But in Britain, we celebrate a bungling terrorist from the 17th century. Why? Who was Guy Fawkes? What was the Gunpowder Plot? And why must ...
1 Nov 202349min
Hammersmith Ghost: How to Murder a Poltergeist
Can it be murder if you think you're killing a ghost? In 1804 the London suburb of Hammersmith was being terrorised by a ghost. One man set out to hunt down whoever, or whatever, this was. He almost s...
29 Okt 202331min
Hauntings, Hangings & a Beast: Bodmin Jail
Bodmin Jail can claim to be one of the most haunted buildings in Britain. Perhaps that's because of all the hangings that took place here. Or the postmortem punishment the jail dolled out to prisoners...
26 Okt 202342min
Last Witch of Scotland
In 1727, Janet Horne of the Highland community of Dornoch became the last person in Britain to be tried and executed for witchcraft.As the poet Edwin Morgan put it; They tarred her and feathered her, ...
23 Okt 202329min
