England's Worst Witch Trial: Pendle Witches

Sound the trumpets! The day has finally arrived: Maddy Pelling is back on After Dark!To welcome her back into the coven, we're playing a game of historical 'Would You Rather?'. Listen on to hear Anthony and Maddy decide between the many awful scenarios in history they would rathe ...  Show more

Born John Cooper, "Princess Seraphina" was one of the first English Drag Queens. Princess Seraphina was an 18th-century gentleman’s servant who openly embraced her feminine drag persona. But in May 1732, a man named Thomas Gordon robbed her of her clothes and money. The court cas ...  Show more

People in the 17th century were at spiritual war with the devil. It was a time of huge upheaval. What became known as the witch trials soon followed.In this first episode of a limited series, Inside the Witch Trials, we go back to the English village of Pendle in 1612, to find ou ...  Show more

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the outbreak of witch trials in Massachusetts in 1692-3, centred on Salem, which led to the execution of twenty people, with more dying in prison before or after trial. Some were men, including Giles Corey who died after being pressed with heavy ro ...  Show more

What comes to your mind when you think of a witch? Broomsticks? Black cats? Warts?Early modern witchcraft expert, John Callow, is Betwixt the Sheets with Kate to explain the history behind the stereotypes we have today.They also chat about the Bideford Witches, the last three wom ...  Show more

More than 200 accused, 20 executed and a village plagued with hysteria. Were the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 and 1693 the work of superstition, a power struggle, fungus or actual witchcraft? What makes them stand out in the history of witch trials?

In this episode, Do ...