The Chastity Belt and the Frenchman

Revolutionary leader Oliver Cromwell was executed on 30th January, 1661 - despite having been dead for more than two years. His body was exhumed from its tomb in Westminster Abbey on the instruction of King Charles II, who sought retribution for those involved in the trial and ex ...  Show more

The BBC broadcast the first ever edition of Roy Plomley’s ‘Desert Island Discs’ - the world’s longest-running interview programme - on 29th January, 1942. Opening, as the show still does, with Eric Coates’s theme music ‘By the Sleepy Lagoon’, the episode welcomed comedian Vic Oli ...  Show more

John returns from his humiliating defeat at Bouvines to an unhappy kingdom. His barons have finally reached their limit, sick of John’s extortionate taxes, failed campaigns and vicious vendettas. They demand he changes his ways, or else it’s war. This is History is a Sony Musi ...  Show more

Edward I puts his plan of a united Britain into motion, building some of the most magnificent castles the world had ever seen. These castles could secure his legacy, but they are eye-wateringly expensive. Edward’s debts, alongside a near-death experience, sends him and Mediaeval ...  Show more

Today on the show, our hosts Giles Alderson, Lucinda Rhodes Thakrar & Andrew Rodger welcome the brilliant writer-director David Beton, who’s known for films and TV shows like I am Soldier (2014), The Hatton Garden Job (2017), and EastEnders (2021), to talk about their latest feat ...  Show more

John assembles a mighty Plantagenet alliance to return to France and reclaim what Philip Augustus stole from him. After a decade of preparations, the fate of his dynasty rests on the outcome of one bloody battle. This is History is a Sony Music Entertainment production. Fin ...  Show more