He's a casino roaming, penthouse living, movie star dating, ruthless, fearless, WW2 double agent with a cycling-based codename. Meet the real-life inspiration for Ian Flemming's James Bond, Dušan Popov. Why was his codename 'Tricycle'?How did a champagne cork start a dancefloor brawl?Was it possible to sleep through the Blitz?How angry did he make J Edgar Hoover?All these and many more top-secret questions will be answered in episode 46 of Rogues Gallery Uncovered - The podcast of bad b...
Aug 28, 2024
27 min
Flagellation, Blasphemy, Drunkenness, Promiscuity and Impersonating the King of Sweden, with the legendary leader of the most famous Hellfire Club...Sir Francis Dashwood. How convivial was he?Why did he hate cats?What is 'Erotic Shrubbery ?How many drinking clubs can one man form? All these questions and 30 minutes more can be found in episode 45 of Rogues Gallery Uncovered - The podcast of bad behaviour in period costume. An eccentric aristocrat and one of the mo...
Aug 7, 2024
27 min
“A harmless bit of blasphemy and dressing up" from the chairman of the very FIRST Hell Fire Club - Philip Duke of Wharton. He should support the establishment, but instead he makes fun of it. Discover the debauched history of - arguably- England’s very first Hellfire Club. What is 'Holy Ghost Pie'?Who gives a bear cub as a gift?Why did Alexander Pope hate him so much?Why did the government shut him down?All of these controversial questions will be answered in episode 44 of Rogues Galler...
Jul 24, 2024
24 min
Grigori Rasputin, everyone's favourite irresistible, indestructible, mad monk is having a night on the town in Moscow. He's a controversial, mystic, healer and holy man but the Romanov family love him so he can get up to all sorts of rude, vodka fuelled high jinks. Why did Tsarina Alexandra like him so much?Why did Tsar Nicholas II dislike him?Was Rasputin responsible for the Russian Revolution? Just how big was it ?? ( you know what I’m talking about) It’s a possibly exaggera...
Jul 10, 2024
21 min
A necrophiliac in Paris! Join 18th-century England's most deviant politician ( and that's saying something) on a fun-packed mini-break to the French capital. With wit, cross-dresser and execution enthusiast George Selwyn. Who was Robert Damiens?How many horses does it take to pull a man apart?Why did Georgian high society pay good money to sit in a field?Is disguising yourself as a woman to watch an execution weird?It's a wince-inducing tale of scandal, gossip, Louis XV, The Hellfire Cl...
Jun 26, 2024
18 min
High fashion meets highway robbery with the 17th century's most lusted-after gentleman thief, Claude Duval. It's a flamboyantly dressed tale of rampant flirting, lewd piccolo playing and an appalling French accent. Why was France full of posh Englishmen in the 1650s?How many masked women can visit one man's prison cell?Can you dance provocatively in stiff leather boots?What was the content of the condemned man's secret final speech?If you like highwaymen, glamorous outlaws, notorious cr...
Jun 12, 2024
18 min
In an extra rude episode, meet 19th-century England's most prolific and energetic smut collector. Henry Spencer Ashbee. Listener discretion is advised - Those Victorians could be spicy! Just how much X-rated material could one gentleman collect?Who were his famous friends?Did he go blind?Was he the mysterious author of erotic classic "My Secret Life"?Was Victorian morality really so 'moral'?It's a furtive delve beneath the crinolines of Victorian society featuring erotic literatur...
May 29, 2024
29 min
Find out why 69 is just a number to Regency England's most rampant geriatric - William Douglas, 4th Duke of Queensberry, 'Old Q'. It's a heart warming tale of hot chocolate, comfy blankets, early nights and Greek-themed orgies. How does a man in his 80s 'please' the ladies?How fast can you drive a carriage?Why should you never accept a milkshake from this man?What would Horatio Nelson say?Whether you're a fan of 18th century British politics, horse racing, Scottish aristocracy or debauc...
May 15, 2024
23 min
No one expects the 15th century's biggest party pooper, Tomas de Torquemada and the Spanish Inquisition. It’s a tortuous tale of a controversial historical figure, religious persecution, the Catholic Church, heretics, the Dominican Order and the Spanish monarchy. But I’ve tried to keep it lighthearted. What should you do if you see someone wearing fancy clothes on a Sunday?How many ways can you denounce your neighbour?Is a 'Papal Bull' a type of livestock?Was Torquemada a 'grand' inquisitor o...
May 1, 2024
17 min
Take a walk on the very wild side in 18th century London with teenage "Lad About Town," William Hickey. There's sex, booze, fighting and disrespecting of elders - what's the youth of yesterday coming to? It’s a nostalgic rose-tinted saunter through the taverns and brothels of Georgian England with a young man who would become famous for his diaries and memoirs chronicling scandal, political intrigue, court life and overseas travel during a vibrant age. But in 1768 he's just a horny teenager. ...
Apr 17, 2024
20 min
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