Horrible Histories: Putrid Podcasts
The team behind the Horrible Histories TV series have brought together some of the most remarkable figures in history and imagined what they’d do with their own podcasts! Packed with amazing historical info and bags of laughs – and featuring our famous talking rat, Rattus Rattus, as your guide – come and have a listen to what a podcast from the past might be like!
Episodes
The show was released on BBC Sounds in two x 15-episode series:
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Series 1 in 2021
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Series 2 in 2023
SERIES 1
Leonardo Da Vinci
Rattus gets Cecilia Gallerani talking to Leonardo and Michelangelo about art!
Florence Nightingale
Rattus gets the Lady with the Lamp to talk about her nursing revolution!
William the Conqueror
Rattus gets William to share his step-by-step guide to conquering Saxon England!
Cleopatra
Rattus gets Cleopatra and Mark Antony to reveal all about their celeb lifestyle!
Isaac Newton
Rattus gets Newton chatting to Nell Gwyn about his amazing scientific theories!
Queen Victoria
Rattus gets Queen Vic and daughter Beatrice to talk family, food and upset tums!
Henry VIII
Rattus gets Henry VIII to discuss hunting and beheading with Anne of Cleves!
Elizabeth I
Rattus gets Queen Lizzie to chat about being single with Mary, Queen of Scots!
Harriet Tubman
Rattus sends Frederick Douglass on a daring rescue mission with Harriet Tubman!
George Washington
Rattus gets the first US President to take calls on his favourite activity!
Josephine Baker
Rattus gets dancer and spy, Josephine Baker to chat with her celebrity mates!
Mahatma Gandhi
Rattus gets Gandhi and Sarojini Naidu to discuss peaceful protest - and bees!
Boudica
Rattus gets Boudica to tell us how Rome’s biggest fangirl became a Roman hater!
The Brontë Sisters
Rattus gets Charlotte, Anne and Emily Bronte together for a natter about books!
William Shakespeare
Rattus gets Shakespeare into major drama with Anne Hathaway and King James!
SERIES 2
King Cnut
In his podcast ‘Send Your Inner Viking Hiking!’, King Cnut announces he is changing his ways.
Tutankhamun
Tutankhamun takes us along on his ostrich hunt, alongside Queen Nefertiti!
Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell tries to persuade his son that Oliver is definitely not a king!
Mary I
Lady Jane Grey and Mary I squabble about who’s the real Queen of England!
Equiano
Olaudah Equiano talks to Sake Dean Mahomet about fighting against slavery.
Owain Glyndwr
Welsh rebel Owain Glyndwr finds a new recruit in his revolt against the English.
Katherine Johnson
NASA mathematic Katherine Johnson and astronaut John Glenn talk space!
Emmeline Pankhurst
Emmeline Pankhurst teaches us how to protest with her daughter Sylvia!
Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens gives a writing masterclass with the help of his wife Catherine!
Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar tries to figure out why his friend Brutus is acting suspiciously…
Mary Seacole
Jamaican healer Mary Seacole goes to a concert celebrating her amazing life!
Napoleon
Napoleon tries to escape imprisonment on an island with the help of his mum!
Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc hangs out with the King of France as they try to beat the English!
Queen Victoria
Queen Victoria and Alexander Graham Bell discuss wacky Victorian inventions
William Wallace
William Wallace takes on the English invaders led by King Edward I!
Cast & crew
RECURRING CAST
John Eccleston as Rattus Rattus
Richard David-Caine
Harrie Hayes
James McNicholas
Jessica Ransom
Tom Stourton
Emily Lloyd Saini (S1)
Verona Rose (S1)
Ethan Lawrence (S2)
Timmika Ramsay (S2)
Paul G Raymond (S2)
PRODUCTION
ORIGINAL MUSIC BY
Richie Webb
Matt Katz
PRODUCED BY
BBC Sounds