63 - Blackadder
Oh! What a lovely podcast
Was Blackadder Goes Forth the most powerful portrayal of the First World War ever put on television? In this episode of Oh! What a Lovely Podcast, Jessica, Chris and Angus take a look at the enduring legacy of Blackadder Goes Forth. First broadcast on BBC One in 1989, the series blended sharp wit and biting satire with a surprisingly moving look at life – and death – on the Western Front. The team discuss how the show evolved, the historical realities behind its humour, and why that unforgettable final scene still resonates decades later. They also explore how Blackadder helped shape...
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62 - Fall of Eagles
Oh! What a lovely podcast
How did the First World War bring down Europe’s great dynasties, and how did the BBC retell that story on screen? In this episode of Oh What a Lovely Podcast, we look at Fall of Eagles, the 1974 BBC drama that charts the decline of the Romanovs, Hohenzollerns, and Habsburgs. Across 13 episodes, the series follows the personal rivalries, dynastic struggles, and political failures that led to the collapse of three empires during the Great War. Created by John Elliot and produced by Stuart Burge, the show boasted an impressive cast and scripts from writers such as Jack Pulman (I, Claudius) and...
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61 - War-Time In Our Street
Oh! What a lovely podcast
In this episode of Oh! What a Lovely Podcast, Angus, Chris, Jessica, and returning guest Ann-Marie Einhaus discuss War-Time in Our Street by J. E. Buckrose. Set in a fictional Yorkshire village, these stories capture everyday resilience, humour, and quiet courage — from blackout chapel services and food shortages to romances and small acts of kindness amid wartime hardships. Buckrose, the pen name of Annie Edith Jameson, was a prolific writer who produced more than forty novels exploring domestic life and family tensions with gentle humour. War-Time in Our Street offers a...
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60 - The Boy I Loved
Oh! What a lovely podcast
What do young adults think of First World War fiction aimed at them? In this episode of Oh What a Lovely Podcast, we hand the mic to a group of young readers to hear their thoughts on by William Hussey, a novel exploring the impact of war on love, identity and loss. After their thoughtful reviews, Chris, Jessica and Angus reflect on the responses and what they reveal about how the war is understood today.
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59 - The Great War and Modern Memory at 50
Oh! What a lovely podcast
What makes a 50-year-old book on WWI still essential reading? In this episode, Angus, Jessica, and Chris are joined by Ian Isherwood and Steven Trout, authors of But It Still Goes On: Paul Fussell’s The Great War and Modern Memory at 50. We revisit Fussell’s classic, exploring its legacy, impact, and the debates it continues to spark in the world of war literature and memory studies. References:Ian Isherwood and Steven Trout, But it Still Goes On: Paul Fussell’s The Great War and Modern Memory at 50, The Journal of Military History Paul Fussell, The Great War and Modern Memory ---...
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58 - The Monocled Mutineer
Oh! What a lovely podcast
What happens when a controversial real-life figure becomes the centre of one of the BBC’s most politically charged wartime dramas? In this episode, we revisit The Monocled Mutineer (1986), Alan Bleasdale’s adaptation of the story of Percy Toplis — alleged ringleader of the 1917 Étaples mutiny. The four-part series drew huge audiences but quickly became a flashpoint in debates over historical accuracy, media bias, and the BBC’s role in shaping national memory. We unpack the drama’s reception, the historical evidence (or lack thereof) behind Toplis’s role in the mutiny, and how the...
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57 - Dope Girls
Oh! What a lovely podcast
What was the real story behind the BBC series Dope Girls? In this episode of Oh What a Lovely Podcast, we dive into the world of Soho’s underground nightlife in the 1920s, as seen in the BBC’s new drama Dope Girls. The series takes inspiration from Marek Kohn’s book Dope Girls: The Birth of the British Drug Underground and brings to life the turbulent years after the First World War, when jazz clubs, crime, and vice flourished in London. Joining us to separate fact from fiction is Professor Matthew Houlbrook, a leading historian of 20th-century Britain. We...
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56 - Reginald Hill
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What happens when a late-twentieth-century detective novelist develops strong opinions about the First World War? This month Angus, Jessica and Chris discuss Reginald Hill's The Wood Beyond (1995) and the short story 'Silent Night' from the collection A Candle for Christmas (2023). Along the way, we consider the significance of the genealogy boom to the historiography of the war, the politics of the Shot at Dawn campaign and the tradition of novelists inventing fictional regiments. References: Midsummer Murders The Sweeney Who Do You Think You Are? Not Forgotten (2005-2009)...
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55 - Sapphire and Steel
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What happens when you combine the First World War with a 1970s cult sci-fi classic? This month we watched 'Assignment 2' from the television series Sapphire & Steel which features a ghostly First World War soldier haunting an abandoned railway station. Along the way we discuss differing approaches to sacrifice, the idea of an 'unjust' death, and where the show sits on our ongoing 'creepy' list.
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54 - Ian Isherwood, The Battalion and Digital History
Oh! What a lovely podcast
What do you do when a student brings you a collection of family papers in a Harrods tin? This month, Chris, Angus and Jessica speak to Professor Ian Isherwood about his new book, The Battalion: Citizen Soldiers at War on the Western Front. Along the way, we discuss developing digital humanities projects, the involvement of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis in rambling and the proliferation of bad war poetry. References: Ian Isherwood, The Battalion: Citizen Soldiers at War on the Western Front Ian Isherwood, The First World War Letters of H.J.C. Peirs Michael Roper, Afterlives of War: A...
info_outlineWhat First World War cultural representations would you like to see adapted for the screen?
This month Angus, Chris and Jessica discuss their dream adaptations of novels, short stories and computer games for the big or small screen. Along the way, we explore what makes for a good film versus a good television series, we consider how to overcome the challenge of the Bechdel test in filming the war, and Chris introduces us to the Bertie Wooster/animé scale of realism.
References:
1917, dir. by Sam Mendes (1919)
AG Macdonell, England, Their England (1933)
Akira, dir. by Katsuhiro Otomo (1988)
All Quiet on the Western Front, dir. by Edward Berger (2022)
Capt WE Johns, Biggles Goes North (1939)
Capt WE Johns, Biggles Goes East (1935)
Emma Hanna, The Great War on the small screen (2009)
Ford Madox Ford, Parades End (1924)
Frederic Manning, Her Privates We (1930)
Lupin, Netflix (2021)
Peter Berresford Ellis et al, Biggles!: Life of Captain WE Johns (1993)
Ralph Hale Mottram, The Spanish Farm Trilogy (1930)
RC Sherriff, Journey’s End (1928)
Sapper, Bulldog Drummond (1920)
The Wind Rises, dir. by Hayao Miyazaki (2013
The Monocled Mutineer, dir. by Jim O’Brien (1986)
Valiant Hearts: The Great War, Ubisoft (2014)