64 - Christmas Truce
Oh! What a lovely podcast
Can a story about soldiers shaking hands in the snow carry a warning for the nuclear age? This episode of Oh What a Lovely Podcast brings Jessica, Chris and Angus together with Anne Marie Einhaus for a conversation about Robert Graves short story Christmas Truce. The story appears in the Penguin Book of First World War Stories and follows an elderly veteran who recalls the rare moments in 1914 and 1915 when soldiers on both sides met peacefully in the frozen landscape between the trenches. Through these memories the veteran describes friendship that cuts through wartime propaganda, as well as...
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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
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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
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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.
info_outlineWhat opportunities did the First World War provide for cultural tourism?
This month Angus, Jessica and Chris speak to Allison Bennett, winner of the 2023 Gail Braybon Award for her work on war-time cross-cultural sexual encounters during the First World War. Along the way we discuss #MeToo, and the post-war legacies of these encounters for families, and the popularity of the Pyramids and camels as a tourist attractions.
References:
Gallipoli
Peter Stanley, Bad Characters
Alexia Moncrieff, Expertise, Authority and Control
Alan Beyerchen and Emre Spencer (eds.), Expeditionary Forces in the First World War
Tomas Irish, Universities at War
Rudyard Kipling, Kim
The Arabian Nights