November 20, 2025

4.08: Blackmailing Sweeney Todd? — The highwaymen crash the officers' party. — The murderer arrives too late! — And three very spicy early-Victorian songs in praise of, uh, "Thingie."

1 hour 13 minutes

Join host Corinthian Finn, a.k.a. Finn J.D. John 18th Baron Dunwitch,* for a one-hour-long spree through the scandal-sheets and story papers of old London!

This is a one-hour Ha'penny Horrid 'Hursday episode! In two parts, to-wit:

PART I: "THE HA’PENNY HORRIDS," 0:00 — 38:00:

This first segment of the Thursday show contains a chapter of Sweeney Todd, along with the more darksome, loathly, and horrifying tidbits of the week: Tales of horrid murders, public executions, disasters, brutal crimes, and similar rays of sunshine — INCLUDING ...

01:05: DICKENS' DREADFUL ALMANAC for today: A tragic accident along the railway.
02:40: SWEENEY TODD, THE BARBER OF FLEET-STREET, Chapter 64-65: Watson puts the bite on Todd for a little monthly help. Todd is going along with it, obviously working to get Watson to lower his guard so that he can kill his way out of the blackmail situation, when Watson says, “That boy used to say some odd things of you, Mr. Todd. … Have you, by any chance, heard anything more of him?” Then, in chapter 65: Sweeney Todd invites Peter Watson into his parlour for a glass of brandy and the full satisfaction of the blackmail touch. After a couple good tumblers-full, Todd goes behind Watson’s chair to get some biscuits. Sweeney Todd seems like a bad fellow to turn one’s back on … doesn’t he?
34:30: TERRIFIC REGISTER ARTICLE: The would-be murderer slipped into the rich guest’s room, knife in one hand and dark lantern in the other, to find … someone had already done him in!

PART II: "THE TWOPENNY TORRIDS," 38:20 — 1:13:30:

This second segment of the Thursday show contains a chapter or two of Dick Turpin's adventures, along with all the more salacious, cheeky, and naughty elements of the week — INCLUDING ...

38:48: HIGHWAYMAN DICK TURPIN in BLACK BESS; or, THE KNIGHT OF THE ROAD, Chapter 32-33: Ostler Alf’s Cunning Plan turns out to be to climb into the hayloft and come upon the officers from inside the house, knowing they’ll be watching at the door. As they are preparing their attack, the two highwaymen can hear the officers singing a merry song inside, obviously well on their way to a jolly evening involving lots of good things to drink. Moving during the choruses of the songs when all the officers are singing along, the highwaymen slip up and pounce….
1:01:00: THREE VERY NAUGHTY COCK-AND-HEN-CLUB SONGS: "The Little Black (furry) Thing,” “The Mouse-trap,” and “With Mike Hunt I Have Travel’d All Over the Town.”
1:10:50: A FEW SALTY AND SPICY JOKES from an 1804 joke book titled "The Joke-cracker."

A new episode of the show is released every Sunday and Thursday evening at 5:37 p.m. London time!

* The Barony of Dunwitch is located in a wood west of Arkham (where, as H.P. Lovecraft put it, “the hills rise wild, and there are valleys with deep woods that no axe has ever cut; there are dark narrow glens where the trees slope fantastically, and where thin brooklets trickle without ever having caught the glint of sunlight.”) Actually it is a good 3,000 miles west of Arkham. It is not to be confused with Dunwich, the English seacoast town that fell house by house into the sea centuries ago, or Dunsany, the home until 1957 of legendary fantasy author Edward J.M.D. Plunkett, 18th Baron Dunsany.

GLOSSARY OF FLASH TERMS USED IN THIS EPISODE:

BEAU TRAPS: Well-dressed swindlers, fortune hunters.
ARCH DOXIES: Underworld ladies of high rank.

KNIGHTS OF THE BRUSH AND MOON: Drunken fellows wandering amok in meadows and ditches, trying to stagger home.
CORINTHIAN: A fancy toff or titled swell. Used here as a reference to Corinthian Tom, the quintessential Regency rake depicted in Pierce Egan's "Life in London" (usually referred to as "Tom and Jerry").
CHAFFING-CRIB: A room where drinking and bantering are going on.

A full glossary of the flash-cant terms used in this episode is at ⁠https://pennydread.com/discord⁠ in the "#season-4-episodes" thread.

...more

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By Finn J.D. John/ Pulp-Lit Productions

4.4

99 ratings

November 20, 2025

4.08: Blackmailing Sweeney Todd? — The highwaymen crash the officers' party. — The murderer arrives too late! — And three very spicy early-Victorian songs in praise of, uh, "Thingie."

1 hour 13 minutes

Join host Corinthian Finn, a.k.a. Finn J.D. John 18th Baron Dunwitch,* for a one-hour-long spree through the scandal-sheets and story papers of old London!

This is a one-hour Ha'penny Horrid 'Hursday episode! In two parts, to-wit:

PART I: "THE HA’PENNY HORRIDS," 0:00 — 38:00:

01:05: DICKENS' DREADFUL ALMANAC for today: A tragic accident along the railway.
02:40: SWEENEY TODD, THE BARBER OF FLEET-STREET, Chapter 64-65: Watson puts the bite on Todd for a little monthly help. Todd is going along with it, obviously working to get Watson to lower his guard so that he can kill his way out of the blackmail situation, when Watson says, “That boy used to say some odd things of you, Mr. Todd. … Have you, by any chance, heard anything more of him?” Then, in chapter 65: Sweeney Todd invites Peter Watson into his parlour for a glass of brandy and the full satisfaction of the blackmail touch. After a couple good tumblers-full, Todd goes behind Watson’s chair to get some biscuits. Sweeney Todd seems like a bad fellow to turn one’s back on … doesn’t he?
34:30: TERRIFIC REGISTER ARTICLE: The would-be murderer slipped into the rich guest’s room, knife in one hand and dark lantern in the other, to find … someone had already done him in!

PART II: "THE TWOPENNY TORRIDS," 38:20 — 1:13:30:

This second segment of the Thursday show contains a chapter or two of Dick Turpin's adventures, along with all the more salacious, cheeky, and naughty elements of the week — INCLUDING ...

38:48: HIGHWAYMAN DICK TURPIN in BLACK BESS; or, THE KNIGHT OF THE ROAD, Chapter 32-33: Ostler Alf’s Cunning Plan turns out to be to climb into the hayloft and come upon the officers from inside the house, knowing they’ll be watching at the door. As they are preparing their attack, the two highwaymen can hear the officers singing a merry song inside, obviously well on their way to a jolly evening involving lots of good things to drink. Moving during the choruses of the songs when all the officers are singing along, the highwaymen slip up and pounce….
1:01:00: THREE VERY NAUGHTY COCK-AND-HEN-CLUB SONGS: "The Little Black (furry) Thing,” “The Mouse-trap,” and “With Mike Hunt I Have Travel’d All Over the Town.”
1:10:50: A FEW SALTY AND SPICY JOKES from an 1804 joke book titled "The Joke-cracker."

A new episode of the show is released every Sunday and Thursday evening at 5:37 p.m. London time!

GLOSSARY OF FLASH TERMS USED IN THIS EPISODE:

BEAU TRAPS: Well-dressed swindlers, fortune hunters.
ARCH DOXIES: Underworld ladies of high rank.

KNIGHTS OF THE BRUSH AND MOON: Drunken fellows wandering amok in meadows and ditches, trying to stagger home.
CORINTHIAN: A fancy toff or titled swell. Used here as a reference to Corinthian Tom, the quintessential Regency rake depicted in Pierce Egan's "Life in London" (usually referred to as "Tom and Jerry").
CHAFFING-CRIB: A room where drinking and bantering are going on.

A full glossary of the flash-cant terms used in this episode is at ⁠https://pennydread.com/discord⁠ in the "#season-4-episodes" thread.

...more

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4.08: Blackmailing Sweeney Todd? — The highwaymen crash the officers' party. — The murderer arrives too late! — And three very spicy early-Victorian songs in praise of, uh, "Thingie."

4.08: Blackmailing Sweeney Todd? — The highwaymen crash the officers' party. — The murderer arrives too late! — And three very spicy early-Victorian songs in praise of, uh, "Thingie."

More shows like The Penny Dreadful Hour: A Feast of Early-Victorian Street Literature and Stories

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