Hellish

The Hellish Advent Calendar is back! Every day in the run up to Christmas we’re resurrecting former guests and forcing an extra song on to their Infernal Playlists: a Christmas song they cannot stand.

Today we welcome back novelist and podcaster EMMA NEWMAN, who originally joined us for episode 43. 

Emma’s latest book, The Vengeance, is out now. https://uk.bookshop.org/a/14263/9781837861644 You can hear the Starship Alexandria advent calendar here AND the Tea and Sanctuary one here

Come back tomorrow for the opening of the next door on the Advent Calendar of Doom!

If you don't want to wait, and would rather scoff all the hellish treats straight away, then Patreon subscribers have access to all the Xmas special episodes RIGHT NOW, plus six others that will not appear on the main feed. You'll also get longer, ad-free versions of all sixty five episodes of Hellish so far, last year’s extended Advent Calendar, and our two pilot episodes. https://www.patreon.com/c/hellishpod

Hellish now has a bookshop - https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/hellish - where you can get books written by our guests, and a choice selection of Hell literature.

Find us on Spotify https://tinyurl.com/hellishpod

You can find us/beg for absolution on social media...

Instagram: www.instagram.com/hellish_pod

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hellish_pod

Facebook: www.facebook.com/hellishpodcast

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/hellishpod.com

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FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

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Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hellish_pod

Facebook: www.facebook.com/hellishpodcast

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/hellishpod

The Hellish logo was drawn by Nick Roche https://nickrocheart.bigcartel.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Hellish Advent Calendar is back! Every day in the run up to Christmas we’re resurrecting former guests and forcing an extra song on to their Infernal Playlists: a Christmas song they cannot stand.

Today we welcome back ANTHONY SPARGO, who originally joined us for episode 63. 

Anthony is currently appearing in Peter Pan: A Pantomime Adventure at Greenwich Theatre. Tickets here: https://greenwichtheatre.org.uk/events/peterpan/

Come back tomorrow for the opening of the next door on the Advent Calendar of Doom!

If you don't want to wait, and would rather scoff all the hellish treats straight away, then Patreon subscribers have access to all the Xmas special episodes RIGHT NOW, plus six others that will not appear on the main feed. You'll also get longer, ad-free versions of all sixty five episodes of Hellish so far, last year’s extended Advent Calendar, and our two pilot episodes. https://www.patreon.com/c/hellishpod

Hellish now has a bookshop - https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/hellish - where you can get books written by our guests, and a choice selection of Hell literature.

Find us on Spotify https://tinyurl.com/hellishpod

You can find us/beg for absolution on social media...

Instagram: www.instagram.com/hellish_pod

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hellish_pod

Facebook: www.facebook.com/hellishpodcast

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/hellishpod.com

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/hellishpod

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Instagram: www.instagram.com/hellish_pod

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/hellishpod.com

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hellish_pod

Facebook: www.facebook.com/hellishpodcast

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/hellishpod

The Hellish logo was drawn by Nick Roche https://nickrocheart.bigcartel.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Hellish Advent Calendar is back! Every day in the run up to Christmas we’re resurrecting former guests and forcing an extra song on to their Infernal Playlists: a Christmas song they cannot stand.

Today we welcome back film director JANIS PUGH, who originally joined us for episode 34. 

Janis’s film, Chuck Chuck Baby, is now on Sky Cinema/Now TV https://www.nowtv.com/watch/chuck-chuck-baby/A5EK6sKrAayemXDAA8zoG

Come back tomorrow for the opening of the next door on the Advent Calendar of Doom!

If you don't want to wait, and would rather scoff all the hellish treats straight away, then Patreon subscribers have access to all the Xmas special episodes RIGHT NOW, plus six others that will not appear on the main feed. You'll also get longer, ad-free versions of all sixty five episodes of Hellish so far, last year’s extended Advent Calendar, and our two pilot episodes. https://www.patreon.com/c/hellishpod

Hellish now has a bookshop - https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/hellish - where you can get books written by our guests, and a choice selection of Hell literature.

Find us on Spotify https://tinyurl.com/hellishpod

You can find us/beg for absolution on social media...

Instagram: www.instagram.com/hellish_pod

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hellish_pod

Facebook: www.facebook.com/hellishpodcast

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/hellishpod.com

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/hellishpod

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Instagram: www.instagram.com/hellish_pod

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/hellishpod.com

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hellish_pod

Facebook: www.facebook.com/hellishpodcast

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/hellishpod

The Hellish logo was drawn by Nick Roche https://nickrocheart.bigcartel.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Hellish Advent Calendar is back! Every day in the run up to Christmas we’re resurrecting former guests and forcing an extra song on to their Infernal Playlists: a Christmas song they cannot stand.

Today we welcome back novelist JENNY COLGAN, who originally joined us for episode 38. 

Jenny’s new book, The Secret Christmas Library, is out now. https://uk.bookshop.org/a/14263/9781399734271

Come back tomorrow for the opening of the next door on the Advent Calendar of Doom!

If you don't want to wait, and would rather scoff all the hellish treats straight away, then Patreon subscribers have access to all the Xmas special episodes RIGHT NOW, plus six others that will not appear on the main feed. You'll also get longer, ad-free versions of all sixty five episodes of Hellish so far, last year’s extended Advent Calendar, and our two pilot episodes. https://www.patreon.com/c/hellishpod

Hellish now has a bookshop - https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/hellish - where you can get books written by our guests, and a choice selection of Hell literature.

Find us on Spotify https://tinyurl.com/hellishpod

You can find us/beg for absolution on social media...

Instagram: www.instagram.com/hellish_pod

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hellish_pod

Facebook: www.facebook.com/hellishpodcast

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/hellishpod.com

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/hellishpod

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Instagram: www.instagram.com/hellish_pod

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/hellishpod.com

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hellish_pod

Facebook: www.facebook.com/hellishpodcast

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/hellishpod

The Hellish logo was drawn by Nick Roche https://nickrocheart.bigcartel.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's the last episode of season three, and what a season it has been! We're ending it in style by getting the incredible LAURA CHECKLEY to give us the five tracks she will meet in Hell!

Laura's CV is stuffed full of amazing shows, including Detectorists, Red Dwarf, and King Gary, as well no less than three critically acclaimed hit shows this year alone: Dope Girls, The Change, and What It Feels Like For A Girl. There really was no better person for us to finish this season with.

Laura told us about her sketch show beginnings as part of Checkley Bush; her interest in class as a subject, both in her Proper Class Podcast and in her work as an actor; the earworm that has plagued her since she was a teenager; AND Alex and Daniel get very confused about what the worst job Laura has ever done is.

This may be the last episode of season three, but it's not quite the end of Hellish for 2025. Come back here on December 1st for the start of our advent calendar!

BUY US A COFFEE! If you just want to be nice/bribe your way out of Hell then you can tip us over at https://www.ko-fi.com/hellishpod

FIND US ON SPOTIFY! To hear the songs on Laura's Infernal Playlist in full, as well as the Ultimate Infernal Playlist which combines the choices of every damned soul we've met so far. https://tinyurl.com/hellishpod

BECOME A PATREON SUPPORTER! https://www.patreon.com/hellishpod to access episodes early and ad free, where you will find out which artists our guests will meet in Hell. You'll also get our two pilot episodes, a bunch of advent calendar extras, and some other stuff depending which tier you pick.

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA for Alex's fiendishly impossible weekly picture quiz and loads more...

Instagram: www.instagram.com/hellish_pod

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/hellishpod.com

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hellish_pod

Facebook: www.facebook.com/hellishpodcast

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FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Instagram: www.instagram.com/hellish_pod

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/hellishpod.com

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hellish_pod

Facebook: www.facebook.com/hellishpodcast

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/hellishpod

The Hellish logo was drawn by Nick Roche https://nickrocheart.bigcartel.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The author of Telenovela and We are the End, GONZALO C. GARCIA, gives us the five tracks he will meet in Hell!

Gonzalo told us all about his new book, Telenovela, which is set in Chile in the last days of Pinochet's dictatorship. We talked about growing up in and out of Chile, beer, the stupid British citizenship test, and we got a new number one most chosen song in the history of Hellish, displacing Dancing Queen by ABBA.

Telenovela comes out of November 28th 2025. Order it direct from the publisher, Galley Beggar Press. It will arrive wrapped in a lovely package with great care, and will help Galley Beggar keep publishing awesome books. If you pre-order, you'll get a signed first edition, a book mark, and three limited edition postcards.

BUY US A COFFEE! If you just want to be nice/bribe your way out of Hell then you can tip us over at https://www.ko-fi.com/hellishpod

FIND US ON SPOTIFY! To hear the songs on Gonzalo's Infernal Playlist in full, as well as the Ultimate Infernal Playlist which combines the choices of every damned soul we've met so far. https://tinyurl.com/hellishpod

BECOME A PATREON SUPPORTER! https://www.patreon.com/hellishpod to access episodes early and ad free, where you will find out which artists our guests will meet in Hell. You'll also get our two pilot episodes, a bunch of advent calendar extras, and some other stuff depending which tier you pick.

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA for Alex's fiendishly impossible weekly picture quiz and loads more...

Instagram: www.instagram.com/hellish_pod

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/hellishpod.com

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hellish_pod

Facebook: www.facebook.com/hellishpodcast

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FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Instagram: www.instagram.com/hellish_pod

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/hellishpod.com

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hellish_pod

Facebook: www.facebook.com/hellishpodcast

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/hellishpod

The Hellish logo was drawn by Nick Roche https://nickrocheart.bigcartel.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Actor and writer ANTHONY SPARGO gives us the five tracks he will meet in Hell! (Oh no he doesn't! Oh yes he does!)

Pantomime season is almost upon on us in the UK, and so it's fitting that we plucked a panto legend from the queue of damned souls this week. Anthony has appeared in ten pantomimes, writing four of them - his Dick Whittington won 'Best Script' at the 2025 UK Pantomime Awards. We got to hear about how panto works, and why Anthony's pantos at Greenwich Theatre are a little different to all the others...

We also found time to talk about some of Anthony's other work, including his time operating a dalek on Doctor Who during David Tennant's time in the part.

Anthony's new panto, Peter Pan, is at the Greenwich Theatre from November 28th to January 11th. Get your tickets here.

BUY US A COFFEE! If you just want to be nice/bribe your way out of Hell then you can tip us over at https://www.ko-fi.com/hellishpod

FIND US ON SPOTIFY! To hear the songs on Anthony's Infernal Playlist in full, as well as the Ultimate Infernal Playlist which combines the choices of every damned soul we've met so far. https://tinyurl.com/hellishpod

BECOME A PATREON SUPPORTER! https://www.patreon.com/hellishpod to access episodes early and ad free, where you will find out which artists our guests will meet in Hell. You'll also get our two pilot episodes, a bunch of advent calendar extras, and some other stuff depending which tier you pick.

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA for Alex's fiendishly impossible weekly picture quiz and loads more...

Instagram: www.instagram.com/hellish_pod

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/hellishpod.com

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hellish_pod

Facebook: www.facebook.com/hellishpodcast

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FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

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BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/hellishpod.com

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hellish_pod

Facebook: www.facebook.com/hellishpodcast

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/hellishpod

The Hellish logo was drawn by Nick Roche https://nickrocheart.bigcartel.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Musician, writer, and sports fan FELIX WHITE selects the five songs he will meet in Hell!

Well known as a member of the recently reunited Maccabees, and one third of the Tailenders podcast, Felix is also a great non-fiction writer. We got to talk to him about his new book, Whatever Will Be Will Be: A Matter of Life and Football in which he attended every round of last season's FA Cup. It's a great read, even for non-football fans.

As well as getting Felix's Infernal Playlist, we also talked about crowds; an early musical love; a band of "English greats" that are still overlooked; the Swedish dance band phenomenon; AND we now have a new most selected song in the history of Hellish.

Whatever Will Be, Will Be: A Matter of Life and Football is out now from Octopus Books. Buy a copy here.

BUY US A COFFEE! If you just want to be nice/bribe your way out of Hell then you can tip us over at https://www.ko-fi.com/hellishpod

FIND US ON SPOTIFY! To hear the songs on Felix's Infernal Playlist in full, as well as the Ultimate Infernal Playlist which combines the choices of every damned soul we've met so far. https://tinyurl.com/hellishpod

BECOME A PATREON SUPPORTER! https://www.patreon.com/hellishpod to access episodes early and ad free, where you will find out which artists our guests will meet in Hell. (Though not Felix - we had a tech issue which meant we ran out of time to do that bit!) You'll also get our two pilot episodes, a bunch of advent calendar extras, and some other stuff depending which tier you pick.

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA for Alex's fiendishly impossible weekly picture quiz and loads more...

Instagram: www.instagram.com/hellish_pod

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/hellishpod.com

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hellish_pod

Facebook: www.facebook.com/hellishpodcast

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FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

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Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hellish_pod

Facebook: www.facebook.com/hellishpodcast

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/hellishpod

The Hellish logo was drawn by Nick Roche https://nickrocheart.bigcartel.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Screenwriter CATHERINE TREGENNA shows (not tells) us the five tracks she will meet in Hell!

Catherine is much in demand as a screenwriter, having written for Lewis, Law and Order UK, and the Bergerac reboot. As well as talking us through her Infernal Playlist, Catherine tells us about writing for Torchwood and Doctor Who; her crime drama The One That Got Away, which was filmed in both English and Welsh; AND a trio of Welsh musical icons finally make their Hellish debut, much to Daniel's dismay.

The One That Got Away is on BBC iPlayer. (English version)

You really, really want to hear the Patreon version of this episode. Trust us. You can either subscribe for a monthly fee, or buy the episode as a one-off. Do it. Honest. THIS ONE IS WORTH IT. https://www.patreon.com/hellishpod

BUY US A COFFEE! If you just want to be nice/bribe your way out of Hell then you can tip us over at https://www.ko-fi.com/hellishpod

FIND US ON SPOTIFY! To hear the songs on Catherine's Infernal Playlist in full, as well as the Ultimate Infernal Playlist which combines the choices of every damned soul we've met so far. https://tinyurl.com/hellishpod

BECOME A PATREON SUPPORTER! https://www.patreon.com/hellishpod to access episodes early and ad free, where you will find out which artists our guests will meet in Hell. You'll also get our two pilot episodes, a bunch of advent calendar extras, and some other stuff depending which tier you pick.

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA for Alex's fiendishly impossible weekly picture quiz and loads more...

Instagram: www.instagram.com/hellish_pod

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/hellishpod.com

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hellish_pod

Facebook: www.facebook.com/hellishpodcast

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FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Instagram: www.instagram.com/hellish_pod

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/hellishpod.com

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hellish_pod

Facebook: www.facebook.com/hellishpodcast

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/hellishpod

The Hellish logo was drawn by Nick Roche https://nickrocheart.bigcartel.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Author LOUIE STOWELL guides us through the five tracks she will meet in Hell!

Louie told us all about her bestselling series of children's books, which revolve around the Norse god Loki in the former of an eleven year old boy. They're very funny and you should read them if you haven't already. We also uncovered the heinous crime that got Louie sent to Hell, welcomed four artists who have never been brought to Hell before (including the most recent record we've ever had on) AND we added another chapter to our ongoing conversation about separating the art from the artist.

Hellish is a show for grown ups, and we chat about grown up stuff. In this episode we broached the subject of curse words in children's books, and while it's a very lighthearted conversation we've dipped the sound on one of the most grown-up words, in case Louie's readers come across the episode.

The new Loki book is A Bad God's Guide to Causing Chaos. The Hellish bookshop also has a selection of Louie's other books, which you will find here.

Special thanks to Iain Cook for his help with the outro vocals.

BUY US A COFFEE! If you just want to be nice/bribe your way out of Hell then you can tip us over at https://www.ko-fi.com/hellishpod

FIND US ON SPOTIFY! To hear the songs on Louie's Infernal Playlist in full, as well as the Ultimate Infernal Playlist which combines the choices of every damned soul we've met so far. https://tinyurl.com/hellishpod

BECOME A PATREON SUPPORTER! https://www.patreon.com/hellishpod to access episodes early and ad free, where you will find out which artists our guests will meet in Hell. You'll also get our two pilot episodes, a bunch of advent calendar extras, and some other stuff depending which tier you pick.

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA for Alex's fiendishly impossible weekly picture quiz and loads more...

Instagram: www.instagram.com/hellish_pod

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/hellishpod.com

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hellish_pod

Facebook: www.facebook.com/hellishpodcast

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/hellishpod

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Instagram: www.instagram.com/hellish_pod

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/hellishpod.com

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hellish_pod

Facebook: www.facebook.com/hellishpodcast

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/hellishpod

The Hellish logo was drawn by Nick Roche https://nickrocheart.bigcartel.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.