That Time When

What do you do when you need to get rid of a 'commoner' who is proving troublesome for the future of the monarchy? Accuse her of the greatest name of a crime ever: Treasonable Necromancy! Hell, that sounds cool. The aftermath... not so much.

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Now you may think that this podcast is in danger of becoming a French Legal History podcast, so now we're veering into conspiracy theories! This week on That Time When, Barnaby tells us about a few of the occasions when governments have conducted dodgy bio-weapons research on their own civilians. Don't worry, it's not as bleak as it sounds, but does provide new opportunities for dodgy lightbulb salespeople.

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Amelia decided to do her own episode on the French Legal system in the 1500s, and so brings us the story of Martin Guerre. If a man disappears for eight years and then returns, how do you know he's really who he says he is? Sure, he's knowledgeable about the location of his pants, but is that enough? This case is so mad it made Barnaby confuse a man for his wife. Who is really at fault? Was there attempted fraud? Or was it an April Fools joke that got really out of hand?

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You might think it would be a low point in your career as a lawyer when you're asked to defend a swarm of rats. Not so for Bartholomew Chassenée, one of the great French lawyers of the 16th Century; for him defending these rats was deadly serious. This week on That Time When, Barnaby tells us about the rats of Autun and their court case, because medieval people really loved the legal system. Also, Amelia tells us about the York cycle and Jesus' court battle with the devil, and how Game of Thrones could have been very different if people were just fined instead of killed.

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In a world where we are constantly beset by news stories that make us sad or angry or worried, we might forget there was a time when there was no news... for about fifteen minutes. This week on That Time When, Amelia tells us about the time the BBC admitted there was no news. Was it the result of a government cover-up, a broken ticker-tape machine, or aggressive moralism? Find out on That Time When.

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Who would have thought that trying to fix your fridge could lead you to going blind? Not Clarence Peddicord, that's for sure. His whole life changed when he attempted a bit of DIY home repair, but he was not going to let this stop him. So how did he end up holding a department store to ransom under the threat of a bomb attack? Find out on That Time When.

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Behold the power of International Women's Day! It can bring a mighty empire to its knees! No, seriously, that's one of the reasons it is such a big day. Find out why International Women's Day lead to greater union membership, and why poor Greg may not get voted in as president (It'll make sense in the episode, we swear).

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In this practically feature length episode of That Time When, we continue our theme that nothing ever really changes. Just as there are apologists for Putin in this country now, so too were there Nazi apologists during World War Two. One such famous propagandist was Lord Haw-Haw and we get stuck into the details of his life, why he was such an awful person, and why the town of Worthing might have, for once, been an exciting place.

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Lord Byron is probably one of the most famous people we've talked about on this podcast, but did you know quite how much his escapades extended? Probably not, but what we do know is that it now seems likely he met a curly haired time traveller. You'll have to listen to find out why.

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Dr James Barry was a respected doctor, military surgeon, humanitarian, and may well have performed the first caesarian in the English speaking world in which mother and child both survived. So eyebrows were probably raised, and monocles dropped amongst the establishment, when it emerged that Dr James Barry had, in fact been born a woman.

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