Come on law boys, grab your wigs and let’s hang as we enjoy the beautiful historical drama, Belle. Alice and Kim discuss what they want from a period drama, and how a glossy romantic story can be the starting point for learning about the worst parts of human history.

Sound Engineer: Keith Nagle
Editor: Helen Hamilton / Keith Nagle
Producer: Helen Hamilton

Sources

• Website: All Things Georgian
• Article: Kate Kellaway; 'Amma Asante: "I'm bi-cultural, I walk the division that Belle walked every day", The Observer, 18th May 2014
• Article: English Heritage; 'The Somerset v Stewart Case', Accessed 25th Sept 2024
• Podcast: The English Heritage Podcast; 'Episode 168 - Somerset v Stewart: the landmark trial that helped to end slavery', 16th June 2022
• Article: Wikipedia; 'Zong Massacre', Accessed 25th Sept 2024

We’re back! Season 2 of Fetch the Smelling Salts kicks off in style with historian Clara Chamberlain helping us make sense of dictator-funded epic dude-in-a-desert film, El Cid. We’re talking about the creation of national myths, fist-fights at a funeral and the most insane final 15 minutes of any film, ever.

Find more from Clara on:
Instagram: @clarabchamberlain
Substack: Once Upon a Time, Long Ago

Sound Engineer: Keith Nagle
Editor: Keith Nagle
Producer: Helen Hamilton

We’re throwing our heads back, flailing our arms and running off for a summer break, but there’s still time for Kim and Alice to discuss the classic ‘Chariots of Fire’. We have Olympic trivia, separate the fact from fiction and discuss all manner of dongs.

Sound Engineer: Keith Nagle
Editor: Keith Nagle
Producer: Helen Hamilton

Sources

• Documentary: Dir. Adrian Sibley; 'The Real Chariots of Fire'; ITV (2012)
• Article: Nathalie Morris; 'The book that inspired Chariots of Fire'; bfi.org; July 2012
• Article: Rose Staveley-Wadham; 'Exploring the Real 'Chariots of Fire' - As Reported in Our Newspapers'; britishnewspaperarchive.com; July 2021
• Article: Jeffrey Richards; 'Chariots of Fire'; historytoday.com; August 2012
• Article: Philip Barker; '40 Years of Chariots of Fire'; International Society of Olympic Historians (isoh,org); 2021

Period dramas are for dudes too! And this week we have Tan and Keon from the awesome Pastmaster podcast to help us navigate the dudiest dudefest around: Gladiator. We’re thinking about the Roman Empire an exactly normal amount and discussing tickle-snake surprises, extremely extra Emperors and historically-accurate product endorsement.

Sound Engineer: Keith Nagle
Editor: Keith Nagle
Producer: Helen Hamilton

In this week’s special Fainting Couch episode, Kim and Alice are smooching their undergardeners and celebrating queer representation in TV and cinema. We’re looking at the history, the controversy and depiction of LGBTQ+ people on screen, and demanding more queer joy please!

Sound Engineer: Keith Nagle
Editor: Helen Hamilton / Keith Nagle
Producer: Helen Hamilton

Sources

• Article: Jack King; '10 great films about queer history'; BFI.org.uk; February 2021
• Article: Isabelle Grimshaw; 'A Short History of LGBTQ+ Cinema'; freesat.co.uk; June 2023
• Documentary: 'Queerama' (2017); Dir. Daisy Asquith

It’s Pride season, and Kim and Alice are celebrating by discussing the queeriest 2020 Mexican drama, ‘Dance of the 41’. There’s cigar innuendo, bathtub math and honeymoon-related fainting, as well as the real history of the LGBTQ+ community in 1900s Mexico.

Sound Engineer: Keith Nagle
Editor: Keith Nagle
Producer: Helen Hamilton

Sources

• Article: Brendan O'Boyle; '"Los 41": The Queer Dance Party That Changed Mexico'; Americas Quarterly, June 2020
• Article: Thaddeus Morgan; '41 Has a Secret Meaning in Mexico Thanks to a Queer Underground Ball'; History.com; June 2018
• Article: Kittredge Cherry; 'Dance of the 41 Queers: Police Raid Mexican Drag Ball in 1901'; qspirit.net; Jan 2024
• Article: Heib, L. (2023). El Baile de Los 41: Sexuality in 1900’s Mexico. The Toro Historical Review, 14(2), 55-62.
• Article: Roger Moore; 'Netflixable? Gay Mexican history plays out in 'Dance of the 41''; rogersmovienation.com; 2021
• Article: Manuel Betancourt; ''Dance of the 41' Review: Netflix Drama Spotlights a 19th-Century Queer Scandal'; Variety.com; 2021
• Book: R. Irwin (Editor), E. McCaughan (Editor), M. Nasser (Editor)(2003) 'The Famous 41: sexuality and social control in Mexico, c.1901' ; Palgrave/MacMillan
• Biography: 'Amada Díaz Quiñones'; findagrave.com
• Biography: 'Ignacio de la Torre y Mier'; findagrave.com

This week we’re having our hearts broken by a bad case of British butler-itis, as Kim and Alice sob through The Remains of the Day. We’re learning about the politics of the aristocracy, strict servant etiquette and why you shouldn’t learn the facts of life from Anthony Hopkins.

Sound Engineer: Keith Nagle
Editor: Helen Hamilton / Keith Nagle
Producer: Helen Hamilton

Move over Elizabeth and Victoria, there’s a new Queen in town. This week Kim and Alice tackle ‘The Favourite’, the darkly comic / just plain dark Queen Anne biopic. Why aren’t more period dramas set in the Stuart period? Who won the duck race? And where can we hire a naked Tory for our next party?

Sound Engineer: Keith Nagle
Editor: Helen Hamilton / Keith Nagle
Producer: Helen Hamilton

Sources

• Podcast: Vulgar History; 'Anne, Queen of Great Britain'
• Article: Wilder Davies; 'The True Story Behind the Favourite'; Time Magazine, Dec 2018
• Article: James Anderson Wynn; 'Your Guide to Queen Anne, Last of the Stuart Monarchs'; History Extra, July 2020
• Article: Dr Hannah Grieg; 'Queen Anne's Feuding Favourites'; History Extra, Feb 2019
• Article: Alice Newbold; 'Sandy Powell On Taking a Rock and Roll Approach to Period Dress in The Favourite'; Vogue, Jan 2019