Oh! What a lovely podcast

Can a crime novel help us understand the long shadow cast by the First World War? In this episode of Oh! What a Lovely Podcast , we explore Christina Koning's acclaimed Blind Detective series. The novels follow Frederick Rowlands, a veteran who lost his sight at Ypres and must navigate the challenges of postwar Britain using his memory, hearing, and sharp intuition. Set against the backdrop of the...

What happens when a classic Agatha Christie story is reimagined with the memory of war lingering behind it? In the latest episode of Oh! What a Lovely Podcast , Jessica, Chris and Angus are joined by Kemper Donovan , author and host of All About Agatha , to discuss Agatha Christie's The Seven Dials Mystery and its recent Netflix adaptation. Unlike the familiar worlds of Poirot and Miss Marple, The...

Was patriotism in the First World War really shared by all, or was it shaped and enforced from above? In the latest episode of Oh What a Lovely Podcast, we speak with Richard Batten about his book For King and Country, an examination of patriotism in Devon during the First World War. Using Devon as a case study, Richard explores how local elites tried to encourage, direct, and sometimes police pat...

What does the First World War look like when it arrives not as a battle, but as an invasion of home, family, and childhood? In this episode of Oh! What a Lovely Podcast , we discuss My Soul, A Shining Tree , a novel by Jamila Gavin that explores the opening months of the First World War through the experiences of children, civilians, and young soldiers caught up in the German invasion of Belgium i...

What does the First World War look like when the story is driven not by battles, but by loss, hope and unanswered questions? In this episode of Oh! What a Lovely Podcast , we turn to A Very Long Engagement , Jean Pierre Jeunet's 2004 French film set during and after the First World War. The story centres on Mathilde, a young woman who refuses to accept that her fiancé has died after being condemne...

Can a film about the First World War work without trenches or battles? In this episode of Oh What a Lovely Podcast, Angus, Jessica and Chris discuss the 2025 film The Choral, which uses song, performance and collective experience to explore the impact of the First World War on a northern English community. We talk about what the film gets right, where it challenges expectations, and how it fits in...

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...

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 te...

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 co...

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...

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 The Boy I Loved 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...

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...

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 accur...

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...

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...

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.

What do you do when a student brings you a collection of family papers in a Harrods tin?  This month, Chris, Angus and Jessica speak to Professor Ian Isherwood about his new book, The Battalion: Citizen Soldiers at War on the Western Front . Along the way, we discuss developing digital humanities projects, the involvement of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis in rambling and the proliferation of bad wa...

How do you walk people through First World War landscapes?   This month we welcome back Prof Mark Connelly to discuss his new walking tours endeavour Connelly Contours . Along the way we discuss war memorials in the London landscape, the evolution of remembrance, and if bad weather provides important context.

How do you teach the FIrst World War? This month we're joined by Dr Ann-Marie Einhaus and Prof Catriona Pennell to reflect on their 'First World War in the Classroom' project that explored the ways the conflict was taught in schools. Along the way we discuss the role of battlefield tours, the time constraints faced by teachers, and whether the centenary has changed the way the war is taught' Refer...

Can you turn the First World War into sketch comedy? This month we talk to the public historian, podcaster, and author Greg Jenner. Along the way we discuss his work on the Horrible Histories television show, the difficulties of being funny about twentieth-century history, the different ways in which the public now consume history, and why Jessica might be considering changing career to become a c...

What happens when the First World War meets pulp science fiction?   This month we read the novel:  Black Hand Gang (the first in the No Man's World trilogy) by Pat Kelleher. The book depicts a fictional battalion of British soldiers who are transported from the Somme to a strange alien world. As a result we discuss supernatural horror and the war, the use of slang, and whether this book was writte...

What happens when fantasy meets the First World War?   This month, we read 'The Warm Hands of Ghosts' by Katherine Arden, a novel which follows Canadian nurse Laura Iven as she searches for her brother behind the lines in the militarised area known as the 'Forbidden Zone'. The plot hinges around a mysterious character called Faland, who runs an elusive hotel with no set location that men find to d...

This month Angus, Chris and Jessica discuss Jessica's professorial inaugural lecture , 'No (Wo)man's Land: writing history at the intersection of gender and First World War studies'.   Along the way we consider the problem of masculinity as an empty analytic category, the importance of the centenary for the study of the First World War and what Jessica might have done if she hadn't gone in to acad...

What happens when three historians watch a key play about the First World War? This month we took a field trip to see Oh What A Lovely War at the Leeds Playhouse. As a result we discuss the nature of the performance, the changing image of Douglas Haig, and wonder whether audiences were supposed to sing along. References Alan Clark, The Donkeys (1961) John McCrae, In Flanders Field (1915) William P...

What 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...