A Very British Murder

From Jack the Ripper to the cosy crimes of the Golden Age, renowned historian Lucy Worsley explores the evolution of the typical British murder.

An excellent overview of how the consumption of crime became a dominant part of our cultural landscape

Worsley captures this bloody love affair very well

Worsley retells the stories of famous murderers and legendary criminals in delightfully readable language, with the occasional sharp, illuminating comment

Dr Lucy Worsley is a historian and Chief Curator of the Historic Royal Palaces, where she looks after the Tower of London and Hampton Court Palace among others. She has presented numerous television series, including Harlots, Housewives and Heroines for BBC4 and If Walls Could Talk for BBC1, for which she also wrote an accompanying book. Lucy has also written numerous other books, including Cavalier: A Tale of Chivalry, Passion and Great Houses.

This is the story of a national obsession. 
 
Ever since the Ratcliffe Highway Murders caused a nation-wide panic in Regency England, the British have taken an almost ghoulish pleasure in 'a good murder'. This fascination helped create a whole new world of entertainment, inspiring novels, plays and films, puppet shows, paintings and true-crime journalism - as well as an army of fictional detectives who still enthrall us today. A Very British Murder is Lucy Worsley's captivating account of this curious national obsession. It is a tale of dark deeds and guilty pleasures, a riveting investigation into the British soul by one of our finest historians.

Lucy Worsley

Full Cast

Queen Victoria's Reign Through Significant Meetings

Lucy Worsley presents a ten-part BBC radio exploration of Queen Victoria’s reign via notable encounters 
 
In this revealing series, acclaimed historian and Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces, Lucy Worsley, explores the reign of Queen Victoria through pivotal figures in her life. We meet ten key individuals – some well known, others less so – and find out how they influenced the Queen, what she thought of them: and what they thought of her. 
 
Beginning with Victoria’s Prime Minister and closest advisor, Lord Melbourne, Worsley goes on to introduce us to the Queen’s lady-in-waiting, Lady Flora Hastings; the Mayor of Newport, Thomas Phillips, governess Louise Lehzen and two popular American entertainers, Tom Thumb and Buffalo Bill – as well as dresser Frieda Arnold; celebrity nurse Florence Nightingale; royal ‘favourite’ Abdul Karim and Bishop Randall Davidson. 
 
There are also encounters of a different kind, as Lucy Worsley chronicles Victoria’s grief at the death of her husband, Prince Albert, and records Victoria’s own final days and the crowd of people who gathered as Britain’s longest-reigning monarch breathed her last. 
 
Travelling from Kensington Palace to a luxury hotel on the Côte d’Azur, Worsley talks to eminent writers and historians and draws on letters and diaries including the Queen’s own journal to provide fascinating insight into Victoria’s world and those who helped shape it. 
1 Accession Day and Kinky Lord M – 1837 
With historian Philip Ziegler 
 
2 Poor Lady Flora – 1839 
With historian Kathryn Hughes 
 
3 A Wounded Welshman – 9 December 1839 
With historians Les James, Rhian E. Jones and curator Oliver Blackmore 
 
4 The Governess – 3 September 1842 
With Historic Royal Palaces curator Claudia Williams 
 
5 American Idols – 1844 and 1887 
With historian Helen Davies and V&amp;A curator and writer Nicholas Rankin 
 
6 The Dresser – Frieda Arnold, 1854 
With Beatrice Behlen, Senior Curator at the Museum of London and Joanna Marschner, Senior Curator at Historic Royal Palaces, Kensington Palace 
 
7 A Nightingale at Balmoral – Florence Nightingale – September 1856 
With historian Mark Bostridge 
 
8 An Encounter with Death – 13 December 1861 
With historian Helen Rappaport 
 
9 Mutiny Against an Indian – 1897 
With historians Priya Atwal and Shrabani Basu 
 
10 The Sinking of a Great Ship – Bishop Randall Davidson – 25th January 1901 
With writer and historian A.N. Wilson 
 
Extracts from Queen Victoria’s Journals by Gracious Permission of Her Majesty The Queen

Lucy Worsley

Books by Lucy Worsley

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