There is a town in the English Cotswolds, sometimes referred to as the most Regency place in the world. But it's not all bonnets and townhouses: this is the story of Cheltenham, the home of British spying. From the madness of King George to the madness of Geoffrey Prime, and the construction of the Donut to the leaking of GCHQ files by Edward Snowden, Cheltenham has been at the centre of global espionage for a century. Does this town know too much?
“Hilton’s script is beautiful... knowingly florid, ironically meandering... one of those rare
moments when a podcast slips the surly bonds of being merely audio entertainment and
approaches the condition of art” – James Marriott, The Times
“Hilton is a terrific narrator and the writing is densely packed... florid descriptions are mixed
with reflective commentary, unexpected pop culture references and the odd brilliantly timed
gag” – Fiona Sturges, Financial Times
“Hilton’s investigative dedication and wry humour make these series utterly gripping” –
Miranda Sawyer, The Observer
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
There is a town in the English Cotswolds, sometimes referred to as the most Regency place in the world. But it's not all bonnets and townhouses: this is the story of Cheltenham, the home of British spying. From the madness of King George to the madness of Geoffrey Prime, and the construction of the Donut to the leaking of GCHQ files by Edward Snowden, Cheltenham has been at the centre of global espionage for a century. Does this town know too much?
“Hilton’s script is beautiful... knowingly florid, ironically meandering... one of those rare
moments when a podcast slips the surly bonds of being merely audio entertainment and
approaches the condition of art” – James Marriott, The Times
“Hilton is a terrific narrator and the writing is densely packed... florid descriptions are mixed
with reflective commentary, unexpected pop culture references and the odd brilliantly timed
gag” – Fiona Sturges, Financial Times
“Hilton’s investigative dedication and wry humour make these series utterly gripping” –
Miranda Sawyer, The Observer
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This is the story of a man who had not one but two double lives. It is the story of the disorientating topsy-turvy world you'll find through the looking glass, where all is not what it seems. This is the story of GCHQ's mole...
From Lewis Carroll to Geoffrey Prime, this episode looks at the lies we tell to keep our worst secrets from the outside world. It is an episode that looks at how lies expand to fill the space they're afforded and how once you start living in the shadows, dishonesty and deception becomes easier and easier.
Contributors to this episode: Katie Roiphe, Jenny Woolf, Peter Picken, Dominic Carman, Nick Davies, John D’oh, Ian Bailey, Anna Leszkiewicz, and Dallas G. Denery II.
Voice acting by Evelyn Lockley and Keif Gwinn.
This is the third episode of The Town That Knew Too Much, written, produced and presented by Nick Hilton.
The music is by George Jennings, based on The Planets by Gustav Holst. The entire score for the series is available to stream on Spotify.
This is the third part of a 7-part series available on all good podcast platforms. You can find out more about the show on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook – just go to @thetownpod – or visit www.thetownpod.com for episode notes and more information. If you’ve enjoyed the show, please go to your podcast provider and leave a rating and review.
The Town That Knew Too Much is a Podot podcast, for more information visit podotpods.com.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.