Tony Robinson is best-known for playing turnip-brained Baldrick who always had 'a cunning plan' in the iconic TV show Blackadder. He's presented countless documentaries throughout his 50-year career, including 20-years on Channel 4's Time Team, inspired by his passion for history and for digging deep into the past to understand more about the present. That's his thing!
In his history podcast, Tony is delving into weird and wonderful stories that grab his attention. He’s asking: Why was Stonehenge built? What did the past smell like? Why were pies invented? Why do our dogs love us so much? When did tattoos stop being taboo? What do bones tell us about past humanity? When did Jelly become a thing? Who wrote the Bible? Who is Putin and what makes him tick? No subject is off limits, because everything has a history.
Along the way, Tony is joined by experts and special guests, including Miriam Margolyes, Stephen Fry, Raksha Dave, John Lloyd, Alice Roberts, Ben Elton, Grace Neutral and David Mitchell.
So join Tony Robinson as he hosts his cunningly curated history podcast. New episodes drop Thursdays.
Tony Robinson's Cunningcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Follow Cunningcast
@Cunningcastpod
Host: Sir Tony Robinson
@SirTonyRobinson
Producer: Melissa FitzGerald
X | @melissafitzg
----X----
If you enjoyed my podcast, please follow the show and leave us a rating or review.
Thank you, Love Tony x
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Tony Robinson is best-known for playing turnip-brained Baldrick who always had 'a cunning plan' in the iconic TV show Blackadder. He's presented countless documentaries throughout his 50-year career, including 20-years on Channel 4's Time Team, inspired by his passion for history and for digging deep into the past to understand more about the present. That's his thing!
In his history podcast, Tony is delving into weird and wonderful stories that grab his attention. He’s asking: Why was Stonehenge built? What did the past smell like? Why were pies invented? Why do our dogs love us so much? When did tattoos stop being taboo? What do bones tell us about past humanity? When did Jelly become a thing? Who wrote the Bible? Who is Putin and what makes him tick? No subject is off limits, because everything has a history.
Along the way, Tony is joined by experts and special guests, including Miriam Margolyes, Stephen Fry, Raksha Dave, John Lloyd, Alice Roberts, Ben Elton, Grace Neutral and David Mitchell.
So join Tony Robinson as he hosts his cunningly curated history podcast. New episodes drop Thursdays.
Tony Robinson's Cunningcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Follow Cunningcast
@Cunningcastpod
Host: Sir Tony Robinson
@SirTonyRobinson
Producer: Melissa FitzGerald
X | @melissafitzg
----X----
If you enjoyed my podcast, please follow the show and leave us a rating or review.
Thank you, Love Tony x
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
One of Tony’s favourite things going on at Sutton Hoo currently is the reconstruction of the world-famous Sutton Hoo burial ship which was discovered in Mound 1 in 1939 by the archaeologist Basil Brown. The ship is believed to be the grave of King Rædwald, the 7th Century Anglo-Saxon ruler of East Anglia.
The Sutton Hoo Ships Company is a project based in Woodbridge, Suffolk, which is using an army of committed volunteers and some dedicated staff to reconstruct the ship, using the original archaeological evidence, traditional tools, and authentic materials to bring the ninety-foot ship back to life. Today leading Sutton Hoo archaeologist Professor Martin Carver, gives us a guided tour of the project.
Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson | Instagram @sirtonyrobinson
Producer: Melissa FitzGerald | X @melissafitzg
With
Professor Martin Carver | www.martincarver.com
British archaeologist renowned for his work on early medieval Europe. After serving 15 years in the Royal Tank Regiment, he transitioned to archaeology, founding the Birmingham University Field Archaeology Unit. He was Professor of Archaeology at the University of York (1986–2008) and led major excavations at Sutton Hoo in the 1980s.
Martin is a director of The Sutton Hoo Ship's Company, which aims to build a full-size and seaworthy replica of the Anglo-Saxon ship found in Mound 1 at Sutton Hoo | www.saxonship.org
Visit Sutton Hoo National Trust:
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/suffolk/sutton-hoo
Watch Time Team, Sutton Hoo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=risyQhRjwnw
Follow us:
Instagram @cunningcastpod | X @cunningcastpod | YouTube @cunningcast
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If you enjoy this podcast, please do share it and leave us a rating or review.
Thank you, Love Tony x
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Today Tony is digging up the secrets of Sutton Hoo, England’s iconic Anglo-Saxon royal burial site, with Professor Martin Carver, who led the 1980s excavations, and Laura Howarth, Archaeology and Engagement Manager at Sutton Hoo, National Trust.
The 1939 dig by Basil Brown for landowner Edith Pretty, revealed the shape of a ship beneath a mound. It turned out to be a 7th-century royal ship burial filled with magnificent treasures: 'a poem written in objects', possibly belonging to King Rædwald. These included the now famous helmet and many other treasures originating from across Europe, Byzantium, and even as far as Sri Lanka.
In the 1980s, Martin led further excavations, revealing a horse and warrior burial and even an execution cemetery, showing Sutton Hoo as an evolving political and spiritual landscape. Today excavations, in collaboration with Time Team, continue to reveal Sutton Hoo's secrets. As Laura says, “we’ll never know everything about Sutton Hoo, but each generation can look at it with fresh eyes.”
Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson | Instagram @sirtonyrobinson
Producer: Melissa FitzGerald | X @melissafitzg
With
Professor Martin Carver | www.martincarver.com
British archaeologist renowned for his work on early medieval Europe. After serving 15 years in the Royal Tank Regiment, Martin transitioned to archaeology, founding the Birmingham University Field Archaeology Unit. He was Professor of Archaeology at the University of York (1986–2008) and led major excavations at Sutton Hoo and Portmahomack. Martin also edited the journal Antiquity (2002–2012) and is a Fellow of the British Academy. Martin is a director of The Sutton Hoo Ship's Company, which aims to build a full-size and seaworthy replica of the Anglo-Saxon ship found in Mound 1 at Sutton Hoo | www.saxonship.org
Laura Howarth | www.nationaltrust.org.uk
Archaeology and Engagement Manager at National Trust, Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, England. Laura combines archaeological expertise with public engagement, curating exhibitions, organising events, and managing educational activities to bring the site's rich history to life.
Visit Sutton Hoo National Trust:
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/suffolk/sutton-hoo
Watch Time Team, Sutton Hoo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=risyQhRjwnw
Follow us:
Instagram @cunningcastpod | X @cunningcastpod | YouTube @cunningcast
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If you enjoy this podcast please do share it and leave us a rating or review.
Thank you, Love Tony x
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Today Tony is diving beneath the surface of one of history’s most enduring legends: Atlantis. Joining him are maritime archaeologist and bestselling author, David Gibbins, and the writer Damian Le Bas. A life-long fascination with the Atlantis myth has shaped both their work.
Together they explore the shifting meanings of Atlantis, from Plato’s parable to pop culture icon. They look at the political allegory of Plato’s story as a critique of imperialism, how Atlantis has been reinterpreted across history, and the metaphorical idea of Atlantis as a horizon of unknowing: both a physical and philosophical “beyond".
Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson | Instagram @sirtonyrobinson
Producer: Melissa FitzGerald | X @melissafitzg
With
David Gibbins | www.davidgibbins.com/biography
Maritime archaeologist and bestselling author, David’s twelve novels have sold over three million copies and are published in 30 languages. David’s been a passionate diver since boyhood and has led many expeditions to investigate historic shipwrecks and other underwater sites around the world, including the Mediterranean, Britain and Canada.
His recent non-fiction book, ‘A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks’, represents a lifelong fascination with underwater archaeology and the place of ships and shipwrecks in world history.
Damian Le Bas | IG @damianlebas
Writer, filmmaker and visual artist. Damian’s first book ‘The Stopping Places’ won the Somerset Maugham Award, a Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Award, and was shortlisted for the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year.
In his second book ‘The Drowned Places’, Damian explores the meaning we find in sunken ruins around the world in this spellbinding love letter to diving.
Follow us:
Instagram @cunningcastpod | X @cunningcastpod | YouTube @cunningcast
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If you enjoy this podcast please do share it and leave us a rating or review.
Thank you, Love Tony x
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Tony has been lucky enough to dive all over the world, he’s even dived on the Titanic with the film director James Cameron. So today on Cunningcast, Tony’s exploring underwater history with David Gibbins, maritime archaeologist and author of A History of the World in 12 Shipwrecks, and Damian Le Bas writer, filmmaker and author of The Drowned Places.
Together they explore how shipwrecks are time capsules that reveal human stories and global connections, from the Bronze Age Dover Boat to the lavish Uluburun wreck off Turkey and the sunken pirate city of Port Royal, Jamaica. Symbols of past human endeavour, shipwrecks and sunken ruins become homes to underwater life, and are constantly changing, as Damian says, they represent an ‘accidental collaboration between humans and nature’.
Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson | Instagram @sirtonyrobinson
Producer: Melissa FitzGerald | X @melissafitzg
With
David Gibbins | www.davidgibbins.com/biography
Maritime archaeologist and bestselling author, David’s twelve novels so far have sold over three million copies and are published in 30 languages. A Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellow. David’s been a passionate diver since boyhood, and has led many expeditions to investigate historic shipwrecks and other underwater sites around the world, including the Mediterranean, Britain and Canada.
His recent non-fiction book, ‘A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks’, represents a lifelong fascination with underwater archaeology and the place of ships and shipwrecks in world history.
Damian Le Bas | IG @damianlebas
Writer, filmmaker and visual artist. Damian’s first book ‘The Stopping Places’ won the Somerset Maugham Award, a Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Award, and was shortlisted for the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year.
In his second book ‘The Drowned Places’ Damian explores the meaning we find in sunken ruins around the world in this spellbinding love letter to diving.
Follow us:
Instagram @cunningcastpod | X @cunningcastpod | YouTube @cunningcast
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If you enjoy this podcast please do share it and leave us a rating or review.
Thank you, Love Tony x
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
🎙️ Tony Robinson’s Cunningcast is back, with new episodes dropping Thursdays…
Actor, presenter and author, Sir Tony Robinson is back with another series of his hit ‘history with a twist’ podcast. Throughout the series, the ‘eternally curious’ Sir Tony combines his unique blend of wit, brains, and humour, with his passion for popular history to explore a new selection of his cunningly curated histories with a line-up of expert guests.
➕ Follow Cunningcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts now to hear Tony and his guests explore fantastic new topics, including:
🪨 New discoveries at STONEHENGE
🇷🇺 Who is Vladimir PUTIN and what makes him tick?
Uncovering the mysteries of SUTTON HOO
⚓️ In search of SHIPWRECKS and SUNKEN CITIES
✍️ Who wrote the BIBLE?
👑 Tony’s book tie-in special on ALFRED THE GREAT
No subject is off limits... because everything has a history.
🎙️ Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson | IG @sirtonyrobinson
📻 Produced by Melissa FitzGerald I X @melissafitzg
Instagram: @cunningcastpod
Youtube @Cunningcast
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Today we bring you a bonus episode on Vladimir Putin, digging deeper into who he really is and what makes him tick.
Tony and his expert guests Mark Galeotti and Anna Arutunyan unpick the man from the myth. They discuss how Putin is a pragmatic, cautious leader, shaped more by circumstance than by ideology, as Anna says, “he is very much driven by the needs of the moment, and this is why you'll see very different iterations of Putin throughout his rule. He was not always this quasi-imperialist that we see today.”
Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson | Instagram @sirtonyrobinson
Producer: Melissa FitzGerald | X @melissafitzg
With
Mark Galiotti | X @MarkGaleotti
Honorary professor at UCL and director of the consultancy Mayak Intelligence, Mark has been studying Russia since 1988 and was banned indefinitely from it in 2022.
‘Downfall: Putin, Prigozhin, and the fight for the future of Russia’ (Ebury/Penguin, June 2024)
'We Need to Talk About Putin: How the West gets him wrong' (Penguin, 2019)
Anna Arutunyan | X @scrawnya
Russian-American writer who spent two decades as a journalist in Moscow, where she wrote for The Moscow News and other publications around the world. She served as senior Russia analyst for the International Crisis Group before leaving Russia in 2022 and is the author of five books about the country, its politics, society and its wars. She is currently associate director of Mayak Intelligence and lives in the UK.
‘Rebel Russia: Dissent and Protest from the Tsars to Navalny' (Polity Books, May 2025)
‘The Putin Mystique: Inside Russia’s Power Cult’ (Interlink Books, 2014)
Follow us:
Instagram @cunningcastpod | X @cunningcastpod | YouTube @cunningcast
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If you enjoy this podcast please do share it and leave us a rating or review.
Thank you, Love Tony x
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Vladimir Putin casts a shadow over our lives, but it wasn’t always that way, there was a time when the West was in love with Putin, so what’s happened? Today Tony and his guests Mark Galeotti and Anna Arutunyan unpick the man from the myth.
They discuss how Putin was shaped by a tough childhood in Leningrad, his KGB years and formative time in East Germany, how he rose through the political ranks in the 1990s as a ‘everyone’s favourite bag-man’, until he was hand-picked to be Yeltsin’s successor.
At first President Putin restored order and wealth to a chaotic Russia, but he also built a system of fear and cronyism around him, similar to a Medieval court. They argue that once he could have been remembered as a stabiliser, instead he is now viewed as a paranoid strongman, whose need for control has dragged Russia into repression and conflict.
Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson | Instagram @sirtonyrobinson
Producer: Melissa FitzGerald | X @melissafitzg
With
Mark Galiotti | X @MarkGaleotti
Honorary professor at UCL and director of the consultancy Mayak Intelligence, Mark has been studying Russia since 1988 and was banned indefinitely from it in 2022.
‘Downfall: Putin, Prigozhin, and the fight for the future of Russia’ (Ebury/Penguin, June 2024)
'We Need to Talk About Putin: How the West gets him wrong' (Penguin, 2019)
Anna Arutunyan | X @scrawnya
Russian-American writer who spent two decades as a journalist in Moscow, where she wrote for The Moscow News and other publications around the world. She served as senior Russia analyst for the International Crisis Group before leaving Russia in 2022 and is the author of five books about the country, its politics, society and its wars. She is currently associate director of Mayak Intelligence and lives in the UK.
‘Rebel Russia: Dissent and Protest from the Tsars to Navalny' (Polity Books, May 2025)
‘The Putin Mystique: Inside Russia’s Power Cult’ (Interlink Books, 2014)
Follow us:
Instagram @cunningcastpod | X @cunningcastpod | YouTube @cunningcast
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If you enjoy this podcast please do share it and leave us a rating or review.
Thank you, Love Tony x
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Today we bring you a bonus episode on Stonehenge, digging deeper into the mysteries of the world’s best-known ancient stone circle.
Tony speaks to leading archeologist Mike Parker Pearson and top geologist Jane Evans about Stonehenge’s altar stone, once thought to come from Wales, which is now believed, through zircon analysis, to have originated in northeast Scotland, linking it to wider Neolithic traditions such as Orkney’s architecture and pottery. They also discuss how dating methods have transformed our understanding of Stonehenge and how it uniquely brings together stones from extraordinary distances, perhaps as an attempt to unify Britain’s peoples.
Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson | Instagram @sirtonyrobinson
With
Mike Parker Pearson
Professor of British Later Prehistory, University College London | @ucl
Jane Evans
Honorary Professor in archaeology at the Universities of Nottingham and Leicester and Honorary Research Associate at the British Geological Survey | @britgeosurvey
Producer: Melissa FitzGerald | X @melissafitzg
Follow us:
Instagram @cunningcastpod | X @cunningcastpod | YouTube @cunningcast
If you enjoyed this episode please do share it and leave us a review.
Thank you, Love Tony x
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Cunningcast is back and Tony is kicking off his new series with one of his favourite subjects, Stonehenge, where new discoveries show that once again this ancient site is throwing up new evidence. Tony has invited his old friend, leading archaeologist Mike Parker Pearson, to discuss the Altar Stone's Scottish origins and its implications for understanding the monument's significance.
Also joining the chat is top geologist Jane Evans, whose new research has revealed the fascinating story of an ancient cow's journey from Wales to Stonehenge. Through isotope analysis, Jane has uncovered insights about the Stonehenge cow's diet and origins, leading to broader implications about our ancient communities and their interactions.
Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson | Instagram @sirtonyrobinson
Producer: Melissa FitzGerald
With
Mike Parker Pearson
Professor of British Later Prehistory, University College London. He specialises in British and European prehistory from the Neolithic to the Iron Age; Stonehenge and the British Neolithic; the Beaker people of Bronze Age Europe; the archaeology of the Western Isles (Outer Hebrides); the archaeology of Madagascar and the Indian Ocean; the archaeology of death and burial; public archaeology and heritage.
Parker Pearson, M. 2023. Stonehenge: a brief history. London: Bloomsbury Publishing | https://www.bloomsburycollections.com/monograph?docid=b-9781350192263
Parker Pearson, M., Bevins, R.I., Bradley, R., Ixer, R.E., Pearce, N.J.G. and Richards, C. 2024. ‘Stonehenge and its Altar Stone: the significance of distant stone sources’. Archaeology International 27: 113–37 | https://journals.uclpress.co.uk/ai/article/id/3293/
Professor Jane Evans
Geologist whose early career focused on using isotope methods for dating rocks. She later turned her expertise toward archaeology, pioneering the use of isotopes to study past human migration. Now retired, she holds honorary professorships in archaeology at the Universities of Nottingham and Leicester and is an Honorary Research Associate at the British Geological Survey. Throughout her career, Jane has used the chemical signatures preserved in human remains to reveal where people came from and how they moved across landscapes. Her work has been central to major discoveries — from uncovering stories at Stonehenge and identifying Viking remains near Weymouth, to contributing to the investigation of King Richard III.
Evans, J., Pashley, V., Wagner, D., Savickaite, K., Buckley, M., Madgwick, R. and Parker Pearson, M. In press. Sequential multi-isotope sampling through a Bos taurus tooth to assess comparative sources in strontium and lead. Journal of Archaeological Science | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440325001189
Follow us:
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Announcing the launch of Season 3 of Tony Robinson’s Cunningcast on Thursday 11th September. Follow us on social media and wherever you get your podcasts to make sure you don't miss it!
Series 3 will treat listeners to brand-new episodes covering:
· New discoveries at STONEHENGE
· Who is Vladimir PUTIN and what makes him tick?
· Uncovering the mysteries of SUTTON HOO
· In search of SHIPWRECKS and SUNKEN CITIES
· Who wrote the BIBLE?
· Tony’s book tie-in special on ALFRED THE GREAT
….And many more fantastic subjects, changing the way we see history.
Instagram: @cunningcastpod
Youtube @Cunningcast
Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson
Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald X @melissafitzg
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In advance of the new series of his cunningly curated history podcast, coming soon, Tony looks back at the best bits of Cunningcast Series 2 with series producer Melissa FitzGerald.
Series 2 features fabulous episodes about Tattoos, Bones, Jelly, Magic, Cars, Beards, Bletchley Park, Hadrians Wall, Turnips, Dr Who and more with some incredible guests including: Alice Roberts, David Mitchell, Grace Neutral, Ben Elton, Annie Gray, Richard Curtis and Sophie Aldred.
If you like these best bits but haven’t heard the full episodes, have a wander back on our #Cunningcast feed to check them out.
Follow us on our socials and hit follow on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts to make sure you don't miss any new episodes of Cunningcast Series 3 coming soon...
Instagram: @cunningcastpod
YouTube @Cunningcastpod
Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson
X | Instagram
Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald
X | Instagram
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Another chance to hear a Cunningcast Christmas treat: Tony reading his favourite poem ‘Goblin Market’ by Christina Rossetti. He's discussing the context and history of Rossetti’s iconic work with Madeleine Callaghan, Senior Lecturer in Romantic Literature at the University of Sheffield.
In his electrifying reading, Tony captures all the magic and strangeness of ‘Goblin Market’, set in a fairy-tale world where a fraught encounter takes place between the two sisters Laura and Lizzie and a band of sinister goblin merchants who tempt Laura with their ‘forbidden fruits’. Can Lizzie save her sister from the evil Goblin’s temptations?
Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson
With
Madeleine Callaghan, Senior Lecturer in Romantic Literature at the University of Sheffield. Author of ‘Shelley’s Living Artistry: Letters, Poems, Plays’ (2017) and ‘The Poet-Hero in the Work of Byron and Shelley’ (2019) published by Anthem Press. ‘Eternity in British Romantic Poetry’ (Liverpool University Press), June 2022.
www.sheffield.ac.uk/english/people/academic-staff/madeleine-callaghan
Credits:
Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald X @melissafitzg
Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville
Cover Art: The Brightside
A Zinc Media Group production
Follow:
Instagram @cunningcastpod
If you enjoyed my podcast, please leave us a rating or review.
Thank you, Love Tony x
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
To mark Dementia Acton Week, Tony is bringing you a special episode dedicated to the past, present and future of this difficult disease with his expert guest Fiona Carragher, Director of Research and Influencing at the Alzheimer’s Society. Dementia the UK’s number one killer, 1 in 3 people will develop dementia in their lifetime and yet most of us don’t know a great deal about it. But this is a defining year in the history of Alzheimer’s with two new drugs: Lecanemab and Donanemab which have been found, for the first time ever, to slow the progression of the disease.
Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson
With
Fiona Carragher, Director of Research and Influencing at the Alzheimer’s Society.
X @alzheimersoc | FB @alzheimers society | IG @alzheimerssoc
If you’re worried about yourself, or someone close to you, then check your symptoms today using Alzheimer’s Society’s symptom checklist. Visit alzheimers.org.uk/checklist or call the Dementia Support Line on 0333 150 3456
Follow:
Instagram @cunningcastpod
YouTube @Cunningcast
Credits:
Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald X @melissafitzg
Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville
Cover Art: The Brightside
A Zinc Media Group production
If you enjoyed my podcast, please leave us a rating or review.
Thank you, Love Tony x
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Ben Elton is on Cunningcast today. Ben was the co-writer on Blackadder Series 2, 3 and 4: they talk about Ben's comedy roots, working on The Young Ones with Rik and Ade and how Ben got the Blackadder gig via a near miss TV sitcom about Madness. They also chew over the highs and lows of working on Blackadder and how Ben and Richard Curtis created 'Adder speak'.
Alongside Blackadder, Ben Elton cut his comedy chops on The Young Ones. He’s a stand-up legend on stage and TV and one of Britain's biggest live comedy acts. His stellar CV includes writing an incredible 17 novels, as well as the hit musicals ‘The Beautiful Game’; ‘We Will Rock You’ and the sequel to ‘The Phantom of the Opera’.
Last year Blackadder turned 40, to mark the occasion, Tony made a TV show in which he tracked down the lost Blackadder pilot to discover the truth of Blackadder's beginnings. For the show, Tony interviewed many old friends and people who are central to making Blackadder the success it was. You are hearing Tony’s unedited, behind the scenes chat with Ben Elton, recorded for the programme. The show is called Blackadder: The Lost Pilot and you can watch it on catch up on Sky, Virgin & Now.
Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson
With
Ben Elton | https://benelton.live/
Credits:
Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald X @melissafitzg
Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville
Blackadder: The Lost Pilot is produced by Red Sauce
A Zinc Media Group production
Follow:
Instagram @cunningcastpod
YouTube @cunningcast
If you enjoyed my podcast, please leave us a rating or review.
Thank you, Love Tony x
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Fresh off the back of celebrating 60 years of Dr Who last year and looking ahead to welcoming the 15th Doctor to the blockbuster show, Tony is joined by Sophie Aldred who played Dr Who’s assistant Ace and the writer, broadcaster and Dr Who superfan, Matthew Sweet. Together they look back over an incredible history of this abidingly successful show, sharing all the Whoniverse gossip from the very first episode starring William Hartnell as the Doctor; the cutting-edge soundtrack created by Delia Derbyshire; hearing how Sophie got the role as Ace aged just 24; though to the show getting cancelled in 1989 and the creative ‘wilderness years’ of Dr Who when it was off air but not out of mind; Russell T Davis’s reboot and the new Doctors for a new generation. We also get answers to the popular questions: was Tony ever in Dr Who? What kind of Doctor would he have made and is Baldrick the ultimate time traveller?
Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson | @Tony_Robinson
With
Sophie Aldred | @sophie_aldred
Sophie played The Doctor’s companion Ace in the original television series (to Sylvester McCoy’s Doctor). She later reprised her role in ‘Ascend From Darkness’. She was in the last episode of Dr Who ‘Survival’, before it was cancelled in 1989.
Matthew Sweet | @DrMatthewSweet
Journalist, broadcaster, author, and cultural historian. Matthew presented 'Dr Who: The Wilderness Years' on Radio 4 to mark its 60th anniversary
Follow the Show:
Youtube @Cunningcast
Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald | @melissafitzg
Episode Producer: Simon Hollis
Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville
Cover Art: The Brightside
A Zinc Media Group production
If you enjoyed my podcast, please leave us a rating or review.
Thank you, Love Tony x
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
20 years after playing Baldrick, Tony is still stopped in the street and asked where my turnip is! Turnips made him famous, so today Tony is talking turnips in history: have they always been so unloved, a food fit only for animals and peasants like Baldrick, or is this a recent British bugbear? And when did the potato steal their veggie crown? Tony’s guests today are food historians Rebecca Earle and Serin Quinn alongside a chef for all seasons who loves to cook with turnips, Oliver Rowe.
Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson
With
Professor Rebecca Earle | www.rebeccaearle.co.uk
An historian of food at the University of Warwick, Rebecca is interested in how ordinary, every-day activities such as eating or dressing shape how we think about the world and how others view us.
https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/history/people/staff_index/earle
Oliver Rowe | www.oliver-rowe.co.uk/ | IG: @oliver_rowe_london
Chef and author whose work focuses on local and seasonal food. Oliver’s book, Food for All Seasons, a personal wander through the food year is published by Faber and available online and from all good bookshops.
Serin Quinn
PhD student in the Department of History at the University of Warwick, interested in all things vegetable!
Follow the Show:
Instagram @cunningcastpod
YouTube @cunningcast
Credits:
Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald X @melissafitzg
Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville
Cover Art: The Brightside
A Zinc Media Group production
If you enjoyed my podcast, please leave us a rating or review.
Thank you, Love Tony x
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Today Tony is talking to the composer Howard Goodall CBE, who wrote the now iconic Blackadder theme tune. Howard is one of Britain’s best-known composers of choral music, stage musicals, TV and film scores. He wrote the themes tunes for many hit comedy shows including Red Dwarf, Mr. Bean, The Vicar of Dibley, The Catherine Tate Show, 2point4 Children and Q.I. but like so many of the talent who worked on the show, it all started with Blackadder.
Last year Blackadder turned 40, to mark the occasion, Tony made a TV show in which he tracked down the lost Blackadder pilot to discover the truth of Blackadder's beginnings. You are hearing Tony’s unedited, behind the scenes chat with Howard Goodall recorded for the programme. The show is called Blackadder: The Lost Pilot and you can watch it on Sky, Virgin & Now
Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson
With
Howard Goodall CBE | www.howardgoodall.co.uk | @Howard_Goodall
Credits:
Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald X @melissafitzg
Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville
Blackadder: The Lost Pilot is produced by Red Sauce
A Zinc Media Group production
Follow:
Instagram @cunningcastpod
YouTube @cunningcast
If you enjoyed my podcast, please leave us a rating or review.
Thank you, Love Tony x
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Marching 73 miles from coast to coast across the narrowest neck of England, Hadrian’s Wall was the north-west frontier of the Roman Empire for nearly 300 years and yet there is still so much we don’t know about it: only 5% of the wall has been excavated and 7% is viable today. Tony is joined by leading archaeologist Richard Hingley and Collections Curator for Hadrian's Wall and the North East at English Heritage, Frances McIntosh, to give him the low down on how and why Hadrian’s Wall was built, by whom and what it means to us today.
Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson
With
Prof. Richard Hingley | https://richardhingley1.wordpress.com/
Professor Emeritus in Archaeology at Durham University. An expert on Hadrian’s Wall, Richard is the author of Conquering the Ocean: The Roman Conquest of Britain (Oxford University Press) and Hadrian’s Wall: A life, (Oxford University Press). https://global.oup.com/academic/product/conquering-the-ocean-9780190937416?cc=gb&lang=en& | https://academic.oup.com/book/27846.
Dr. Frances McIntosh | @englishHeritage | @wallcurator
Collections Curator for Hadrian's Wall and the North East at English Heritage. An archaeologist by training, Frances specialises in Roman small finds, having completed her PhD on the Clayton Collection material, on display at Chesters.
Follow the Show:
Instagram @cunningcastpod
YouTube @cunningcast
Credits:
Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald X @melissafitzg
Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville
Cover Art: The Brightside
A Zinc Media Group production
If you enjoyed my podcast, please leave us a rating or review.
Thank you, Love Tony x
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Passwords and codes are something we take for granted in the digital age, but this is such a new development and today Tony is going back to a time when making and breaking codes was an almost exclusively high-level military activity: most famously done behind closed doors by the brains at Bletchley Park. He is joined by two people who are giving him the long view on codes and codebreaking: the Bletchley Park military historian David Kenyon and the Chief Information Security Officer at the BBC, Helen Rabe.
Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson
With
Dr David Kenyon
David is responsible for historical research in support of all public content at Bletchley Park, the Second World War code-breaking site in Buckinghamshire, now a museum. He has published two books on BP; Bletchley Park and D-Day in 2019, and Arctic Convoys, Bletchley Park and the War for the Seas in 2023.
https://bletchleypark.org.uk/ | X @bletchleypark | IG @bletchleyparkuk
Helen Rabe
Chief Information Security Officer at the BBC, Helen has a proven track record of developing, executing, and maturing bespoke ISMS strategies. She has managed successful high performing teams to mitigate risk, counter threats and deliver world-class security & data privacy management solutions across varied industry sectors ranging from financial services, life sciences & more recently, broadcasting & media.
Cover photo courtesy of the Bletchley Park Trust
Follow the show:
Instagram @cunningcastpod
YouTube @Cunningcast
Credits:
Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald X @melissafitzg
Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville
A Zinc Media Group production X @zinc_media
If you enjoyed my podcast, please follow the show and leave us a rating or review.
Thank you, Love Tony x
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Men’s facial hair is very prone to fashions: moustaches and beards are back in, but why is that and what sparks bread trends and facial hair fashions? To help him find out, Tony has invited ‘beard’ historian Alun Withey and male grooming influencer Robin James | Man For Himself. They discuss 17th Century notions of facial hair as a waste product; through barber-surgeons and early shaving practices; powdered wigs; the Victorian beard movement; King Camp Gillett’s safely razor; the First World War military moustache; film star fashion icons to the rising popularity of men’s hair products and male grooming.
Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson
With
Robin James | Man For Himself
www.ManForHimself.com and IG @ManForHimself
Exploring men’s hair, grooming, fragrance and lifestyle.
Dr Alun Withey | Historian
http://humanities.exeter.ac.uk/history/staff/withey/
Historian of early modern medicine and senior lecturer in History at the University of Exeter. Alun's major research project ‘Do Beards Matter?’, funded by the Wellcome Trust forms the basis of his book Concerning Beards: Facial Hair, Health and Practice in England, 1650-1900 (London: Bloomsbury, 2021).
Follow the show:
Instagram @cunningcastpod
YouTube @Cunningcast
Credits:
Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald X @melissafitzg
Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville
Cover Art: The Brightside
A Zinc Media Group production
If you enjoyed my podcast, please leave us a rating or review.
Thank you, Love Tony x
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
