Broadcast
Through my broadcast work, I’m deeply passionate about making historical research accessible and exciting to new audiences.
I've served as a historical consultant for several acclaimed, award-winning TV and radio series. I frequently appear as an expert on screen and on air, both in the UK and internationally, and I’m experienced in presenting my own work too.
RADIO/ PODCAST
Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley
BBC Radio 4 & BBC Sounds/StoryHunter
Lucy Worsley, Rosalind Crone and a crack team of female detectives investigate the crimes of women from the 19th and early 20th centuries from a contemporary, feminist perspective…
I am historical consultant for this award-winning BBC Radio 4/ BBC Sounds podcast. As ‘resident historian’, I frequently appear as an expert contributor and sometimes as co-presenter. I play a key role in selecting cases, coordinating research, and developing scripts alongside producers.
I have produced episode guides to accompany Series 1, Series 2, and Series 3. For Series 3, I also developed a series of ‘interactives’ which take listeners behind the scenes, lifting the curtain on how we find and develop the cases. These can be found on the BBC-OU Connect website.
There are currently 3 series (30 episodes) of Lady Killers. It featured in the top 10 BBC Podcasts for 2022 and 2023. The podcast won 2 Lovie Awards in 2022 as well as a People’s Choice Award.
★★★★★ - Winner of a Gold Lovie Award for Podcasts - Best Limited Series
★★★★★ - Winner of a Bronze Lovie Award for Podcasts - Best Individual Episode
TELEVISION
Britain Behind Bars: A Secret History
Channel 4/Twenty Twenty, 2024
Rob Rinder uncovers a secret history of Britain going back centuries hidden behind our prison walls - from petty crooks to infamous gangsters, hangmen, extreme brutality and explosive riots…
I was historical consultant for this 3-part series on the history of punishment in Britain’s prisons. I worked closely with the producers to craft an overarching narrative for the series and to connect the history to current debates about prisons and punishment. I also ‘fact-checked’ the content, and advised the team on historical documents they were finding in the archives.
I also appeared on screen as an expert contributor in Episode 3.
Britain Behind Bars: A Secret History was broadcast on Channel 4 in July 2024.
RADIO/ PODCAST
Lady Swindlers with Lucy Worsley
BBC Radio 4 & BBC Sounds/StoryHunter
In this brand new series of Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley we switch our attention to the swindlers, conwomen and hustlers.
This is where true crime meets history - with a twist. Join Lucy Worsley and a team of all female detectives as they travel back in time to revisit the audacious - and surprising - crimes of women who were trying to make it in a world made for men.
In this new series, I continue in my role as historical consultant, working with the team to select, research, narrate and interrogate compelling cases which represent the range of female activity (criminal and non-criminal) in the past.
As ‘resident historian’, I continue to feature as an expert contributor through the series, including at times as a co-presenter.
Lady Swindlers with Lucy Worsley is broadcast weekly on Radio 4 and the whole series is now available on BBC Sounds (or wherever you get your podcasts).
YOUTUBE
Served
YouTube/Ministry of Justice, 2023
They have 12 weeks to open a new training restaurant behind bars. Follow the prisoners and staff of HMP Lincoln on a high-pressure journey of redemption…
‘Served’ is a film commissioned by the Ministry of Justice that shows how prisoners at HM Prison Lincoln learn new skills through training them for roles in the catering industry and features TV star and culinary expert Fred Sirieix.
I worked with the Probation and Reducing Reoffending Comms Team at the Ministry of Justice to provide a historical context to the rehabilitation programme at HMP Lincoln. I also appear in the film as an expert contributor. We were able to show that rehabilitation has long been an aim of the modern prison, and that it is essential for prisoners, victims and wider society.
★★★★★ - Winner of Best Use of Social Media and/or Influencers in a Campaign at the 2023 Public Relations and Communications Association’s Public Affairs Awards
Photo: BBC
TELEVISION
Who Do You Think You Are?
BBC 1/Wall to Wall, 2019
Oscar-winning actor Kate Winslet follows a rumour of Scandinavian ancestry on her late mum Sally’s side of the family... On her dad’s side Kate finds a drummer boy in the Grenadier Guards and, this time, an unusually positive encounter with prison…
In 2019, I appeared on-screen as an expert contributor when Kate Winslet discovered that one of her ancestors was a prison warder, first at Millbank and then at Dartmoor.
SBS/Warner Bros, 2023
The late comedian Barry Humphries investigates a royal scandal from his father's ancestry, and unravels his mysterious maternal family history…
In 2023, I met Barry Humphries at Suffolk Archives to contextualise the experiences of his ancestor who was imprisoned for ‘an offensive against the Excise’ (illegal distilling) and ‘did time’ in Ipswich County Gaol’.
Other broadcast work
Radio/podcasts
The Long View (on the Post Office scandal), BBC Radio 4, 2024 (expert contributor)
Killing Victoria, BBC Sounds/BBC Studios, 2023 (expert contributor, episodes 3 & 4)
Patented: History of Inventions (on the treadmill), History Hit, 2022 (expert contributor)
Everything You Wanted to Know... on British Prisons, History Extra Podcast, 2021 (expert contributor)
The Forum: Elizabeth Fry, BBC World Service, 2020 (expert contributor)
Classified Britain, Radio 4/Loftus Media, 2018 (expert contributor)
Food: A Scandalous History, Radio 4/Just Radio, 2013 (originator and expert contributor)
I am often invited to talk about my research and projects on local radio (e.g. BBC Radio London, BBC Somerset, BBC Bristol, Three Counties Radio).
Television
Expert Witness, BBC 1, 2023 (expert contributor, on the history of forensics)
Jay Blades: No Place Like Home, Channel 5/Hungry Bear, 2022 (expert contributor)
Inside... The Old Bailey, Channel 5, 2017 (expert contributor)
A Very British Murder, BBC 4, September 2013 (expert contributor)
Great British Bake Off, BBC 1/ Love Productions, 2013 (expert contributor, on the history of the muffin)
Contact me
To talk about media, consultancy, broadcast and project opportunities, please get in touch - I’d love to chat.