Share

cover art for Oliver Cromwell's Decapitated Head & Charles II's Revenge

After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal

Oliver Cromwell's Decapitated Head & Charles II's Revenge

Ep. 67

***Warning: today's episode contains graphic description of violence***


In 1661 Oliver Cromwell was hung and beheaded...the only problem was he'd been dead two years already. Charles II had returned and revenge was in the air. It took many strange and gruesome forms.


Anthony and Maddy are joined again today by Ronald Hutton - one of Britain's foremost historians who is working on a three volume biography of Oliver Cromwell. They hear about the strange after life of Cromwell's head and the incredible story of the execution of regicide Thomas Harrison.


Produced and edited by Freddy Chick. Senior producer is Charlotte Long.

More episodes

View all episodes

  • 121. Ghosts of the Deep South

    52:14||Ep. 121
    The Deep South is a haunted landscape where dark tourism thrives, supplying spine-tingling thrills to eager visitors. But is there a darker truth behind these tales? Maddy and Anthony's guest today is Tiya Miles, author of Tales from the Haunted South. Tiya reveals how ghost tours exploit and distort the true history of slavery for profit, feeding troubling narratives.Tiya Miles is the Michael Garvey Professor of History and Radcliffe Alumnae Professor at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. Her latest book is Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People (Penguin 2024).Edited by Freddy Chick. Produced by Sophie Gee. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  You can take part in our listener survey here.After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast.
  • 120. English Village Sacrificed to Plague (Part 1)

    46:53||Ep. 120
    (Part 1/2) They could've run, but they stayed. In 1665 plague arrived in the idyllic English village of Eyam. What followed was a story of suffering and self-sacrifice.Maddy tells Anthony the story. Today we set the scene with the outbreak of the plague in London and how the pestilence arrived, via a bolt of cloth, in the village of Eyam.With special guest Rebecca Rideal, author of "1666: Plague, War and Hellfire".Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  You can take part in our listener survey here.After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast.
  • 119. Queen Victoria's Funeral & the Cult of Death

    37:44||Ep. 119
    Queen Victoria was synonymous with grief and the Victorian cult of death. Yet her own funeral wasn't that at all. Today Dan O'Brien explains to Anthony Delaney and Maddy Pelling how to bury a Queen like Victoria.Dr Dan O'Brien is a of historian of undertakers and funerals in Eighteenth Century England and researcher at the Centre for Death and Society, University of Bath.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  You can take part in our listener survey here.After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast.
  • 118. Final Days of Captain Cook

    37:26||Ep. 118
    The violent death of Captain James Cook, British explorer, on a Hawaiian beach in 1779 has become the stuff of legend. Should we believe the story that's been handed down? How should we remember a man who means so many different things to so many different people?Anthony Delaney tells Maddy Pelling the story of the Final Days of Captain Cook.Edited by Tomos Delargy. Produced by Freddy Chick and Charlotte Long.Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign here for up to 50% for 3 months using code AFTERDARKYou can take part in our listener survey here.After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast.
  • 117. Ghosts of Hampton Court Palace

    42:45||Ep. 117
    The ghost of Catherine Howard, fifth wife of Henry VIII, screaming down a corridor. A nursemaid's spinning wheel clicking in the walls. Robed Tudor figures slamming open fire exits. A noisy group of ghosts haunt Hampton Court Palace.Tracy Borman, Joint Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces, joins Maddy Pelling and Anthony Delaney to guide them through the spectres of Hampton Court.Edited by Tomos Delargy, Produced by Freddy Chick, Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign here for up to 50% for 3 months using code AFTERDARKYou can take part in our listener survey here.After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast.
  • 116. Titanic: The Final Hours (Part 2)

    48:03||Ep. 116
    Part 2/2. Iceberg, panic and lives changed forever. Loss, survival, and myth-making. Today is part two of the most famous maritime disaster in history.Maddy Pelling takes Anthony Delaney through the tragic sinking of Titanic, from the fateful moment the iceberg is spotted through to what the wreck means today for people around the world.Special thanks to our guest Marnie Wood a cultural historian and a producer on Titanic: In Colour.Voice acting by Lucy Davidson and Stephen Ventura.Written by Maddy Pelling. Edited by Tomos Delargy. Produced by Freddy Chick and Charlotte Long.Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign here for up to 50% for 3 months using code AFTERDARKYou can take part in our listener survey here.After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast.
  • 115. The King's Witch Trial: North Berwick Witches

    33:49||Ep. 115
    Maddy and Anthony have a new TV documentary out all about King James VI of Scotland's witch hunts, available on History Hit TV.When James VI of Scotland's new wife, Anne of Denmark, is almost lost in a storm at sea he thinks he knows who is to blame. Witches. The King personally leads the investigation that follows, coming face-to-face with at least one of the accused, Agnes Sampson. What on earth is going on here?Anthony and Maddy are joined by Dr Louise Yeoman, historian of witchcraft and radio producer for BBC Scotland who latest series is House of the Lion.Produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign here for up to 50% for 3 months using code AFTERDARKYou can take part in our listener survey here.After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast.
  • 114. Titanic: The Doomed Ship (Part 1)

    43:09||Ep. 114
    Part 1/2. Come on board the White Star Line's latest marvel, the splendour of the sea, the Titanic. Today we begin the story of the most ill-fated voyage in history.Maddy Pelling tells Anthony Delaney the story this week with special thanks to our guest Marnie Wood a cultural historian and a producer on Titanic: In Colour.Written by Maddy Pelling. Edited by Tomos Delargy. Produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign here for up to 50% for 3 months using code AFTERDARKYou can take part in our listener survey here.After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast.
  • 113. Irish Origins of Halloween

    49:27||Ep. 113
    Pumpkins, trick or treating and ghost stories are what we associate with Halloween, but what about turnips, fairies and a fortune-telling cake? Anthony and Maddy are joined by historian Dan Snow, and host of sister podcast Dan Snow’s History Hit. They go in search of the origins of Halloween, rooted on the island of Ireland, in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when the harvest ends and winter looms.The trio try Barmbrack cake, a fruit loaf filled with charms that foretell the fate of the consumer, and Dan speaks to food historian Dr Regina Sexton about the traditionalSamhain practices that inform our present Halloween customs. Meanwhile, Maddy and Anthony discover the historic Irish folklore of the ‘three worlds’, and the ghouls and fairies that occupy them, with Dr Kelly Fitzgerald. You can discover more at Ireland.com/homeofhalloweenProduced by Charlotte Long, Mariana Des Forges, Freddy Chick, edited by Tom Delargy, Dougal Patmore and the production coordinators were Beth Donaldson and Peta Stamper.