Happened Here

Latest Episodes:

Ad Astra Per Aspera Jul 17, 2024

Show notes

In the second episode of our Footsteps on the Moon special, it’s 1967 and there are problems with Apollo 1 as it sits on the launch pad waiting to take off.

Written by Jessica Riches, performed by Stephen Fry. Hosted by Robbie Stamp. Sound editor Will Jacob.

We Choose to Go to the Moon Jul 16, 2024

Show notes

On the day that Apollo 11 launched in 1969 we’re back with five stories about the 1960s American journey to get Footsteps on the Moon. HappenedHere’s fourth season starts with JFK’s rallying speech at Rice University, 1962.

Written by Jessica Riches, performed by Stephen Fry. Hosted by Robbie Stamp. Sound editor Will Jacob.

New York New Year Dec 31, 2023

Show notes

For New Year's Eve, we present a story of the origins of a New York Perennial! New York’s Times Square New Year’s Ball Drop is an annual ‘must see’ event for people in the USA and beyond. Harry Tucker looks back at its origins.

Hosted by Robbie Stamp

Performed by Sarah Beebe

Sound Edited by Will Jacob

Silent Night Dec 24, 2023

Show notes

In this Christmas Story Single Story we hear a retelling of the famous Christmas Truce of 1914 - of kindness and compassion amidst the horrors of war.

Stir Up Sunday is Saved Dec 23, 2023

Show notes

In this Special Christmas Story Single Story, we learn a little about the making of Christmas Puddings in the Seventeenth Century and how the ‘Littlest Scullery Maid” saved Stir Up Sunday!

A Single Story: Theatre of Blood Oct 31, 2023

Show notes

Bram Stoker worked for the charismatic actor and theatre manager Henry Irving in the 1890s. In gothic style, Becky Stamp considers how Irving’s overbearing presence inspired the character of Count Dracula.

Burials, Bequests and Boundaries Jul 06, 2023

Show notes

In this special episode, recorded live in front of an audience at the Chalke Valley History Festival, Robbie Stamp introduces three stories from Britain's Anglo Saxon past:

Friends Live on Earth - Winflaed’s Will - written and performed by Olivia Bell
They Borrowed a Barrow - written and performed by Robbie Stamp
Before You Can Beat the Bounds, You Have to Read Them - introduced by historian Alex Langlands and performed by Olivia Bell

Hosting duties by Viel Richardson, sound editing by Will Jacob.

Across the Centuries Jun 27, 2023

Show notes

This episode links events that happened in different eras; two actors perform Othello 100 years apart, two musical geniuses live next door, two centuries apart, and one murder leads to ghostly apparitions for over a century. Hosted by Neil Fleming:

The Golden Earrings written by Milo Harries, performed by Stephen Fry [The Savoy Theatre, The Strand, and The Theatre Royal, Covent Garden]
It’s the Messiah written by James Rampton, performed by Neil Fleming [40 South Moulton St and 25 Brook St, Mayfair]
193 Steps written by Robbie Stamp, performed by Kate Reid [Maiden Lane, The Stage Door of the Adelphi Theatre and Covent Garden Tube Station]

Heaven, Hell and Subterranean Homesick Blues Jun 20, 2023

Show notes

In this episode medieval monks try to make a heaven-sent garden, drugs drag a writer to hell, and Bob Dylan creates a now-iconic short film. Hosted by Kate Reid

Gardening for God, written by Sarah Fleming and performed by Kate Reid [Covent Garden]
Tales of the Odious Opium Eater, written by Zak Ghazi-Torbati and performed by Stephen Fry [4 York Place, and around Covent Garden]
The Anthem of the Counterculture, written by James Rampton and performed by Robbie Stamp [The Savoy Steps, near the Savoy Hotel, the Strand]

Inigo's Covent Garden Jun 13, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, travel back to the seventeenth century and meet master-builder Inigo Jones, who has been summoned for a meeting with the Earl of Bedford. Performed by Stephen Fry, hosted by Lulu Freeman and written by Hamish Roberts, this episode charts the conception of the Covent Garden piazza.