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  • Summary

  • On the surface, the Victorian age is one of propriety, industry, prudishness and piety. But scratch the surface and you'll find scandal, sadism, sex, madness, malice and murder.

    Presented by Stephen Fry, this series delves deep into a period of time we think we know, to discover an altogether darker reality. The stories we're told offer a different perspective on an era which underwent massive social change. As education, trade, technology and culture blossomed, why was there an undercurrent of the "˜forbidden' festering beneath Victorian society?

    Across 12 episodes, Stephen presents a series of true accounts of the dangerous low life and debauched high life of Victorian Britain.

    This is an Audible Original Podcast. Free for members. You can download all 12 episodes to your Library now.
    ©2018 Audible, Ltd. (P)2018 Audible, Ltd.
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Episodes
  • Ep. 1: Family Secrets

    Ep. 1: Family Secrets
    Oct 18 2018

    Of course, all families, high born and low have secrets. Confidential conditions of mind or body. Black sheep. Skeletons in cupboards. Unmentionable uncles. Naughty nephews... aunties who aren't... conventional. More often than not it boils down to something - sexual.

    This episode is about the keeping and uncovering of family secrets. In a way it unlocks all the secrets in all our episodes.

    Many Victorians, especially the more successful ones, feared shame. In a way this fear was something quite new. A new and growing newspaper industry was keen to amplify that shame. And a new middle class, desperate to cling to its new-found monied status, felt threatened. And, new theories about heredity, coming later in the century, meant that (perish the thought!) shamefulness could be passed on – like red hair or big feet - from generation to generation.
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    44 mins
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  • Ep. 2: The Buckingham Palace Freak Show

    Ep. 2: The Buckingham Palace Freak Show
    Oct 18 2018

    Step right up, step right up and don’t be shy - welcome to Victorian Secrets, and the secrets of... The Freak Show. The secrets of enormously fat men and bearded ladies, the secrets of exotic women with enticingly large buttocks, the secrets of Siamese Twins and dwarf families and, in particular, the secrets of our own, our very own Aztec Children, seen by half a million people on the European continent before they publicly revealed their own, personal, extraordinary secret.

    We’ll go backstage to hear the terrible secrets of the freaks themselves, we’ll lift the lace curtains of Buckingham Palace, where our own Queen, god bless her, took tea with the tiny, the towering and the terribly formed.
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    37 mins
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  • Ep. 3: Pornography, Pleasure and the Press

    Ep. 3: Pornography, Pleasure and the Press
    Oct 18 2018

    This episode will penetrate some of the secrets of Victorian sexuality, public and private and will challenge some deeply held misconceptions.

    We tend to think of the Victorians as dyed in the wool prudes, and we have latched onto the idea that the Victorians felt their values of self-discipline, temperance and hard work were threatened by the temptations of the flesh. This episode will show in enjoyable detail that ordinary Victorians’ attitudes to sex was for the most part enthusiastic, unembarrassed and surprisingly well informed. Apart, that is, from one secret sexual practice that was loathed, feared and tragically misunderstood.
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    34 mins
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Great Britain
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What listeners say about Stephen Fry's Victorian Secrets

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Amazing

Stephen Fry could narrated someone killing me and I would still enjoy it. This was a fun and interesting look into the Victorian era and the secrets they tried to keep. I hope they make a second part.

5 people found this helpful

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This was fun but not with kids in the car!

I loved these. Interesting and funny. My kids love Victoria history.....but not these. Ha ha. Some adult content!

2 people found this helpful

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Highly Entertaining

Stephen Fry's voice is such a glorious treat. Pick this one up. you won't regret it

1 person found this helpful

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exceptional listening

Wonderfully written and gloriously narrated. Stephen Fry is excellent in this collection of interesting episodes that wisk you to a time of secrets.

1 person found this helpful

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Hilarious History

Turns out that people are people, no matter where or WHEN you are. Narrator has the right tone, sounds knowledgeable enough to be taken seriously, flippant enough so it's not TOO % seriously

1 person found this helpful

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A Charming Series on Victorian History

As usual Stephen Fry brings his unique charm and storytelling skills to this series. I have a great love for Victorian history and this was fun, informative and educational. I have recommended this too so many people.

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wonderful

this is amazingly well done! must love Stephan Fry. Also listen to Edwarian Secrets the next podcast in this series.

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another by Fry.

listened twice. will probably listen again, but not today. Please, Sir, can we have some more.

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Brilliant!

Brilliant series, thoroughly enjoyable and enlightening! Excellently written and performed. Stephen Fry is always a favourite!

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music too loud

lots of interesting Victorian history. I found the music annoying. it was louder than the speaking at times which made it very difficult to understand the story. especially with the thick British accent.

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  • Matthew Henry
  • 2021-03-11

Interesting

Ignore the guy complaining about the piano background music. It's totally fine. :-) I learned some things and Stephen Fry is great as always. Well worth a listen.

20 people found this helpful

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  • Anonymous User
  • 2020-09-22

Please remove the horrible music

The awful piano background music sadly makes these very interesting and beautifully narrated stories unlistenable. Can't go on listening, it's too irritating.

18 people found this helpful

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  • P. Schroeder
  • 2020-10-06

Informative and Fun

This series was fun, insightful, and engrossing. I listened to all 12 episodes within 24hrs and wish there were more.

14 people found this helpful

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  • dinah jolie
  • 2021-03-21

Absolutely Smitten!

I agree with Mathew Henry’s assertion to respectfully disregard the prior complaint about the background piano music...I found it atmospheric in the most unobtrusive way.

Stephen Fry’s storytelling prowess is quite legendary! An added bonus is the regular appearance of guest experts who add richness and flavor to each episode. Victorian Secrets shines an humorous, sometimes shocking, cross cultural spotlight on the people, places, and stories unique to the Victorian era whose existence have been denied historically in mainstream media and academia. I appreciate the inclusion of primary historical resources like personal diaries. I also love that the performances given by the voice actresses and actors never feel forced and caricature-like.

You will laugh, wince, cry, and contemplate throughout. You will be compelled to perform multiple Google searches to further enrich your self-education of Victorian his and her-story. While this podcast may not feel appropriate for children under the age of 12, I feel caregivers are ultimately responsible for deciding their child’s maturity and comfort level with subjects like sexual identity, death, mental illness, human anatomy, mythology, pornography, and political scandal. Used as a learning tool and with responsible adult “supervision”, each episode holds the power to catalyze important conversations between adult caregiver and child about class, sex, race, discrimination, diversity, disease, innovation, abuse, empowerment, and disenfranchisement.

I look forward to learning more about the Victorian era as well as listening to more of Stephen Fry’s creative content. Cheers and thanks for reading!

9 people found this helpful

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  • Candice C
  • 2020-10-28

Well Done!

I loved everything about this production. This is a perfect one for a road trip with your spouse. Don’t have the kids tuning in though.

8 people found this helpful

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  • Jenny
  • 2021-03-05

Fun, enlightening, and well narrated

I was excited to see Stephen Fry narrating something new because I’ve liked everything he has read aloud. The pacing of this series was engaging, making each episode seem to quickly go by. The added theatrics (music, additional voice actors, sound effects) were fun, and they were used in the right quantities to spice up the podcast without being annoying. The information was interesting and well delivered. I often shared the details I’d learned from the podcast with friends and family, and they were entertained and interested in the bits of new knowledge about the era. Overall, this was fun, entertaining, engaging, and quick.

7 people found this helpful

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  • Valérie
  • 2021-02-09

Quite Enjoyable

I'm starting to think that Stephen Fry is incapable of being dull, These episodes are all interesting, enjoyable and quite informative.

4 people found this helpful

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  • Nicole Steinmetz
  • 2020-11-06

Very entertaining!

Over the course of two days, I listened to this wonderful podcast series. It served as a good stepping point for me to learn about Victorian era England, a new obsession of mine now. I wish they would do a second series!

4 people found this helpful

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  • Callandra
  • 2021-10-14

excellent, as to be expected from Fry

As per usual, Stephen Fry's offerings were entertaining and informative. Looking forward to listening to the follow-up Edwardian series.

3 people found this helpful

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  • Heather Hyink
  • 2021-10-17

Simply Brilliant

I have listened to this production right the way through at least 5x. Highly entertaining and educational. Thought and conversation provoking. Well done.

2 people found this helpful