Preview

Try for $0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Stephen Fry's Victorian Secrets

Written by: Stephen Fry, John Woolf, Nick Baker
Try for $0.00

$14.95 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

  • 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.
    Show more Show less
Great Britain
Show more Show less
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2
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.
    Show more Show less
    44 mins
    Try for $0.00
  • 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.
    Show more Show less
    37 mins
    Try for $0.00
  • 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.
    Show more Show less
    34 mins
    Try for $0.00

Featured Article: 14 of the Best History Podcasts For Every History Fan

Everybody loves historical yarn. We can watch the trials of humanity from a safe distance, then judge how well we did as a species or, more likely, how badly. And when you think things are getting better, along comes a figure or an act of nature that pushes us back to the brink again. Whatever your taste in bygone times, we've got some compelling history podcasts here, some light and humorous, some stuff you missed in history class in high school, but all ripe for learning more about the backstory on how we got where we are today.

Featured Article: 14 of the Best History Podcasts For Every History Fan

What listeners say about Stephen Fry's Victorian Secrets

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    232
  • 4 Stars
    31
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    5
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    230
  • 4 Stars
    15
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    197
  • 4 Stars
    42
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    3

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Audible.ca reviews

Amazon Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Erika Augustynski

Fantastic!

I thoroughly enjoy British history. This gives you great stories that you may not have heard before. The performers and music take this audiobook to the next level. Very well done!

Report this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Dave

very interesting historic work.

it exposes Victorian England with it's hypocritical standard of social discourse and ridiculous starched public visage and mores.

Report this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Lb1kenobie

Exceptional

What an excellent listen. Victorian culture exposed and explained with titillating intrigue. Stephen Fry's performance just ices the cake and makes this series binge-worthy.

Report this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Crazyhound999

wonderful

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

Report this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Nordy A

Highly Entertaining

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

Report this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Marie-Eve C.

Amazingly interesting

Love it!! Listened to it twice, very interesting and funny. Will probably listen to it again. Stephen Fry is just the best.

Report this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Louis

Pleasurable

An absolute delight to listen to. Fascinating and surprising, made all the better by the exquisite narrative skills of Stephen Fry

Report this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Sarah Rodrigues

Fascinating & a great gateway to further research

Stephen Fry, as always, delivers an exceptional performance, narrating with warmth and intelligence. The writing is excellent. Each episode is structured to show a facet of Victorian life that was previously "unheard of" - certainly things you don't think of when thinking about the allegedly proper Victorians. Several of the episodes have led me to do further research on my own, and also to check out some other fascinating books and TV shows/films (e.g. Gentleman Jack on HBO). Absolutely loved this and wish there was another series!

Report this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for DONNA R

Amazing Book

I found the whole book so captivating. It left me wanting more.
Thank you
DR

Report this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for JohnS

Excellent!

A wonderful scan of Victorian mores and interesting facts. Stephen Fry, as always is masterful at narrating. The episodes are interspersed with readings, analysis and sound recordings that enhance each story and the enjoyment of same. Great production. Very well done!

Report this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!