The Town That Knew Too Much
This article is at least a year old
From the production company behind The Town That Didn’t Stare comes a new documentary podcast looking at the seedy underbelly on one of Britain’s towns. This time the microscope is fixed on the Cotswolds spa town of Cheltenham, and how this quintessentially British, middle- class town became the home of the nation’s spies.
The Town That Knew Too Much will tell the diverse stories that stem from, or interact with, the town of Cheltenham, including: Regency spa mania, the madness of King George, Lewis Carroll and Alice Liddell, Bletchley Park and Alan Turing, the Geoffrey Prime affair, the death of Gareth Williams, and the Edward Snowden leaks.
The series will also contain a unique standalone episode – The Wishing Fish Clock – telling the story of Kit Williams and the Masquerade treasure hunt. Built in collaboration with puzzle hunters and software developers, the episode will also constitute a digital treasure hunt with real-life prizes, the first of its kind.
The series features an original score by the composer George Jennings, based on Gustav Holst’s The Planets suite, which will be available in its entirety on Spotify.
Key interviews in the series include: the writer Geoff Dyer, former Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger, author Katie Roiphe, journalists Nick Davies, James Ball and Ewen MacAskill, cultural critic Anna Leszkiewicz, TV icon Anneka Rice, YouTuber Stuart Ashen, former GCHQ director Sir David Omand, Alan Turing’s nephew Sir Dermot Turing, and Ian Bailey, controversial subject of hit podcast West Cork.
About the host
Nick Hilton is a journalist and podcast producer. He was previously Broadcast Editor at The Spectator before starting his own company Podot, which specialises in current affairs and makes a slate of podcasts including A Podcast of One’s Own with Julia Gillard, The Everyman Podcast with James Naughtie, and the New Statesman Podcast. As a journalist he has written for The Guardian, Vice, The Independent, the I, and Prospect, as well as The Spectator and New Statesman.
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