Stephen Fry's Victorian Secrets cover art

Stephen Fry's Victorian Secrets

Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Thousands of incredible audiobooks and podcasts to take wherever you go.
Immerse yourself in a world of storytelling with the Plus Catalogue - unlimited listening to thousands of select audiobooks, podcasts and Audible Originals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Only £0.99 a month for the first 3 months. Pay £0.99 for the first 3 months, and £8.99/month thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Start my membership

About this listen

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.
Europe Great Britain
Episodes
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
Narrated by Stephen Fry's amazing wit and humour. A fascinating and surprising journey through Victorian Britain that will leave you questioning everything you thought you knew about our buttoned up, stiff upper lipped, bustle bottomed ancestors. Utterly brilliant !!!

Absolutely Brilliant !!!

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

Stephen Fry has the most adorable, soothing voice. He tells the tales so well they just grab you and drag you in. I learnt loads from listening to this podcast.

Fascinating

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

A wonderful bunch of Victorian Secrets told by the wonderful Stephen Fry. Absorbing episodes full of historical facts some of which i was woefully ignorant of. Some harrowing information especially regarding those with mental ill health and strong women but informative never the less.

Just simply magical...

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

All round great audio series! Interesting and brilliant for when you only have a short time to listen.

Brilliant!

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

Stephen Fry is obviously a brilliant narrator, but the subject matter was really interesting too. Would highly recommend to anyone remotely interested in history or just cool facts about this country's past.

Super interesting

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

Knew some facts, others very good. Well collated into 12 interesting parts. A thrill to peak into secret Victorian life/lives.

Great narration, really good story-like truths.

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

Written, produced and performed beautifully. Stephen is as charming and engaging as ever. Excellent work, audible.

Fantastic!

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

simply amazing. 12 episodes done in 3 days, can't get enough! I hope more contents like this will come up. well done!

The most entertaining podcast on Victorian age

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

Very interesting and funny.
Nice story telling, Stephen Fry has a very relaxed voice. love to listen to him.

Funny

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

absolutely fab much better than u thought love Stephen Fry I shall be listening to much more.

fab and entertaining

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

See more reviews