Tony Robinson's Cunningcast
By Zinc Media Group
Tony Robinson is best-known for playing turnip-brained Baldrick who always had 'a cunning plan' in the iconic TV show Blackadder. He's presented countless documentaries throughout his 50-year career, including 20-years on Channel 4's Time Team, inspired by his passion for history and for digging deep into the past to understand more about the present. That's his thing!
In his cunningly curated history podcast, Tony is delving into the weird and wonderful stories that grab him and make him want to know more about the world around us. He’s asking: Why was Stonehenge built? What did the past smell like, was it horrible? Why were pies invented? Why do our dogs love us so much? When did tattoos stop being taboo? What do bones tell us about past humanity? Amongst other intriguing questions...
Along the way, Tony is joined by experts and special guests, including Miriam Margolyes, Stephen Fry, Raksha Dave, John Lloyd, Alice Roberts, Grace Neutral and David Mitchell who help provide some answers.
So join Tony Robinson as he hosts his cunningly curated history podcast. New episodes drop Thursdays.
Tony Robinson's Cunningcast is part of the Acast Creator Network and is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Sir Tony Robinson
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Thank you, Love Tony x
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Latest episode
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HOWARD GOODALL | Blackadder: The Lost Pilot
Today Tony is talking to the composer Howard Goodall CBE, who wrote the now iconic Blackadder theme tune. Howard is one of Britain’s best-known composers of choral music, stage musicals, TV and film scores. He wrote the themes tunes for many … -
Building The Wall: An Enthusiast’s Guide to HADRIAN’S WALL
Marching 73 miles from coast to coast across the narrowest neck of England, Hadrian’s Wall was the north-west frontier of the Roman Empire for nearly 300 years and yet there is still so much we don’t know about it: only 5% of the wall has been exc… -
BLETCHLEY PARK: Codebreaking Then and Now
Passwords and codes are something we take for granted in the digital age, but this is such a new development and today Tony is going back to a time when making and breaking codes was an almost exclusively high-level military activity: most famousl… -
A Fan-tash-tic History of FACIAL HAIR
Men’s facial hair is very prone to fashions: moustaches and beards are back in, but why is that and what sparks bread trends and facial hair fashions? To help him find out, Tony has invited ‘beard’ historian Alun Withey and male grooming influence… -
RICHARD CURTIS | Blackadder: The Lost Pilot
Today Tony is talking to his old friend and collaborator, the screenwriter Richard Curtis. They share memories of making Blackadder from the early years to how it all ended. Along the way, they discuss Richard’s comedy roots and how he became a to… -
The Past, Present and Future of CAR Engineering and Sustainability
Electric cars are the future of motoring, or so we are told, but today’s Cunningcast guests don’t agree. In fact, Hugo Spowers of Riversimple thinks hydrogen is the future and he’s designing hydrogen powered cars to prove it. Together with experie… -
Conjuring up…. A History of Stage MAGIC
Today Tony is conjuring up - a history of stage magic: from Reginald Scot's 1584 ‘Discovery of Witchcraft’ to Servais LeRoy ‘The Belgium Conjuror’ and Talma, ‘The Queen of Coins’ via escapologist Harry Houdini to TV magic with David Berglas, Paul … -
DAVID MITCHELL | Blackadder: The Lost Pilot
Today Tony is talking to comedian David Mitchell. They cover David’s comedy awakening; meeting Robert Webb and the early years of Peep Show; how Olivia Coleman got involved; his love of Blackadder; playing William Shakespeare and working with Ben … -
A Wobbly History of JELLY, from Aristocratic Dining Centrepiece, to Kids’ Party Favourite
Today it’s all going a bit wobbly in Cunningcast Towers as we are talking about the history of jelly. Tony wants to rescue jelly from its place as a children’s party food because there was a time when making jellies was an art form and took p… -
What do BONES tell us about past humanity with ALICE ROBERTS
Today Tony catches up with Alice Roberts to talk about her new book ‘Crypt’ and what developments in the extraction of ancient DNA from bones can tell us about the humans they once belonged to. They cover the syphilitic anchores…
