111. The Prince of Poisoners

Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling

BBC

True Crime, Comedy

4.3 • 922 Ratings

🗓️ 23 March 2026

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Iain looks at the story of Dr William Palmer, a man whom Charles Dickens described as “the greatest villain that ever stood in the Old Bailey".

Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available twice a week on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at lauraandiain@bbc.co.uk

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.
0:07.0	An early start here. It's time to kick off.
0:10.0	Your day. Morning!
0:11.9	What a line-up.
0:13.3	Oh, thanks very much. We do get some great guests on the show.
0:16.1	The crowd is loving this.
0:18.3	Thanks, guys. Thank you. Too kind.
0:20.2	From morning chaos
0:21.8	To match day commentary
0:23.4	And everything in between
0:24.8	BBC sounds
0:26.0	Packed with Personality
0:27.6	The year is
0:32.6	1856
0:34.0	We're on the street
0:35.2	Outside Stafford Jell
0:36.6	In the West Midlands.
0:38.7	It's a rainy June day, but the streets are full of people.
0:42.5	30,000 people in fact, all facing the jail's gallows.
0:47.4	Many of the crowd have been there all night, waiting in the pouring rain.
0:51.4	They wanted to ensure they had a good view of this historic event. The hanging of a man they call the Prince of Poisoners.
0:58.0	A former doctor branded by Charles Dickens as the greatest villain that ever stood in the old Bailey.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.