Alexandre Dumas: author of The Three Musketeers

You're Dead to Me

BBC

Comedy, History

4.7 • 10.9K Ratings

🗓️ 15 August 2025

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Greg Jenner is joined in nineteenth-century France by historian Professor Olivette Otele and comedian Celya AB to learn about acclaimed novelist Alexandre Dumas. Alexandre was born to an innkeeper’s daughter and a legendary Black general who fought for Napoleon. After his father’s death the family grew up in rural poverty, but after a visit to Paris as a teenager, Dumas fell in love with the city and its theatre. Using his father’s connections he found a job there and was soon a successful playwright, before turning his attention to novels. He was a prolific author, writing such blockbusters as The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Christo. But amidst the writing, Dumas also found plenty of time for romantic dalliances, political entanglements, and global travel. This episode explores his extraordinary life and the incredible works of literature he created, set against the turbulent background of French politics in the years after the Napoleonic wars.

If you’re a fan of French revolutionary politics, trailblazing Black figures and the messy personal lives of best-selling authors, you’ll love our episode on Alexandre Dumas.

If you want more Black history with Professor Olivette Otele, check out our episode on the Chevalier de Saint-Georges. And for more figures from French history, listen to our episodes on Josephine Baker, Young Napoleon and Catherine de’Medici.

You’re Dead To Me is the comedy podcast that takes history seriously. Every episode, Greg Jenner brings together the best names in history and comedy to learn and laugh about the past.

Hosted by: Greg Jenner Research by: Emma Bentley Written by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow, Emma Nagouse, and Greg Jenner Produced by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow and Greg Jenner Audio Producer: Steve Hankey Production Coordinator: Gill Huggett Senior Producer: Emma Nagouse Executive Editor: Philip Sellars

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts.
0:05.2	Hello, Greg here.
0:06.3	Just a reminder, before we get going,
0:08.0	that episodes of Your Dead to Me are released on Fridays wherever you get your podcasts.
0:12.2	But if you're in the UK, you can listen to the latest episodes 28 days earlier than anywhere else.
0:18.4	First, on BBC Sounds.
0:21.5	Hello, and welcome to You're Dead to Me, the Radio 4 comedy podcast that takes history seriously.
0:26.7	My name is Greg Jenner. I'm a public historian, author and broadcaster.
0:29.9	And today we are packing our book bags and travelling back to 19th century France to learn all
0:34.7	about the acclaimed novelist and playwright Alexandra Dumas. And to help
0:38.9	complete our trio of musketeers, we have two very special guests. In History Corner, she's
0:44.1	distinguished research professor of the legacies and memory of slavery at Soas, University of London.
0:48.8	You may have read her wonderful book, African Europeans, an untold history. And you will remember
0:53.4	her for my episode on
0:54.6	the Chevalier de Saint-George. It's Professor Olivet-Ode-Lay. Welcome back, Olivet. Oh, hello, Greg. Lovely to be back. We're delighted to have you back. And in Comedy Corner, she's an award-winning rising star who won the Chortle Best Newcomer Award in 2022. Maybe you've seen one of her sold-out live runs at the Edinburgh Fringe or Soho Theatre,
1:11.2	I certainly have, or watched her on TV on live at the Apollo or heard her on all kinds of podcasts, including off-menu and the guilty feminist. It's Celia AB. Welcome to the show Celia. Hello, thank you for having me. Oh, it's lovely to have you in. Your first time on the show, which feels like a booking error. We should have had you on ages ago. I've been trying to get you on for ages.
1:09.9	I will say like the difference
1:30.8	between your intro and my intro is so funny. It's like you're clear like a genius. And then it's
1:36.1	like, and Selyas a clown. But a very respected clown.
1:40.5	Respected clown. Yes, it is I. It is a, it is a, me, wow.
1:46.0	So Celia, you are your French, French Algerian, and you grew up in Paris.
1:51.0	How do you feel about history, French history?
	...

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