Bletchley Park

Short History Of...

Noiser

History

4.8 • 4.1K Ratings

🗓️ 14 September 2025

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

During World War II, a country house in Buckinghamshire hosted some of the UK’s top minds as they worked to crack enemy communications, most famously the German Enigma cipher. It is estimated that breakthroughs at Bletchley Park shortened the conflict by at least two years, saving over 14 million lives. But why was Bletchley Park chosen, and what was life like there during the war? Who were the brilliant scientists working tirelessly behind its walls? And when did the veil finally lift on the shadowy world of wartime intelligence? This is a Short History Of Bletchley Park. A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins. With thanks to Tessa Dunlop, author of The Bletchley Girls. Written by Nicola Rayner | Produced by Kate Simants | Assistant Producer: Nicole Edmunds | Production Assistant: Chris McDonald | Exec produced by Katrina Hughes | Sound supervisor: Tom Pink | Sound design by Oliver Sanders | Assembly edit by Dorry Macaulay, Rob Plummer | Compositions by Oliver Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Tom Pink | Mix & mastering: Cody Reynolds-Shaw | Fact check by Sean Coleman Get every episode of Short History Of… a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started. Or go to noiser.com/subscriptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Divali's almost here and at Morrisons we've got all the essentials ready to help you prepare.
0:04.8	Like Salam Basmati rice, 10 kilos was 19 pounds, now just 11.
0:09.0	Or KTC sunflower oil.
0:10.7	5 litres was 875, now 6.50.
0:13.5	There's elephant at a medium chapati flour 10 kilos, was 1250, now only 7 pounds.
0:18.2	And East End Pure Buttergee 1 kilo was £12.50, now just £11.
0:22.5	From all of us at Morrisons, happy Diwali and banditour Divas.
0:25.9	Morisons to shop at Morrison's.
0:27.8	Selected stores online varies, excludes Morrison's daily.
0:30.3	I'm Julie Andrews, and it is my great pleasure to bring you Jane Austen Stories,
0:36.7	the new show from the Noiser Podcast Network.
0:40.4	I'll be reading Pride and Prejudice. We'll walk grand estates and take tea with well-dressed
0:48.3	gentlewomen, but in this tranquil corner of England, not everything is quite as it appears.
0:56.0	Listen to Jane Austen's stories wherever you get your podcasts.
1:02.9	It is March 1941.
1:06.3	A woman called Mavis Lever leans over her desk in an outbuilding known as the cottage at the
1:11.8	Bletchley Park estate in Buckinghamshire, 50 miles northwest of London. Rain taps at the windows,
1:18.8	and the cold wind shakes the pains. Mavis's eyes flick across a seemingly random string of letters
1:26.5	she's working on. She's just 19 years old, a linguist turned code breaker, but she's already familiar with the strange patterns produced by the Enigma machines.
1:37.3	Today, she is working on a test message for a new Italian naval cipher.
1:43.3	She taps her pencil lightly against the desk as she
1:47.0	concentrates. In the cold room, the steady tick of a clock on a wall behind her is a reminder that time is always against them.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

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

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