Kingdom of Benin
You're Dead to Me
BBC
4.7 • 11.8K Ratings
🗓️ 25 December 2025
⏱️ 14 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Dead Funny History: Kingdom of Benin.
Join historian Greg Jenner for a fast-paced, funny and fact-packed journey through the history of the Kingdom of Benin full of powerful rulers, incredible art, and some very questionable British behaviour.
This episode of Dead Funny History is bursting with jokes, sketches and sound effects that bring the past to life for families and Key Stage 2 learners. Discover how the Ogisos, “rulers of the sky”, gave way to the Obas, god-like kings who rebuilt cities and led armies. Learn about Queen Idia, the original palace-owning mum, and the guilds of artists who created the famous Benin Bronzes, many of which were looted during British colonisation.
From Portuguese coconut diplomacy to British invasions to the trading of enslaved people and the destruction of Benin City in 1897.
Perfect for curious kids, families, and fans of You’re Dead To Me, this is history with humour, heart and high production value. Expect sketches, spoof news reports, and a quiz to test your memory.
Written by Gabby Hutchinson Crouch, Athena Kugblenu and Dr Emma Nagouse Host: Greg Jenner Performers: Mali Ann Rees and John-Luke Roberts Producer: Dr Emma Nagouse Associate Producer: Gabby Hutchinson Crouch Audio Producer: Emma Weatherill Script Consultant: Barnaby Phillips Production Coordinator: Liz Tuohy Production Manager: Jo Kyle Sound Designer: Peregrine Andrews
A BBC Studios Production
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:05.0 | Ellis, our podcast is over 500 episodes old. |
| 0:10.0 | But what have we learnt? |
| 0:11.0 | Ellis James and John Robbins. |
| 0:13.0 | I've learnt that when you're doing live radio, if somebody texts in in block capitals, it's very really a good sign. |
| 0:18.0 | We've had a confused text and it says, I want to listen to this rubbish. |
| 0:22.0 | I learned that if you lose to lose Sanders in a board game |
| 0:24.9 | and don't mention her on the show, |
| 0:26.3 | you are going to get an unexpected call. |
| 0:28.4 | Oh, dear, oh dear. |
| 0:31.1 | Ellis James and John Robbins, 500 not out. |
| 0:34.1 | Lovely stuff. |
| 0:35.5 | Listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:39.9 | Hello, and welcome to Dead Funny History, the show that brings the past back to life, literally. |
| 0:44.7 | I'm Greg Jenner. |
| 0:45.6 | I'm a historian and I want to tell you about something cool. |
| 0:49.0 | Well, up to a point. |
| 0:50.7 | The Kingdom of Benin was a fascinating and powerful kingdom in what is now southern Nigeria |
| 0:55.7 | in West Africa, and it stretched from the late 12th century all the way to the 19th century. The capital |
| 1:01.5 | city was once known as Edo, which also refers to both the people and the language. Isn't Edo in Japan? |
| 1:09.2 | Yeah, Edo's also the old name for Tokyo in Japan, but that's a totally different Edo. |
| 1:14.0 | This Edo was on the west coast of Africa and today is still called the Edo state in Nigeria, |
... |
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