The Dark History of London’s Drug World

Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society

History Hit

Society, Sex, Scandal, Education, History

4.8 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 11 March 2025

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Travel back to post-WW1 London, when sex, drugs and music was exploding in Soho... causing a national moral panic.

The drugs of choice? Cocaine and morphine. Still used by doctors for questionable medicinal reasons (cough syrup anyone?!) but now also taken in nightclubs and opium dens by socialites around Soho.

This week, Kate is Betwixt the Sheets with Professor Toby Seddon to talk about the history of drugs, the people who were selling and taking them, and how the government attempted to crack down.

Historic Soho has been brought to life in the new BBC show Dope Girls, which tells the story of Soho when female gangs ran the nightclubs after the First World War. You can watch it on BBC iPlayer now.

All music from Epidemic Sounds.

Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, I'm your host, Kate Lister.
0:02.4	If you would like betwixt the sheets, add free and get early access, sign up to History Hit.
0:08.7	With a History Hit subscription, you can also watch hundreds of original documentaries with top history presenters.
0:16.0	And enjoy a new release every single week.
0:19.8	Sign up now by visiting history hit.com forward slash subscribe.
0:24.5	Hello, my lovely betwixters.
0:26.3	It's me, Kate Lister.
0:27.7	How are you doing?
0:28.5	Have you got your glad rags on?
0:29.5	Are you ready to listen to more?
0:31.2	But before we can go any further together, I have to tell you.
0:34.1	This is an adult podcast spoken by adults to other adults about adulty things and an adult
0:37.3	way covering away. You know the drill by now. If you're sensitive,
0:42.5	don't listen. For the rest of you, let's crack on. It's a typical night down in the 43
0:53.1	club on Gerard Street in the heart of London's Soho.
0:56.7	The lights are low, the music is loud, and despite the glitz and glamour of the 1920s flapper dresses
1:02.1	and sharply cut suits, there is a sinister edge bubbling away underneath. Don't get me wrong,
1:07.9	I'm having a blast, but you don't have to look too hard to see there is a dark underbelly to all of this.
1:14.2	Club owners and restaurateurs such as Kate Merrick and the sublimely named Brilliant Chang are fueling this vibrant nightlife with cocaine and morphine,
1:23.3	supplied to their customers through a network of dealers.
1:26.6	As you'll find out, it was a dangerous world
1:28.8	where sex, drugs and rock and roll, well, actually jazz,
	...

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