The Monster Downstairs
Seriously...
BBC
4.1 • 885 Ratings
🗓️ 9 April 2019
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Life for the child of an alcoholic can be lonely, locked inside a house of secrets.
A code of silence means they don't want to talk to friends, or neighbours, or even their brothers and sisters.
Journalist Camilla Tominey, whose mother was an alcoholic, hears their stories.
Since having her own children, Camilla has longed to travel back in time and ask her, mother to mother: "What made you start drinking before noon?" Here, she and her two brothers sit down for the first time in twenty years to talk about their memories.
Alcoholism is by no means a one-size fits all experience. It cuts across class lines and manifests itself in many different forms. We hear stories from people across Britain. How have they been changed by their experience and what has helped get them through?
The Monster Downstairs features intimate, wrenching stories - of young people and adults - as they talk about an unpredictable existence.
Producer: Caitlin Smith
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This was an impregnable fortress. The only way you get out was in a wooden box. |
| 0:05.0 | The controversial maximum security prison impossible to escape from. |
| 0:09.0 | And one of the duties of a political prisoner is the escape. |
| 0:12.0 | The IRA inmates who found a way. of a political prisoner is the escape. |
| 0:12.5 | The IRA inmates who found a way. |
| 0:14.5 | I'm Carlo Gableer and I'll be navigating a path |
| 0:19.5 | through the disturbing inside story of the biggest jailbreak in British and Irish history. |
| 0:25.0 | The narrative that they want is that this is a big achievement by them. |
| 0:28.5 | Escape from the maze, listen first on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:35.0 | BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds, Music Radio Podcasts. |
| 0:39.0 | Boy, you. |
| 0:41.0 | Before you settle down to this podcast, let me tell you about a little thing called |
| 0:46.4 | Forest, fora, an environmental thriller for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:51.4 | I'm so sorry. Meet Pan. For what I Pan. She lives a few centuries from now after a data crash that |
| 0:56.8 | wiped out most records of life. So when she finds an old recording of a rainforest, |
| 1:02.1 | she has no idea. finds an old recording of a rainforest. |
| 1:03.0 | She has no idea what it is. |
| 1:06.5 | Forest 404, 9 part thriller, 9 part talk, |
| 1:10.0 | 9 part soundscape, |
| 1:11.8 | starring Pearl Mackey, Tanya Moody and Pepper Haywood with theme music by |
| 1:16.2 | Bonobo. |
| 1:18.2 | Subscribe now on BBC Sound. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
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.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

