The Swinging Christies: Agatha Christie in the 1960s

• Still Swinging (Bonus Episode) - Agatha Christie and Muriel Spark

  A talented British author, a story about machinations in a girls’ school… How much do Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark have in common? Mark and Gray investigate… Featuring (from 5 mins in) a recording of a talk originally given by Gray for Romancing the Gothic, with kind permission of Dr Sam Hirst. You can read our special article for the Agatha Christie website here. You can find us on Instagram (as well as X) @Christie_Time. We are on BlueSky at christietime.bsky.social. Please do rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts. Our website is ChristieTime.com. The Swinging Christies is a Christie Time project by Mark Aldridge and Gray Robert Brown. Next episode: stay tuned…! 00:00:00 - Opening titles 00:00:53 - Introductory chat 00:05:00 - Gray’s Muriel Spark talk 00:38:24 - Mark and Gray debrief 00:57:21 - How to get in touch 00:58:58 - Closing titles 00:59:26 - Coda Solutions revealed! - The Plymouth Express, Witness for the Prosecution, Lord Edgware Dies, Towards Zero Sparks spoiled! - The Driver’s Seat, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie TW: violence against women

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• Still Swinging (Bonus Episode) - Revivalism

  Mark and Gray ring in the New Year with a discussion of the 1960s trend for… actually not being very 1960s at all! But just how much of Christie’s 1960s writing harks back to the Edwardian and Victorian eras? Did they even ‘swing’ back then??You can listen to our guest spot on the All About Agatha podcast, here.You can read our special article for the Agatha Christie website here.You can read Mark’s paper about Agatha Christie’s Charles Dickens’s Bleak House here. You can find us on Instagram (as well as X) @Christie_Time. We are on BlueSky at christietime.bsky.social. Please do rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts.Our website is ChristieTime.com.The Swinging Christies is a Christie Time project by Mark Aldridge and Gray Robert Brown.Next episode: wait and see…00:00:00 - Opening titles00:00:51 - Introductory chat00:04:29 - The Sixties weren’t Swinging for everyone00:15:38 - Old-new locations00:58:02 - The Next Generation01:04:28 - Servants and service01:14:44 - Reviving the greats: Shakespeare, Tennyson, Austen, Brontë01:22:37 - Bleak House by Agatha Christie01:33:57 - Brave monkey puzzle: remembering Christie’s childhood home01:37:22 - Next episode, how to get in touch01:38:33 - Closing titles01:39:01 - CodaSolutions revealed! - The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side, At Bertram’s Hotel

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• Still Swinging (Bonus Episode) - Christmas

  There’s always Christie at Christmas! Join Mark and Gray making the yuletide gay with a discussion about Christie’s festive writings from the 1960s. Come swing around the Christmas tree! You can read our special article for the Agatha Christie website here. You can find us on Instagram (as well as X) @Christie_Time. We are on Bluesky at christietime.bsky.social. Please do rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts. Our website is ChristieTime.com.  The Swinging Christies is a Christie Time project by Mark Aldridge and Gray Robert Brown. Next episode: Revivalism 00:00:00 - Opening titles 00:00:43 - Introductory chat 00:07:24 - A Christie for Christmas: a tale as old as time? 00:16:40 - Agatha Christiemas 00:20:20 - Christmas Then and Now - from Christmas Adventure (1923) to The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (1960) 00:28:26 - The Mysteries of the Spanish and Baghdad Chests (1932, 1960) 00:32:46 - Star Over Bethlehem (1965) 00:39:46 - Next episode, how to get in touch 00:41:27 - Closing titles 00:41:54 - Coda Solutions revealed! - Star Over Bethlehem (titular story from the Star Over Bethlehem collection)

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• Still Swinging (Bonus Episode) - From the Archive

  In a very special episode, join Mark and Gray as they delve deep into Agatha Christie’s family archive and uncover some seldom-seen 1960s gems… You can find us on Instagram (as well as X) @Christie_Time. We are on Bluesky at christietime.bsky.social. Please do rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts. Our website is Christietime.com. The Swinging Christies is a Christie Time project by Mark Aldridge and Gray Robert Brown. Next episode: it's Christmas! 00:00:00 - Opening titles 00:00:39 - Introductory chat at the train station 00:01:50 - We arrive at the archive! 00:05:30 - Death Beat 00:31:44 - Miss Perry 00:58:53 - Other archive gems, Agatha Christie’s writing process 01:12:46 - Back at Paddington, how to get in touch 01:14:29 - Closing titles 01:14:57 - Coda Solutions revealed! - Endless Night TW: violence against women

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• Still Swinging (Bonus Episode) - Hallowe'en

  Gray and Mark go trick-or-treating and uncover the truth about Hallowe’en parties in the 1960s, via Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie! They even risk their lives - and fingers - by playing a fiery game of Snapdragon! You can find us on Instagram (as well as X) @Christie_Time. We are on Bluesky at christietime.bsky.social. Please do rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts. Our website is ChristieTime.com. The Swinging Christies is a Christie Time project by Mark Aldridge and Gray Robert Brown. You can listen to the audiobook of ‘Agatha Christie’s Marple’ via Audible, Spotify and all other good audio retailers. Next episode: we delve into the Agatha Archives! 00:00:00 - Opening titles 00:00:41 - Introductory chat 00:02:38 - Origins of Hallowe’en 00:15:57 - Hallowe’en in the 1960s 00:28:01 - What would a 1960s Hallowe’en party have entailed? Apple bobbing, Jack o’lanterns, trick or treating, games 00:46:10 - We play Snapdragon! 00:51:08 - More games, the broomstick competition 00:57:08 - Next episode, how to get in touch 00:58:56 - Closing titles 00:59:25 - Coda Solutions revealed - Hallowe’en Party! TW: murder of children

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