After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal

Episode: Great Fire of London As It Happened

Hosts: Maddie Pelling & Anthony Delaney (as Shane)
Date: January 12, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode immerses listeners in the chaos, devastation, and aftermath of the Great Fire of London in September 1666. Through vivid narration, historical context, and the voices of contemporary witnesses, Maddie and Anthony (Shane) unravel the myths and misdeeds that shaped public reactions and London's transformation. Expect dark humor, up-close storytelling, and a focus on the human experience during one of history’s most infamous urban catastrophes.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Historical Context: London before the Fire

• Setting the Scene (01:15)
  • Maddie transports listeners to a dry, drought-stricken London on the eve of September 2nd, 1666—a city of timbered houses, recent plague, war with the Dutch, and fragile monarchy (“The air is dry as parchment. The great city's timbered houses creak…” - Maddie, 01:15).
• Restoration & Fragile Stability (03:01–04:29)
  • Anthony (Shane) and Maddie discuss the recent Restoration, the execution of Charles I, and Charles II’s “balancing act” as a monarch navigating political unrest, war, and the aftermath of plague.
    • “It's not that he's come back to stability and everything is fine again. The world has been literally turned on its head.” – Maddie, 04:29

Omens, Superstitions, and Setting the Stage

• 1666: A Year Marked for Disaster (06:00–06:29)
  • Maddie shares an astrologer’s prediction: “Now 1666 is come. When shall be the day of doom?” (Maddie, 06:00)
  • Both hosts riff on the era’s omens, numerology (‘three sixes’), and public anxiety.
• Would You Survive? (06:45–07:10)
  • Brief, humorous reflection on personal survival odds—“I would have already died of plague … I’d sit down and let the fire consume you.” (Maddie, 06:54)

The Outbreak: How the Fire Began

• Pudding Lane & the King's Bakery (09:33–11:57)
  • The fire starts in Thomas Farriner’s bakery, fueled further by drought and wind.
  • Tense escape: Farriner’s family climbs along guttering to safety; the unnamed maidservant, paralyzed by fear, is the first fatality.
    • “She’s described as being too terrified to move … is she just refusing to go?” – Maddie, 12:13
  • Efforts at firefighting by neighbors are quickly overcome.
• Role of Wind (13:23)
  • Easterly wind rapidly spreads embers onto neighboring rooftops, accelerating the disaster.

London’s Response & Famous Misquotes

• Lord Mayor’s Dismissal (14:15–15:19)
  • Legend: Lord Mayor Sir Thomas Bloodworth reputedly says, “A woman could piss it out,” dismissing the fire's severity.
    • “I mean, I sort of hope that he did because it’s a great line.” – Maddie, 15:00
• Medieval Streets, Clogged Roads (16:02–17:07)
  • Panic as residents (and horses) fleeing the fire jam London’s narrow medieval streets.
  • Maddie highlights both the chaos and the prevalence of looting amidst the blaze.

Eyewitness Accounts: Chroniclers in the Flames

• Samuel Pepys Awakens (17:48–19:49)
  • At 3am, Pepys is woken by his maids as the city burns, but, seeing the wind blowing away from his house, he returns to bed.
    • “He goes back to sleep, okay. Doesn’t that tell you something about Pepys? … Londoners viewed fire [as routine].” – Shane, 19:02
• Pepys’ First-Hand Observations (20:25–21:49)
  • By 7am, Pepys witnesses flames at London Bridge and learns the fire started at Pudding Lane—news travels remarkably fast.
    • “There I did see the houses at the end of London Bridge, all on fire, and an infinite great fire on this and the other side of the bridge.” – Maddie reading Pepys, 20:23
• Voices from the Ground (23:10–24:27)
  • William Taswell, a 14-year-old at Westminster, recounts scenes of confusion and people fleeing via boats: “Four boats crowded with objects of distress … under any other covering except that of a blanket.” – Shane reading Taswell, 23:10

Escalation, Panic, and Social Breakdown

• From Disaster to Refugee Crisis (28:08–34:56)
  • Mobs grow restless; questions swirl about the authorities’ ineffective response.
  • Refugee camps spring up around London (Moorfields to Highgate), as documented by John Evelyn:
    • “The poor inhabitants dispersed all about St. George’s, Moorfields, as far as Highgate … were now reduced to extremist misery and poverty.” – Shane reading Evelyn, 34:28
• Prioritizing Property over Lives (29:21–30:11)
  • Maddie and Shane reflect on the era’s focus on saving goods rather than people: “There’s a concentration on things and objects as opposed to people and lives.” – Shane, 29:40

Fighting the Fire: Command, Incentives, & Firebreaks

• Duke of York Takes Charge (31:04–33:18)
  • The King delegates firefighting to his brother, the Duke of York, who sets up command posts, offers financial rewards, and forcibly drafts helpers.
  • Drastic measures: homes are demolished to create firebreaks—unpopular among those so sacrificed.
  • Wind’s subsiding and firebreaks eventually slow the fire’s spread.

Suspicion, Rumors, & Xenophobia

• Scapegoating & Violence (37:33–39:28)
  • The search for blame turns xenophobic, targeting foreigners and Catholics; French Catholics bear the brunt.
  • Taswell, again, describes mob violence:
    • “A blacksmith in my presence, meeting an innocent Frenchman … felled him instantly to the ground with an iron bar. … I could not help seeing the innocent blood of this exotic flowing in a plentiful stream down to his ankles…” – Shane reading Taswell, 38:21

The Fire’s End and its Human Toll

• Aftermath and Statistics (40:42–43:07)
  • Fire burns for days; embers only extinguished by March 1667.
    • 13,000 buildings destroyed.
    • 86 churches, including old St. Paul’s, lost.
    • 100,000 people made homeless, left to makeshift camps.

Suffering, Loss, and Emotional Impact

• Personal Losses & Social Shakeup (43:07–44:17)
  • Maddie ponders the fates of servants, displaced families, and reconfiguration of social order and geography.
• “Fire Doesn’t Discriminate” (35:45)
  • The destruction touches all classes, emphasizing the erasure of familiar city landmarks and social hierarchies.

Who Was to Blame? Justice & Injustice

• Robert Hubert: A Scapegoat Executed (46:12–48:23)
  • French Catholic Robert Hubert, who arrived two days after the fire began, is tortured, confesses under duress, and is executed at Tyburn—innocent, but meeting the fate the mobs demand.
• Enduring Anti-Catholic Sentiment (48:23–49:08)
  • A plaque on Pudding Lane names “the barbarous papists” as the cause, cementing a dangerous legacy of scapegoating.

Rebuilding: London Rises from Ashes

• A New Cityscape (49:51–52:17)
  • St. Paul's rebuilt by Christopher Wren; plans for a new London emerge.
    • “There’s a sort of wider building program … From this disaster comes opportunity. … a fresh start, essentially, to rewrite what’s happened before.” – Maddie, 51:38
  • Archaeological “ash layers” from the fire remain a tangible trace.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Now 1666 is come. When shall be the day of doom?”
  — Maddie quoting Sir George Wharton, (06:05)
• “A woman could piss it out.”
  — (Alleged) Lord Mayor Sir Thomas Bloodworth, (14:34)
• “There I did see the houses at the end of London Bridge, all on fire, and an infinite great fire on this and the other side of the bridge.”
  — Samuel Pepys (read by Maddie), (20:23)
• “A blacksmith in my presence, meeting an innocent Frenchman walking along the street, felled him instantly to the ground with an iron bar … the innocent blood of this exotic flowing in a plentiful stream…”
  — William Taswell (read by Shane), (38:21)
• “I went again to the ruins, for it was no longer a city.”
  — John Evelyn (read by Shane), (49:51)
• “Fire doesn’t discriminate.”
  — Maddie, riffing on 17th-century experience and modern fire safety slogans, (35:45)
• “There’s like a disaster movie in this that hasn’t been made yet.”
  — Shane, (52:17)

Important Timestamps

• 01:15 – Maddie sets the dramatic opening scene
• 03:01–04:29 – Political and social context of 1666 London
• 09:33–11:57 – Detailed account of the fire’s outbreak at Pudding Lane
• 12:13 – First fatality: the unnamed maidservant
• 14:34 – “A woman could piss it out” – Lord Mayor’s infamous dismissal
• 17:48–19:49 – Samuel Pepys’ initial response
• 20:23–21:49 – Pepys’ firsthand morning account
• 23:10–24:27 – William Taswell’s vivid, youthful narrative
• 28:08–34:56 – Evacuation, refugee camps, John Evelyn’s reports
• 31:04–33:18 – Duke of York’s command and firebreak strategies
• 38:21–39:28 – Mob violence and xenophobia (Taswell’s account)
• 40:42–43:07 – Fire’s toll, destruction, and aftermath
• 46:12–48:23 – Execution of Robert Hubert, scapegoating
• 49:51–52:17 – Rebuilding: Wren, London’s transformation

Tone & Style

• The episode balances dark historical realities with irreverent, conversational humor (“I feel like I would have already died of plague”—Maddie, 06:54).
• Narrative is intimate, immersive, and at times cinematic, with frequent playful exchanges and digressions on modern parallels and personal foibles.
• Multiple voices and eyewitness perspectives are seamlessly woven in to bring texture and nuance to the historical drama.

Summary Takeaway

The Great Fire of London was both disaster and catalyst—a blaze that reduced a city to smoldering ruin, displaced an entire population, unleashed a wave of xenophobia, and yet laid the groundwork for modern London’s rebirth. Maddie and Anthony skillfully evoke both the minute-by-minute chaos and the far-reaching social consequences, reminding us that history’s shadiest corners are also its most revealing.