Fetch the Smelling Salts
Discussing period dramas from every time period and around the world.
Episodes
40 episodes
Belle (2013 Movie)
Come on law boys, grab your wigs and let’s hang as we enjoy the beautiful historical drama, Belle. Alice and Kim discuss what they want from a period drama, and how a glossy romantic story can be the starting point for learning about the worst ...
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Season 2
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Episode 2
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1:07:43
El Cid (1961 Movie)
We’re back! Season 2 of Fetch the Smelling Salts kicks off in style with historian Clara Chamberlain helping us make sense of dictator-funded epic dude-in-a-desert film, El Cid. We’re talking about the creation of national myths, fist-fights at...
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Season 2
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Episode 1
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1:20:23
Chariots of Fire (1981 Movie)
We’re throwing our heads back, flailing our arms and running off for a summer break, but there’s still time for Kim and Alice to discuss the classic ‘Chariots of Fire’. We have Olympic trivia, separate the fact from fiction and discuss all mann...
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Season 1
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Episode 38
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1:14:26
Gladiator (2000 Movie)
Period dramas are for dudes too! And this week we have Tan and Keon from the awesome Pastmaster podcast to help us navigate the dudiest dudefest around: Gladiator. We’re thinking about the Roman Empire an exactly normal amount and discussing ti...
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Season 1
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Episode 37
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1:09:49
The Fainting Couch: Queeriod Dramas
In this week’s special Fainting Couch episode, Kim and Alice are smooching their undergardeners and celebrating queer representation in TV and cinema. We’re looking at the history, the controversy and depiction of LGBTQ+ people on screen, and d...
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Season 1
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Episode 36
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42:08
Dance of the 41 (2020 Movie)
It’s Pride season, and Kim and Alice are celebrating by discussing the queeriest 2020 Mexican drama, ‘Dance of the 41’. There’s cigar innuendo, bathtub math and honeymoon-related fainting, as well as the real history of the LGBTQ+ community in ...
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Season 1
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Episode 35
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1:05:34
The Remains of the Day (1993 Movie)
This week we’re having our hearts broken by a bad case of British butler-itis, as Kim and Alice sob through The Remains of the Day. We’re learning about the politics of the aristocracy, strict servant etiquette and why you shouldn’t learn the f...
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Season 1
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Episode 34
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1:03:42
The Favourite (2018 Movie)
Move over Elizabeth and Victoria, there’s a new Queen in town. This week Kim and Alice tackle ‘The Favourite’, the darkly comic / just plain dark Queen Anne biopic. Why aren’t more period dramas set in the Stuart period? Who won the duck race? ...
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Season 1
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Episode 33
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1:00:23
Jodhaa Akbar (2008 Movie)
You better get to shirtless sword practice because these elephants only respect hot people! This week Kim and Alice are covering Indian epic, Jodhaa Akbar. It’s a historical romance with all the jewellery and political intrigue you can ha...
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Season 1
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Episode 32
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59:45
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013 Movie)
Ain’t no party like a cloud moon party; this week Kim and Alice are discussing the gorgeous Japanese animation, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya. We reveal our preferred method of baby-making (it’s Bamboo-based), discuss some fierce Heian period...
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Season 1
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Episode 31
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47:11
North & South (2004 Miniseries) - ft. Laurel from Hightailing Through History
We’re jumping on our 1850s waterbed with excitement, as this week Kim and Alice are joined by Laurel from Hightailing Through History to discuss the BBC miniseries, North & South. The industrial North is in her strike era and the men are bl...
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Season 1
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Episode 30
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1:20:56
The Woman King (2022 Movie)
This week Kim and Alice cover their first African-set period drama - the historical action-adventure, ‘The Woman King’. We discuss the real Agojie tribe, the sheer joy of watching some badass women kick some butts and pledge our undying allegia...
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Season 1
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Episode 29
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1:07:59
Hysteria (2011 Movie)
There are rigid thrombi all round this week, as Kim and Alice discuss the massively unsubtle 2011 movie, Hysteria. We’re talking about the true history of the invention of the vibrator (spoiler: this isn’t it), the ongoing misdiagnosis of...
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Season 1
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Episode 28
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54:43
The Crucible (1996 Movie) - ft. Kirstyn and Ben from There's Not Always a Twist
It’s chicken-blood time girls! While Kim’s off witching it up in another country, Alice is joined by Kirstyn and Ben from There’s Not Always a Twist. In this episode, they’re turning their attention to The Crucible; the witch-trial thriller bas...
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Season 1
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Episode 27
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1:16:47
Amadeus (1984 Movie)
Knock, knock, it’s definitely not Salieri. This week Kim and Alice are taking a look at Pitch Perfect for the Classical era: Amadeus. Why did the film clean up at the Oscars that year? Where does the line between historical truth and allegory b...
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Season 1
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Episode 26
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1:05:18
The Fainting Couch: Disney Movies
We’re back lounging on the fainting couch and discussing Disney’s contribution to the period drama world. Choose your fighter: Encanto, the well-researched and sensitive celebration of culture, or Mulan, a film with a dragon named after an Amer...
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Season 1
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Episode 25
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40:51
Northanger Abbey (2007 TV Movie)
Whew! Is it hot in here or are you a clergyman from Gloucester? This week Kim and Alice are barely keeping it together over the 2007 adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel: Northanger Abbey. There’s geeking out over the history of gothic literature ...
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Season 1
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Episode 24
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57:50
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992 Movie)
You already know it’s the best Christmas Carol adaptation, but we’re here with the facts to back it up. This week Kim and Alice cover The Muppet Christmas Carol; objectively Dickens’ favourite version of his classic Victorian novel (probably)...
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Season 1
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Episode 23
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54:11
The Fainting Couch: Lightning Mini - Getting to Know Kim and Alice
Who's seen a ghost? Who would kill a pheasant in self-defence? Plus smooch/marry/kill: the historical diseases edition. Get to know Kim and Alice in our lightning mini-episode.
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Season 1
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Episode 18
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6:52
Anastasia (1997 Movie)
This week we’re re-visiting Alice’s youthful bat phase as we cover the animated classic, Anastasia. Russian history is a bummer, but this film is super fun; there’s flirting on a boat, unhinged accent choices and we all find out that sorcerers ...
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Season 1
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Episode 22
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1:14:00
The Imitation Game (2014 Movie)
In this episode, Kim and Alice are discussing one of the least historically accurate, but most tear-inducing blockbusters: The Imitation Game. We’re discussing dentures, Kim’s love of montages and the real story of Alan Turing - a beautiful hum...
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Season 1
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Episode 21
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1:06:19
Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992 Movie)
Kim and Alice interrupt their hamster funerals to bring you Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the campy 90s classic with award-winning rat costumes. We’re redefining ugly crying, discussing the frankly unreasonable number of nipples and Kim sounds off abo...
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Season 1
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Episode 20
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1:06:53
Kingdom (Series 1, 2019)
It’s Historical Horror Month at Fetch the Smelling Salts HQ and this week we’re covering the first series of Joseon-era Korean zombie drama - Kingdom. Get ready our little blood ravioli as we eat the rich and explore some hat-based hierarchies....
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Season 1
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Episode 19
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57:02
Padmaavat (2018 Movie)
Indian history: it’s full of stuff! And in the case of Padmaavat, it’s full of incredible dance numbers, situationships and history’s hottest battle. Kim and Alice try to sort the historical fact from the fiction, pay tribute to a bisexual icon...
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Season 1
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Episode 17
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1:17:12
Gosford Park (2001 Movie)
Do you enjoy eating tiny spoonfuls of jam in the kitchen of a stately home? Are you unnerved by pheasants being murdered on a frankly alarming scale? Then allow us to introduce you to the under-appreciated, classic, murder-mystery; Gosford Park...
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Season 1
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Episode 16
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49:32