Last updated on September 23, 2024 – 10:45 AM
The new series of The Ladykillers, starring Lucy Worsley, shifts focus to con artists, charlatans and hustlers.
In Lady Swindlers, Lucy and a team of female detectives re-examine the crimes of past women trying to succeed in a male-dominated world.
These are women who rose from ordinary lives to achieve extraordinary things. What can their crimes and the times in which they lived tell us about the lives of women today?
The series features underworld queens, con artists, thieves, con men and even false heirs from the past from England, Wales, Scotland, the US and Australia.
Lucy says: “In Lady Swindlers we identify a range of fascinating female criminals from the last 200 years.
“We tell their stories, we find out how (if at all!) they got away with it, and then we ask ourselves questions: What were the circumstances? Did they break the rules because they lived in a man-made world?
“I hope people will enjoy listening to 'Lady Swindlers.' It's full of great crime material and great stories of great women. But naturally, I think you'll also learn a lot of really interesting social history.”
“You'll learn about the birth of modern feminism. You'll learn about female consumerism in the early 20th century. You'll learn a bunch of things about Victorian beauty techniques that you'll wish you didn't know, because it's a really scary story!”
Lady Swindlers with Lucy Worsley will be available as a box set on BBC Sounds from today, Monday 23rd September, then broadcast weekly on BBC Radio 4 from 30th September.
