• Climate Change
    Jan 4 2026

    New year, new us…new world? Since before the 1960s, scientists have been warning at the negative human impact on the world around us, but it’s a topic that really hit the headlines in the Swinging era. Interestingly, it’s a thread that can be traced through some of Agatha Christie’s 1960s writing too… Join Mark and Gray for a brand new year on The Swinging Christies! PLUS: an announcement!

    You can find us on Instagram ⁠@Christie_Time⁠. We are also on Bluesky at ⁠ChristieTime.com. Our YouTube account is @TheSwingingChristies.

    WESTMAPOD launches on 31 March 2026!

    Please subscribe to the podcast so you’re notified every time an episode drops!

    Please also consider giving us a star rating and/or reviewing us on your podcatcher of choice.

    Our website is ⁠ChristieTime.com⁠.

    This episode is dedicated to Chandra Maharaj.

    The Swinging Christies is a Christie Time project by Mark Aldridge and Gray Robert Brown.

    00:00:00 - Dedication

    00:00:44 - Opening titles

    00:01:20 - Introductory chat

    00:03:28 - An announcement

    00:06:09 - Climate Change in the 1960s

    00:20:52 - In the Cool of the Evening from Star Over Bethlehem (1965)

    00:32:47 - Case study: The Birds (1963)

    00:42:22 - Enter Albert!

    00:54:09 - Next episode, how to get in touch

    00:55:42 - Closing titles

    00:56:09 - Coda


    Solutions revealed! - Hallowe'en Party

    TW: the death of the planet

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    57 min
  • Christmas 2025
    Dec 14 2025

    Mark and Gray aka Donner and Blitzen are here with the now-annual Swinging Christies Christmas extravaganza! This time the discussion is about the ITV Agatha Christie’s Poirot David Suchet adaptations of The Mystery of the Spanish/Baghdad Chest, and The Theft of the Royal Ruby, aka The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding! Expect an abundance of sleigh bells, a tuneful game, two Edward Claytons, and a partridge in a pear tree!

    You can find us on Instagram ⁠@Christie_Time⁠. We are also on Bluesky at ⁠ChristieTime.com⁠. Our YouTube account is @TheSwingingChristies.

    Please subscribe to the podcast so you’re notified every time an episode drops!

    Please also consider giving us a star rating and/or reviewing us on your podcatcher of choice.

    Our website is ⁠ChristieTime.com⁠.

    The Swinging Christies is a Christie Time project by Mark Aldridge and Gray Robert Brown.

    00:00:00 - Opening titles

    00:00:40- Introductory chat

    00:02:45 - Christmas song game!

    00:06:50 - The Mystery of the Spanish Chest (1991)

    00:30:47 - The Theft of the Royal Ruby (1991)

    00:41:55 - The Return of the Mailbag

    00:52:32 - Next episode, how to get in touch

    00:53:53 - Closing titles

    00:54:21 - Coda


    Solutions revealed - The Mystery of the Baghdad/Spanish Chest, The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side

    TW: being stabbed through the eye (Merry Christmas!)

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    57 min
  • Echoes of the Disappearance
    Nov 16 2025

    Gray and Mark are sunning themselves in Puerto de la Cruz for Tenerife’s International Agatha Christie Festival! In the 1920s, Agatha came to this beautiful island to get away from it all, but even later, in the 1960s, the shadows of that dark time in her life were still evident.

    You can find us on Instagram ⁠@Christie_Time⁠. We are also on Bluesky at ⁠christietime.bsky.social⁠. Our YouTube account is @TheSwingingChristies.

    Please subscribe to the podcast so you’re notified every time an episode drops!

    Please also consider giving us a star rating and/or reviewing us on your podcatcher of choice.

    Our website is ⁠ChristieTime.com⁠.

    The Swinging Christies is a Christie Time project by Mark Aldridge and Gray Robert Brown.

    00:00:00 - Opening titles

    00:00:40 - Introductory chat

    00:04:16 - The Disappearance - in Agatha’s own words

    00:24:46 - The Disappearance in Agatha’s Swinging works, from Davenham to Marina Gregg

    00:57:22 - Next episode, how to get in touch

    00:59:15 - Closing titles

    00:59:38 - Coda


    Solutions revealed - Endless Night, The Disappearance of Mr Davenheim, The Dream, Third Girl

    TW: references to suicide, mental health crises, quoted outdated terminology, deaths and bereavements

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    1 ora
  • Hallowe’en 2025
    Oct 25 2025

    Mwahahaha! It’s the now-traditional The Swinging Christies x Hallowe’en extravaganza, and this year Mark and Gray are talking about the recent film adaptation of Hallowe’en Party, A Haunting in Venice (2023). What do we make of the 1969 setting moved to 1947? Will we survive a risky game of apple bobbing, in a very non-galvanised bucket? Listen on to find out.

    You can find us on Instagram ⁠@Christie_Time⁠. We are also on Bluesky at ⁠christietime.bsky.social⁠. Our YouTube account is @TheSwingingChristies.

    Please subscribe to the podcast so you’re notified every time an episode drops!

    Please also consider giving us a star rating and/or reviewing us on your podcatcher of choice.

    Our website is ⁠ChristieTime.com⁠.

    The Swinging Christies is a Christie Time project by Mark Aldridge and Gray Robert Brown.

    Next episode: we're doing something we have never done before...

    00:00:00 - Opening titles

    00:00:40 - Introductory chat

    00:03:12 - A Haunting in Venice

    00:18:33 - Apple bobbing!

    00:22:09 - Differences between Hallowe’en Party and A Haunting in Venice

    00:47:51 - How to get in touch

    00:48:54 - Closing titles

    00:49:21 - Coda

    Solutions revealed - Hallowe’en Party, The Pale Horse, Third Girl

    TW: brief discussion of eating disorders and violence against children

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    51 min
  • The Swinging Christies LIVE! Cool Covers & Groovy Graphics - Packaging Agatha Christie for the 1960s
    Sep 28 2025

    It’s The Swinging Christies as you've never heard (or seen) it before - with a live audience! Join Mark and Gray at the 2025 International Agatha Christie Festival in Torquay, Devon, for this special recorded and filmed episode all about the way Agatha Christie’s books were packaged for a whole new Swinging era! Expect laughs, mishaps, ribbing, and even the occasional fact.

    With heartfelt thanks to everyone at the festival for making this happen, from the volunteers to the organisers to the bookshop, and a special thanks to our brilliant director and editor for this episode, John Tomkins of Emberlense Productions.

    You can find us on Instagram ⁠@Christie_Time⁠. We are also on Bluesky at ⁠christietime.bsky.social⁠. Our YouTube account is @TheSwingingChristies.

    Please subscribe to the podcast so you’re notified every time an episode drops!

    Please also consider giving us a star rating and/or reviewing us on your podcatcher of choice.

    Our website is ⁠ChristieTime.com⁠.

    The Swinging Christies is a Christie Time project by Mark Aldridge and Gray Robert Brown.

    Next episode: we’re going apple bobbing… It’s the Hallowe’en special!

    00:00:00 - Opening titles

    00:04:15 - Colour

    00:17:50 - Shape

    00:26:54 - Pattern

    00:31:18 - Headline

    00:34:21 - Femme

    00:39:10 - Psychedelia

    00:45:48 - Wrap up, next episode

    00:48:48 - Closing titles

    Solutions revealed - Cat among the Pigeons

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    49 min
  • Titles in Translation
    Sep 7 2025

    Gray and Mark meet Mystery Steve who has travelled all the way from Australia! Steve has been examining the way Agatha Christie titles have been translated into other languages. Steve’s project has just hit the 1960s, so we wanted to get him onto the podcast for the full lowdown. Travel the world with Gray, Mark and Steve!

    You can find us on Instagram ⁠@Christie_Time⁠. We are also on Bluesky at ⁠christietime.bsky.social⁠. Our YouTube account is @TheSwingingChristies.

    Please subscribe to the podcast so you’re notified every time an episode drops!

    Please also consider giving us a star rating and/or reviewing us on your podcatcher of choice.

    Our website is ⁠ChristieTime.com⁠.

    The Swinging Christies is a Christie Time project by Mark Aldridge and Gray Robert Brown.

    Next episode: we’re going LIVE!

    00:00:00 - Opening titles

    00:00: 40- Introductory chat

    00:01:58 - Mystery Steve: Agatha Christie - Titles in Translation

    00:10;41 - Cat Among the Pigeons (1959)

    00:15:16 - The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (1960)

    00:20:06 - The Pale Horse (1961)

    00:24:10 - The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side (1962)

    00:27:52 - The Clocks (1963)

    00:31:48 - A Caribbean Mystery (1963)

    00:34:12 - At Bertram’s Hotel (1964)

    00:37:23 - Third Girl (1966)

    00:42:24 - Endless Night (1967)

    00:46:13 - By the Pricking of My Thumbs (1968)

    00:49:48 - Hallowe’en Party (1969)

    0:56:37 - Passenger to Frankfurt (1970)

    00:57:58 - Wrap up, next episode

    01:00:58 - Closing titles

    01:02:08 - Coda

    Solutions revealed - The Pale Horse, The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side, Endless Night, By the Pricking of My Thumbs

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    1 ora e 2 min
  • Interview with Jan Carson at the Belfast Book Festival
    Aug 3 2025

    Gray and Mark head to beautiful Belfast to chat to novelist and Agatha Christie fan Jan Carson. Jan has been tackling the Troubles in her work for some time, and we want to discuss with her Christie’s Troubles references in Passenger to Frankfurt, as well as Irish characters and references in other Swinging books - all the way from The Pale Horse to By the Pricking of My Thumbs!

    You can find us on Instagram ⁠@Christie_Time⁠. We are also on Bluesky at ⁠christietime.bsky.social⁠. Our YouTube account is @TheSwingingChristies.

    Please subscribe to the podcast so you’re notified every time an episode drops!

    Please also consider giving us a star rating and/or reviewing us on your podcatcher of choice.

    Our website is ⁠ChristieTime.com⁠.

    The Swinging Christies is a Christie Time project by Mark Aldridge and Gray Robert Brown.

    Next episode: we’re going global… again…!

    00:00:00 - Opening titles

    00:00:47 - Introductory chat in Belfast

    00:02:46 - Interview with Jan Carson and discussion of Ireland in the Swinging Christies

    00:37:58 - The Troubles

    00:52:46 - Next episode, how to get in touch

    00:54:03 - Closing titles

    00:54:31 - Coda


    Solutions revealed! - The Pale Horse, At Bertram’s Hotel, Endless Night, Passenger to Frankfurt

    TW: Racist and xenophobic language quoted

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    55 min
  • Agatha Christie and Shirley Jackson
    Jul 6 2025

    Two wickedly witty women writers, separated only by the Atlantic! This episode, Gray and Mark carry on their American adventures and discuss the similarities and differences between the works of Agatha Christie and Shirley Jackson. Specifically focussing on Shirley’s Swinging era - The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle!

    You can find us on Instagram ⁠@Christie_Time⁠. We are also on Bluesky at ⁠christietime.bsky.social⁠. Our YouTube account is @TheSwingingChristies.

    Please subscribe to the podcast so you’re notified every time an episode drops!

    Please also consider giving us a star rating and/or reviewing us on your podcatcher of choice.

    Our website is ⁠ChristieTime.com⁠.

    The Swinging Christies is a Christie Time project by Mark Aldridge and Gray Robert Brown.

    Next episode: we’re heading to Belfast!


    00:00:00 - Opening titles

    00:00:40 - Introductory chat, recorded in Greenwich, New York

    00:05:40 - Agatha Christie and Shirley Jackson

    00:20:25 - Swinging Shirley work-by-work

    01:03:00 - Next episode, how to get in touch

    01:05:02 - Closing titles

    01:05:30 - Coda

    Solutions revealed! - Five Little Pigs, Third Girl

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    1 ora e 6 min