Fetch The Smelling Salts Podcast

People strongly enjoy period dramas for their escapism, aesthetic, and emotional comfort, often viewing them as a relaxing break from modern, fast-paced life. They are popular because they offer a blend of romance, historical intrigue, stunning costumes, and predictable, satisfying narratives. While not always historically accurate, they allow viewers to explore the past in an entertaining way. They offer a slower pace of life and a retreat into beautiful, often pre-industrial, settings.

Bridgerton, Downton Abbey, and Pride & Prejudice are pleasing entertainment. They can make us happy, lighten our mood, and leave us feeling good when the storyline ends.

It’s natural then that a podcast celebrating period dramas like Fetch the Smelling Salts can attract those very same fans.

Fetch the Smelling Salts explores period dramas from every time period and culture around the world. Hosts Dr. Alice Nagle and Kimberly Marsh offer deep discussions about historical films and TV series, analyzing everything from storytelling and performances to costume design and historical accuracy. Whether you’re obsessed with Regency romance, Victorian mysteries, or international historical cinema, this podcast celebrates the art of period drama across all eras and cultures.

Fetch the Smelling Salts, which recently released its 40th episode, was launched in 2023 and has previously been shortlisted for an International Women’s Podcast Award.

Now it is in the running for an Independent Podcast Award, after being shortlisted in the ‘TV and Film’ category. Co-host Alice Nagle said: “The independent Podcast Awards showcase the work of seriously talented and creative podcasters, and we’re thrilled to be a part of that.”

Co-host Kimberly Marsh said: “We are looking forward to connecting with all the amazing podcasters at the ceremony and hope this will lead to more fun collaborations!”

The podcast is presented by Kimberly Marsh, a literary expert, and Alice Nagle, an anthropologist, and covers period dramas from every era and all around the world. Mixing historical research, literary analysis, and comedy, the hosts use the TV series or film in question to start wider discussions about the way we lived.

Bi-weekly episodes have covered pillars of the period drama genre, such as A Room with a View, as well as lesser-known international titles, including Raise the Red Lantern.

The show begins with a Baroque tune played on a harpsichord, which is a keyboard instrument known for its bright, plucked, and often percussive, silvery tone, created by plucking strings rather than hitting them like a piano. The hosts introduce themselves and then do an excellent job of explaining right away what the podcast is about.

This simple step is often overlooked by many indie podcasters, who focus only on their current listeners and forget that growth requires attracting new listeners who need a brief explanation of the show.

The co-hosts have a giddy chemistry and seem to enjoy one another and the show. Wisely, the show has an expansive view of historical dramas, including movies, TV shows, and miniseries.

In the October 23, 2025, show about the film, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein 1994, the hosts say: “We’re getting Spookstorical this week as we assemble a murderous flashmob for Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. It’s the classic tale of the world’s least curious scientist, his sibling marriage, and the frogs/friends reanimated along the way.”

The episode is both informative and fun, a difficult balance to maintain, either getting too “factual and pedantic,” or “too frivolous and whimsical.” The hosts seem to intrinsically understand that balance and are superb at being serious about history and then silly about the depictions of that history. Golden Globes, are you paying attention for 2027?

On the April 2025 episode on Wolf Hall (the BBC/PBS TV series starring Mark Rylance exploring Tudor England’s political intrigue), the co-hosts exclaim: “Kim and Alice have been locked in the cupboard with the Christmas decorations to bring you Tudor drama series, Wolf Hall. We’re talking about Hans Holbein: portrait artist / historical catfisher, and Henry VIII never getting to just enjoy a joust. Also kittens!”

Fetch the Smelling Salts is part of the Podomedy Podcast Network, which is the UK’s award-winning independent podcast network with over a dozen shows serving listeners in 100 countries, including the U.K. and U.S. Podomedy also produces Austen After Dark with Dr. Alice Nagle as the host of the bawdy interpretation of Jane Austen novels.

Fetch the Smelling Salts, like its sister show, Austen After Dark, fully commits to the role. The show immerses you in historical period dramas, offers some facts of interest, adopts a playful tone, and tries to make sure the listeners learn, laugh, and luxuriate in the period.