True crime podcast Macabre London has released its 200th episode, which looks at the Bow Street Runners, widely regarded as the first formal police force in the UK.
Creator and writer Nikki Druce spoke to PodcastingToday about the podcast, how it came about and then developed. She also gave us a glimpse into the all-important episode 200.
Macabre London was launched in 2017 after Nikki lost music her library and was making long coach commutes between Bristol and London.
“I lost all the music on my phone, and in the interim of trying to reclaim my iTunes library, I discovered podcasts,” she said. “We were living in two places, and I was doing a lot of four-and-a-half to five-hour commutes… I just started listening to podcasts and fell in love with them.”
Nikki was particularly drawn to history podcasts and began exploring stories from London’s past. “It’s such an amazing city and all the stories that are here… the legacy of those stories. I thought it was really interesting to start delving into some of these different, more historic tales.”
The podcast developed naturally from there: “I started thinking about true crime and the crossover with history, and it just blossomed,” she recalled. “I started making short episodes and had to learn everything as I went along. My first episode was not the best, but I’ve now made 200 episodes!”
Although not a trained historian, Nikki has always had an interest in the past: “I really love history, but I don’t have any qualifications,” she explained. “I wanted to tell these stories and hone my craft of storytelling but also balance it alongside the history and the facts and getting the research right as well.”
Producing the series takes up a lot of time, particularly as Nikki works full time alongside podcasting.
“It’s a lot of late-night research… newspaper archives, court records, that kind of thing,” she says. “Quite often I’ll use broad search terms to bring me towards a goal. I’ve uncovered a few stories I’ve not seen told anywhere else.
“One of those is a standout about a nephew who murdered his auntie, dismembered her body, and thought he could get away with it by faking a letter pointing to someone else. But everyone in the building knew her and said she didn’t know that person, so he was found out instantly. It’s still one of my favourite cases.”
Though solving cold cases isn’t her ambition, Nikki enjoys following the evidence: “I don’t have any ambitions to solve crimes, but I do find following the threads quite interesting,” she admits. “The evidence wasn’t always that great back then… we know so much more now about how to treat crime scenes.”
The podcast has a loyal and growing following, with listeners from around the globe tuning in to hear the chilling tales of London’s past.
Macabre London has also expanded its content in recent years to include multi-part miniseries, tackling broader themes such as the West Ham Vanishings (which landed the show a True Crime Awards shortlist place in 2024) and The Forgotten Victims of John Christie, and a critically acclaimed five-part exploration of the Suffragette movement.
Earlier this year, Nikki launched her most ambitious series yet: Crime and Punishment in London: The History of the City’s Police, tracing the evolution of London’s justice system from the 1500s to the present day.
Now the 200th episode of Macabre London marks a pivotal chapter for the podcast, focusing on the formation of the Bow Street Runners, who were London’s first professional policing force. It laid the foundation for modern law and order.
Nikki explains: “There were about six of them in total, a couple of jobbing ones who dropped in and out here or there, but they were the first crew really that were paid just to look after criminals in the city and make sure that crime didn’t escalate. And they were interestingly also given bonuses for how many people they arrested, which I don’t know if that’s a good idea!”
She found a story of one man who was arresting people who were in a rival gang and then having them sent to the gallows to be executed so he could make money out of it.
This led her to discover that Henry Fielding, who founded the force, was not just a magistrate, he wrote the first ever novel in this country. He was interested in satire and crime, and witnessing one of these “thief-takers” being hanged spurred him on to create the first police force.”
Episodes of Macabre London are released fortnightly, with the 200th out today, 3 June on all podcast platforms and the official YouTube channel.
