History on the Edge

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BBC Radio 4 FM

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Factual: History

Professor Iain Hutchison

Anita Anand uncovers hidden stories from recent British history.

Anita Anand goes on the trail of stories from the recent past which have somehow fallen through the cracks of mainstream history.

BBC Radio 4 LW

History on the Edge: Denmark Place

Denmark Place

BBC Radio 4 - History on the Edge, Denmark Place

Anita Anand goes on the trail of a tragic fire in London’s Soho in 1980 that, despite killing 37 people, has fallen off the edge of mainstream history.

Anita Anand goes on the trail of stories from the recent past which have somehow fallen through the cracks of mainstream history. 

In this first episode Anita uncovers the story of a catastrophic fire at the Spanish Rooms in Denmark Place, behind London’s famous Tin Pan Alley, that killed 37 people in 1980. It was the worst death-toll in a fire in London until the tragedy of Grenfell Tower.

The Spanish Rooms were among many unlicensed afterhours clubs in central London at the time. The two clubs were popular with people of many nationalities and backgrounds – many from South America – who loved to salsa the night away.  

The victims died where they danced and drank, bodies found still seated at the bar or on the dance-floor. Others plunged to their deaths from the clubs’ second floor windows. Those who survived often had their reputations tarnished in the media as police linked the fire to the Soho underworld.  

Anita Anand meets survivors, friends and relatives of those who died, talks to police and fire fighters who were there on that tragic August night and to journalist Matt Rendell who’s long been working on a book about the fire. Using archive and new first-hand testimony, History on the Edge pieces together the real story of the Denmark Place inferno and the forgotten people who died simply having a good night out.

Producer: Sara Parker
Executive Producer: Simon Elmes
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

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History on the Edge

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