Foul Play: A Historical True Crime Podcast

Foul Play takes a season-based approach to historical true crime that sets it apart from the typical week-to-week format. Each season unravels a single criminal case, usually from the 1800s or early 1900s, and hosts Shane Waters and Wendy Cee build each story across multiple episodes using original research, court records, and primary source documents. Season 39, for instance, covers The Balham Mystery — an 1876 London poisoning case involving a married woman, a suspicious doctor, and a verdict that shocked Victorian society. The production leans cinematic. Sound design, archival material, and careful pacing give each season the feel of a limited series rather than a standard podcast. Waters and Cee complement each other well — he tends to drive the investigative framework while she brings emotional texture to the victims' stories. They are explicit about centering the people harmed rather than glamorizing the perpetrators, which is a welcome stance in a genre that often does the opposite. With 327 episodes across 39 seasons, a 4.5-star Apple Podcasts rating from nearly 950 reviews, and weekly Tuesday drops, this is one of the more established historical crime podcasts running. Not every season touches on Victorian London specifically, but enough of them do — and the show's commitment to UK and US cases from the 1800s makes it a strong companion to more Ripper-focused shows.