The Back Page: A Video Games Podcast

The Back Page is a British video games podcast from Matthew Castle and Samuel Roberts, two writers with serious pedigrees in UK gaming journalism. Matthew wrote for NGamer and Rock Paper Shotgun, while Samuel held editorial roles at PC Gamer, gamesTM, and TechRadar. That background gives the show a perspective rooted in decades of professional games writing, and the British sensibility brings a different energy than the largely American-dominated gaming podcast space. Episodes drop weekly and run anywhere from one to three hours. The format mixes current gaming discussion with heavy doses of nostalgia, industry commentary, and recurring segments like draft episodes, top 10 lists, and mailbag shows. The hosts clearly enjoy the format variety, and it keeps the show from falling into the predictable news-reactions-what-we-played loop that so many gaming podcasts default to. With 278 episodes and a 4.9-star rating (albeit from a smaller pool of 46 reviews), The Back Page has a dedicated audience that appreciates the hosts' chemistry and willingness to go deep on specific topics. Matthew and Samuel have an easy, natural rapport that comes from genuine friendship and shared professional history. The explicit content rating reflects their candid, unfiltered style rather than anything particularly provocative. The show occupies a nice middle ground between the huge institutional podcasts and the tiny hobbyist shows. It has enough polish and expertise to feel authoritative, but enough personality and informality to feel approachable. If you appreciate British gaming media culture or just want a podcast hosted by people who clearly love talking about games, The Back Page delivers.