About this episode

The episode features the McPherson Twins navigating the chaos of Bristol during the Black Death with humor and historical insights.

Bristol, 1348. The Black Death is two days from sealing the city, bodies are being carted through the mud, and a desperate merchant needs a sealed letter carried to London before the gates close. Patrick and Hugo McPherson, sketch comedy duo Pear, have three days, a horse, two silver coins, and an absolute refusal to begin the mission until the haggling is settled. Their survival strategy for plague-era England is built on three certainties: they are six foot seven, they are Australian, and they have famously powerful bladders. Patrick plays grade-three guitar in the key of C; Hugo handstands; both refuse to drink the doctor's prescribed remedy because they know, with full historical hindsight, that the piss man is wrong. The real 1348 was apocalyptic. Half of Europe died, peasants got rich enough to wear posh clothes, and physicians genuinely prescribed bathing in faeces. If you were sent back in time, could you survive and thrive — or would you be burnt at the stake for being a witch? PastMaster is the show that turns history into an interactive adventure game. Each episode, a comedian is dropped into the past with nothing but modern knowledge and terrible ideas. The AI Game…

People in this episode

Host: PastMaster

Guests: Patrick McPherson, Hugo McPherson

Topics covered

• Black Death
• medieval history
• comedy
• interactive adventure
• time travel

Keywords

• Black Death
• Bristol
• 1348
• comedy
• time travel
• interactive adventure
• sketch comedy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Pear

Books & works: PastMaster

Places: Bristol

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