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John Bodkin Adams: The Doctor Who Was Always There at the End

Eastbourne was meant to be a place to grow old quietly.
Neat streets. Polite society. Doctors you trusted with your life.

John Bodkin Adams was one of those doctors.

Over decades, elderly patients under his care died suddenly — often after injections, often without witnesses, and frequently after rewriting their wills. He attended funerals. He comforted grieving families. And, time and again, he benefited.

In this episode of The Eclectic, we examine the life and crimes of Dr John Bodkin Adams, a GP suspected of murdering dozens of patients while hiding behind professional respectability and social privilege. We explore the pattern of deaths, the police investigation that was quietly resisted at the highest levels, and the extraordinary trial that left more questions than answers.

Was Adams a compassionate doctor easing suffering — or one of Britain’s most prolific serial killers, protected by status and silence?

Because sometimes, the most dangerous figures aren’t monsters in the dark — they’re trusted men in plain sight.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify & Apple Podcasts — search “The Eclectic Podcast.”
📌 Follow on Instagram: @theeclecticpodcast & TikTok: @theeclecticpodcast14

John Bodkin Adams - Wikipedia

Randalstown Heritage Tales - Randalstown Arches Association

Adams, John Bodkin | Dictionary of Irish Biography

THE TRIAL OF DR. ADAMS: DRAMA IN THE COURTROOM; OLD BAILEY - The New York Times

Shipman and Bodkin Adams in the dock - The Lancet Psychiatry

John Bodkin Adams | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers

Scandalous Eastbourne – Travel log lewes

John Bodkin Adams, A Curious And Dubious Doctor - HeadStuff

RECOMMENDED FURTHER READING FOR LISTENERS

• The Trial of John Bodkin Adams — Percy Hoskins
• Bodkin Adams: A Doctor’s Deceit — John Surtees
• BBC Timewatch episode on Adams
• National Archives: DPP files on Operation Standstill

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Mary Tudor: Bloody Queen or Misunderstood Monarch?

Mary Tudor is remembered by history as “Bloody Mary” — England’s first crowned queen, a devout Catholic, and a ruler synonymous with fire, persecution, and fear. But how much of that reputation is truth… and how much is the result of propaganda, politics, and prejudice?

In this episode of The Eclectic, we explore the life and reign of Mary I of England, tracing her journey from a traumatised childhood shaped by Henry VIII’s religious upheaval to her violent and controversial attempt to restore Catholicism to a divided nation. We examine the Marian persecutions, the political pressures she faced, her disastrous marriage to Philip of Spain, and the brutal legacy that earned her one of history’s most infamous nicknames.

Was Mary Tudor uniquely cruel — or simply a ruler shaped by faith, fear, and a Tudor world where power was always paid for in blood?

This episode looks beyond the myth to uncover the woman behind the crown, and the brutal reality of religious rule in sixteenth-century England.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify & Apple Podcasts — search “The Eclectic Podcast Hope.”
📌 Follow on Instagram - @theeclecticpodcast

& TikTok: @theeclecticpodcast14

Sources Used:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mary-I

https://www.tudorsociety.com/mary-i-turns-back-the-clock-decades/

https://tudorsdynasty.com/queen-and-mother-mary-i-the-woman-behind-the-legend/

https://englishhistory.net/tudor/queen-mary-i-description/

Mary I of England - Wikipedia

Mary I: first crowned Queen of England | Hampton Court Palace | Historic Royal Palaces

The Fitzwilliam Museum - Mary Tudor

https://www.historyskills.com/classroom/year-8/marian-persecutions/

https://www.tutorchase.com/notes/aqa-a-level/history/15-2-4-persecution-and-opposition-under-mary-i

Mary's Lack of Political Prowess

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Mary Jane Kelly: The Final Victim

Mary Jane Kelly’s murder on 9 November 1888 marked the brutal end of the Jack the Ripper’s known killing spree — and remains the most horrifying crime associated with the case.

Unlike the other canonical victims, Mary Jane was killed indoors, behind the closed door of her room in Miller’s Court. What was discovered there shocked even a city already numbed by violence. The scale of the mutilation, the privacy of the setting, and the unanswered questions surrounding her life and identity have made Mary Jane Kelly one of the most haunting figures in true crime history.

In this episode of The Eclectic, we explore who Mary Jane Kelly may have been, her final days in Spitalfields, and the events leading up to the morning her body was discovered. We examine the crime scene, the medical testimony, and the many theories that surround her murder — including why this killing appears so different from the others.

More than a conclusion, Mary Jane Kelly’s death forces us to confront the human cost of the Ripper story — and the woman whose life ended in silence behind a locked door.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify & Apple Podcasts — search “The Eclectic Hope”
📌 Follow on Instagram @theeclecticpodcast

TikTok: @theeclecticpodcast14

Research

Mary Jane Kelly - Wikipedia

Mary Jane Kelly: Victim of the Ripper's Most Ghastly Murder

Casebook: Jack the Ripper - Mary Jane Kelly

Mary Jane Kelly - Jack the Ripper’s Final Victim? - JTR

Mary Jane Kelly: Jack the Ripper's final victim – Overview & Analysis | Crime+Investigation UK

Mary Kelly - Jack the Ripper's Final Victim.

Mary Jane Kelly, Jack The Ripper's Most Gruesome Murder Victim

Jack the Ripper victim Mary Kelly hunted by Richard III team - BBC News

Mary Jane Kelly — East End Women's Museum

The Murder of Mary Kelly - 9th November 1888

The Women of Whitechapel: Mary Jane Kelly 1888 - Crimes Through Time

casebook.org/ripper_media/book_reviews/non-fiction/garrywroe_full.html