History Podcast / TheSpringheelSaga

* HeroesWantRedheads: Charlotte Fitzrandolph is a redhead, which is helpful to both her sets of pursuers; initially Chough and D'Urberville, and later Smith and Hooks. One of her strands of red hair left behind at the carriage crash is the clue that allows Smith to identify her at Scratch Row.

* DimeNovel: The young Rymer is the author of penny dreadfuls ''Ada the Betrayed'', ''The Black Monk'' and ''Varney the Vampire'' (which Smith has heard of but not actually read). During the events of Series 2, he tells Smith he's working on a new book, ''The Leaping Shadow, or The Adventures of Spring-Heeled Jack'', but decides to abandons it after the experience of their real-life adventure. However, Rymer doesn't leave the story empty-handed: while taking shelter with the other good guys in a nearby pub, he's inspired to write the tale which the Old Rymer says would finally make his fortune: ''Literature/TheStringOfPearls'', or the tale of Franchise/SweeneyTodd, the demon barber of Fleet Street.

* HangingJudge: Mr. Hardwick, the magistrate at Lambeth Street Court, threatens to have Tom Millbank hanged for contempt of court.

* Franchise/CthulhuMythos: Hopcraft tells Smith that when touring America he visited the library at Miskatonic University... but concedes that it didn't help his search for Springheel Jack.

* TypeCasting: Creator/JulianGlover, who plays the diabolical Lord Wayland, almost always plays a villain.

* YourWorstNightmare: The memory of seeing Springheel Jack as a child haunts Jonah Smith's dreams, with Jack being indirectly responsible for Smith's parents deaths in the Scratch Row fire. Smith's realisation that Springheel Jack is more than a mere figment of his imagination is what drives his obsession to capture him.

* KnifeNut: Chough. According to the Chief Constable, he's the deadliest man in London with a knife.

* ThoseTwoBadguys: Inseparable cockney assassins Harry Chough and Reg D'Urberville.

* {{Expy}}: Lizzie is a composite of Nancy and Fagin from ''Literature/OliverTwist''.

''The Springheel Saga'' is a fantasy-adventure audio series which follows the exploits of Victorian policeman, Jonah Smith, in his lifelong quest to capture the infamous bogeyman, Spring-Heeled Jack. Released between 2011 and 2016, it was written by Jack Bowman and Robert Valentine, and produced by The Wireless Theatre Company. The first three-part series, ''The Strange Case of Springheel'd Jack'' (2011), is set during the Winter of 1837 and concerns [[UsefulNotes/BritishCoppers Constable]] Jonah Smith's investigation into the mysterious phantom attacker. The second series, ''The Legend of Springheel'd Jack'' (2013), is set in 1845 and sees Smith – now a Detective Inspector with UsefulNotes/ScotlandYard – pursuing Spring-Heeled Jack through the demi-monde of Victorian showbusiness. The third and final series, ''The Secret of Springheel'd Jack'' (released over 2015 and 2016), follows Smith – by now a retired and reclusive alcoholic – as he's dragged by Her Majesty's Government into a final, deadly hunt for the legendary monster.

* NotSoDifferent: Smith and Hopcraft have incredibly similar backstories, both their sets of parents having died in the Scratch Row fire.

* DimeNovel: The young Rymer is the author of penny dreadfuls ''Ada the Betrayed'', ''The Black Monk'' and ''Varney the Vampire'' (which Smith has heard of but not actually read). During the events of Series 2, he tells Smith he's working on a new book, ''The Leaping Shadow, or The Adventures of Spring-Heeled Jack'', but decides to abandons it after the experience of their real-life adventure. However, Rymer doesn't leave the story empty-handed: while taking shelter with the other good guys in a nearby pub, he's inspired to write the tale which the Old Rymer says would finally make his fortune: ''The String of Pearls'', or the tale of Theatre/SweeneyTodd, the demon barber of Fleet Street.

** The war-loving Countess de Sadesky shares her name with the Soviet ambassador Alexei de Sadesky in ColdWar black comedy, ''Film/DrStrangelove''.

''The Springheel Saga'' is a fantasy-adventure audio series which follows the exploits of Victorian policeman, Jonah Smith, in his lifelong quest to capture the infamous bogeyman, Spring-Heeled Jack. Released between 2011 and 2016, it was written by Jack Bowman and Robert Valentine, and produced by The Wireless Theatre Company. The first three-part series, ''The Strange Case of Springheel'd Jack'' (2011), is set during the Winter of 1837 and concerns [[UsefulNotes/BritishCoppers Constable]] Jonah Smith's investigation into the mysterious phantom attacker. The second series, ''The Legend of Springheel'd Jack'' (2013), is set in 1845 and sees Smith – now a Detective Inspector with UsefulNotes/ScotlandYard – pursuing Spring-Heeled Jack through the demi-monde of Victorian showbusiness. The third and final series, ''The Secret of Springheel'd Jack'' (released over 2015 and 2016), follows Smith – by now a [[BadassGrandpa retired]] and reclusive alcoholic – as he's dragged by Her Majesty's Government into a final, deadly hunt for the legendary monster.

* BadassGrandpa: Smith in Series 3. He may be old and ill, but it takes all Sadesky's men to subdue him, and even then he won't talk.

* {{Hero}}: Jonah Smith.

* WarForFunAndProfit: Sadesky and Jaeger's scheme is entirely this trope. They plan to [[spoiler:weaponize Springheel Jack's extraterrestrial technology and hold an AuctionOfEvil to the highest bidder. If the Great Powers don't cooperate they will arm all sides equally and allow them to destroy each other, creating a NewWorldOrder out of the ashes]].

* {{Expy}}: Lizzie is a composite of Nancy and Fagin from OliverTwist.

* VictorianLondon: TheSpringheelSaga takes place earlier in the 19th century than we're used to seeing it in many comparable works, making it closer in tone to OliverTwist than SherlockHolmes or UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper.

* AristocratsAreEvil: Lord Wayland and the Countess de Sadesky are both prime examples. Averted in the case of TheDukeOfWellington, who's just a silly old blowhard.