About
“History is full of secrets. Untold lives that have been forgotten as the victors have decided what, and, more importantly, who should be remembered ...our relationship to truth and history is one still being defined by whoever is in power.”
Dr. Fern Riddell is a renowned historian and author, known for her captivating storytelling and in-depth exploration of historical events. As a cultural historian, her passion for history has led her to uncover fascinating narratives that bring the past to life, presenting her research on television, radio and in her books.
Fern wrote her first book, A Victorian Guide To Sex, (2014) during her PhD at King's College London. This was followed by Death In Ten Minutes, (2018) an explosive account of the Suffragette bomber and birth control activist, Kitty Marion. Fern's unique research, taken from her PhD, ‘Sex & Suffrage: Female Agency in the British Music Halls 1850-1910', was used in the BAFTA nominated documentary Suffragettes with Lucy Worsley, for which she was also the consultant. Advising on dramas for the BBC, PBS and ITV2, she is known for her work on the BAFTA award-winning BBC and Amazon Prime drama Ripper Street.
As an on screen expert, Fern has appeared on documentaries for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky Arts, Smithsonian, National Geographic, Curiosity and Discovery+, appearing as an expert historian for radio and television across the world. Presenter for Sky History’s global phenomenon, ‘TruthSeekers’, Seasons 1 &2, and BBC 4’s ‘A Victorian Scandal’, she is also the host of Sky History’s Not What You Thought You Knew podcast.
Fern has written for the Guardian, Huffington Post, iNews, Times Higher Education, the Telegraph, New Statesman, Prospect Magazine, History Today and is an ex-columnist for BBC History Magazine. Her work has also appeared in the Daily Mail, Penthouse and Time.com. Her third book, Sex: Lessons From History, was a Daily Mail ‘Book of the Week’ in 2021.
Represented by Kirsty McLachlan, Morgan Green Creatives.