The Lost Detectives Podcast

University of St Andrews
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Lost Detectives is the official podcast of the Lost Detectives multimedia Russian crime fiction adaptation project at the University of St Andrews, at lostdetectives.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk. This podcast is hosted by Dr Claire Whitehead, Reader in Russian, of the Department of Russian, School of Modern Languages, University of St Andrews, with contributing guest Dr Carol Adlam, artist and writer and Associate Professor in Illustration at Nottingham Trent University. Episodes feature conversations on adaptation with guests Val McDermid, Simon Grennan, and Mona Bozdog.

Episodes

  1. Episode 7 - The Bengali Female Detective with Maitrayee Roychoudhury

    FEB 10

    Episode 7 - The Bengali Female Detective with Maitrayee Roychoudhury

    Lost Detectives is back! in this episode, Dr. Claire Whitehead sits down with Maitrayee Roychoudhury, an Assistant Professor at the University of Delhi and PhD researcher at St Andrews. Together, they discuss the fascinating and often overlooked figure of the female detective in 19th-century literature, moving beyond the traditional Western canon to explore crime fiction from the Bengal region. Key topics include: The Female Detective: Exploring her role in 19th-century fiction, with a specific focus on examples from Bengal. Global Connections: The complex relationships between Indian, British, and Australian crime fiction. Mobility: How movement, travel, and social boundaries shaped the genre. Credits: Guest: Maitrayee Roychoudhury Host: Dr. Claire Whitehead Funding: This episode was supported by a Senior Research Fellowship from the British Academy / Leverhulme Trust.

    51 min
  2. Episode 6 - Immersive Storytelling & Games with Dr. Mona Bozdog

    02/21/2025

    Episode 6 - Immersive Storytelling & Games with Dr. Mona Bozdog

    In this episode of the series, Dr. Claire Whitehead and Carol Adlam are joined by Dr. Mona Bozdog, a specialist in immersive experience design at the University of Abertay. Together, they explore the cutting edge of adaptation, looking at how stories move beyond the page into the physical world through video games and performance. Key topics include: Hybrid Storytelling: The convergence of contemporary performance practices and video games. Public Spaces: Designing mixed-reality experiences and games for heritage sites. Case Studies: A look at Bozdog’s innovative crossmedia projects, Inchcolm Project and Generation ZX(X). Credits: Guest: Dr. Mona Bozdog Hosts: Dr. Claire Whitehead & Dr. Carol Adlam

    49 min
  3. Episode 5 - Val McDermid: A Life in Adaptation

    04/21/2021

    Episode 5 - Val McDermid: A Life in Adaptation

    In this special episode, Dr. Claire Whitehead and Carol Adlam are joined by bestselling and award-winning crime writer, Val McDermid. Together, they discuss McDermid's extensive experience seeing her work transformed across different media—from stage and radio to major television series. The conversation offers a fascinating look at how crime fiction evolves when it moves from the page to the screen (or speaker). Key topics include: Early Works: How McDermid’s very first novel, though never published, found new life as a stage play. Radio & TV: Adapting the Kate Brannigan novel Clean Break for radio, and the hit ITV series Wire in the Blood and A Place of Execution. Setting the Scene: The TV series Traces, set against the backdrop of a sunny Dundee. Graphic Novels: Collaborating with artist Kathryn Briggs to adapt the radio play Resistance (BBC4) into a graphic novel. Future Projects: Insights into the filming of the first Karen Pirie novel, A Distant Echo. Credits: Guest: Val McDermid Hosts: Dr. Claire Whitehead & Dr. Carol Adlam

    52 min
  4. Episode 4 - In Conversation: Adapting the "Jealous Woman" Trope

    11/12/2020

    Episode 4 - In Conversation: Adapting the "Jealous Woman" Trope

    This episode features a recording of a special Byre World ‘In Conversation…’ event, sponsored by the School of Modern Languages at the University of St Andrews. Claire Whitehead and Carol Adlam discuss the ongoing progress of the ‘Lost Detectives’ project, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the ethical and creative challenges of bringing 19th-century Russian crime fiction to a modern audience. Key topics include: Principles of Adaptation: Carol’s evolving approach to working with historical texts and visual storytelling. Challenging Tropes: How to navigate and modernize the problematic narrative of the "woman driven to murder by jealousy" found in Semyon Panov’s Three Courts, or Murder During the Ball (1876). Credits: Hosts: Dr. Claire Whitehead & Dr. Carol Adlam Event: Byre World ‘In Conversation…’ Recorded: November 11, 2020.

    1h 4m
  5. Episode 3 - Curare: Adapting Shkliarevskii’s Secret Investigation

    09/22/2020

    Episode 3 - Curare: Adapting Shkliarevskii’s Secret Investigation

    In this episode, Dr. Claire Whitehead and Carol Adlam explore the dark intersection of medicine, crime, and ethics in 19th-century Russia. They discuss Adlam’s audio play, Curare, which is inspired by Aleksandr Shkliarevskii’s 1881 crime novel Sekretnoe sledstvie (A Secret Investigation). From narrative craft to the history of science, the conversation unpacks the social realities behind the fiction. Key topics include: The Adaptation: Transmedia storytelling, narrative structure, and voice. Women in Science: Education and medical training for women during the reform period (1860s–1870s). Medical History: The use of curare in anaesthesia and the rise of the animal rights movement. Forensics: The emerging use of photography in early forensic science. Credits: Hosts: Dr. Claire Whitehead & Dr. Carol Adlam Recorded: September 2020 in Nottingham and St Andrews.

    1h 12m
  6. Episode 2 - Dispossession: Adapting Anthony Trollope with Dr. Simon Grennan

    06/16/2020

    Episode 2 - Dispossession: Adapting Anthony Trollope with Dr. Simon Grennan

    In this episode, Carol Adlam interviews visual artist and graphic novel specialist Dr. Simon Grennan. Together, they discuss Simon’s unique graphic novel, Dispossession: A Novel in Few Words (2015)—a visual adaptation of Anthony Trollope’s 1877 classic, John Caldigate. The conversation bridges the gap between Victorian literature and modern comics theory, exploring how text is transformed into image. Key topics include: Intermedial Adaptation: The challenges of finding visual analogues for literary text. Setting the Scene: Depicting Australia in nineteenth-century literature. Visual Time: Exploring twentieth-century "movie time," point of view, and comics theory. Credits: Guest: Dr. Simon Grennan Interviewer: Dr. Carol Adlam Recorded: February–May 2020 in Chester, Nottingham, and St Andrews.

    1h 9m
  7. Episode 1 - Adapting 1872: From Imperial Russia to Graphic Novel & Audio Drama

    02/17/2020

    Episode 1 - Adapting 1872: From Imperial Russia to Graphic Novel & Audio Drama

    Join Dr. Claire Whitehead and artist Carol Adlam as they journey back to 1872 to resurrect two "lost" classics of Imperial Russian crime fiction. Recorded at the University of St Andrews, this episode explores the creative challenges of transforming 19th-century text into modern visual and audio drama. In this episode, we discuss: The Bobrov Affair: Adlam’s graphic novel adaptation of Semyon Panov’s 1872 novella, Three Courts, or Murder During the Ball (Tri suda ili ubiistvo vo vremia bala). Today in 1864 & Spade and Sand: Two unique audio adaptations (an audio play and a verse drama) based on Nikolai Timofeev’s Notes of an Investigator (Zapiski sledovatelia). Credits: Hosts: Dr. Claire Whitehead & Dr. Carol Adlam Readings by: Victoria Donovan, Emily Finer, Jesse Gardiner, Margarita Vaysman, Mikhail Vodopyanov, and Claire Whitehead. Recorded: December 12, 2019, in St Andrews.

    1h 23m
  • 7 Episodes

About

Lost Detectives is the official podcast of the Lost Detectives multimedia Russian crime fiction adaptation project at the University of St Andrews, at lostdetectives.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk. This podcast is hosted by Dr Claire Whitehead, Reader in Russian, of the Department of Russian, School of Modern Languages, University of St Andrews, with contributing guest Dr Carol Adlam, artist and writer and Associate Professor in Illustration at Nottingham Trent University. Episodes feature conversations on adaptation with guests Val McDermid, Simon Grennan, and Mona Bozdog.

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