Episode 164: Edwardian London: Mario Theodorou’s Historical Thrillers
Step into Edwardian London with author Mario Theodorou as Hazel Baker explores the real history, politics and social tensions behind his Felix Grey Mysteries. Discover how London’s streets, landmarks and changing society shaped his historical thrillers, from Buckingham Palace and Fleet Street to Sailortown and beyond.
Host: Hazel Baker
Hazel is an active Londoner, a keen theatre-goer and qualified CIGA London tour guide.
She has won awards for tour guiding and is proud to be involved with some great organisations. She is a freeman of the Worshipful Company of Marketors and am an honorary member of The Leaders Council.
Channel 4: The Orient Express: A Golden Era of Travel (Episode 1). Channel 5’s Walking Wartime Britain(Episode 3) and Yesterday Channel’s The Architecture the Railways Built (Series 3, Episode 7). Het Rampjaar 1672, Afl. 2: Vijand Engeland and Arte.fr Invitation au Voyage, À Chelsea, une femme qui trompe énormément. Yesterday Channel / UKTV Play: The Architecture the Railways Built (Series 3, Episode 7). Yesterday Channel / UKTV Play: Secrets of the London Underground (Series 3, Episode 2) and Secrets of the London Underground (Series 4, Episode 10). NPO (Netherlands): Het Rampjaar 1672 – Afl. 2: Vijand Engeland. Arte France: Invitation au Voyage – À Chelsea, une femme qui trompe énormément
Guest: Mario Theodorou
Mario Theodorou is an author, screenwriter and director, and the creator of the Felix Grey Mysteries, a series of historical thrillers set in Edwardian London. His novels combine political intrigue, mystery and real London locations, bringing the world of 1904 London to life through the experiences of Felix Grey, a young Prime Minister drawn into dangerous mysteries.
Introduction
In this episode of the London History Podcast, Hazel is joined by author, screenwriter and director Mario Theodorou, creator of the Felix Grey Mysteries.
Together, they step into the restless, ambitious and unequal world of Edwardian London in 1904—a capital of glittering hotels, powerful gentleman’s clubs, royal ceremony, political tension, industrial change and growing demands for reform.
Mario’s historical thrillers follow Felix Grey, a young and idealistic Prime Minister who finds himself drawn into dangerous mysteries involving abduction, conspiracy and the forces resisting change. The novels use London not simply as a setting, but as a character in its own right: a city of grand public institutions, hidden rooms, bustling newspapers, smoky clubs, docks, factories and streets where a person could disappear.
In this episode
Hazel and Mario discuss:
- Why the Edwardian era makes such a compelling setting for historical fiction—and why it is much more than a brief postscript to Victorian London.
- Felix Grey: an inexperienced but principled young Prime Minister facing political obstruction, self-doubt and a dangerous investigation.
- London at the beginning of the twentieth century: expanding Tube lines, electricity, telephones, motor cars, fashion, leisure and a feeling of change.
- The political and social importance of London’s gentleman’s clubs, including the Carlton Club and East India Club.
- Downing Street as a working home as well as a seat of government, and how its atmosphere differed from the heavily guarded and media-focused street we know today.
- Buckingham Palace, Edward VII, royal image-making and the storytelling potential of private rooms, hidden doors and palace intrigue.
- Parliament as theatre: overcrowded Commons benches, stamping feet, political pressure and the drama of debate and division.
- Fleet Street as a global centre of newspapers, information, empire, gossip and celebrity culture.
- The Savoy Hotel, its 1904 refurbishment, Monet’s Thames views and the value of archival research in building a fictional world.
- The contrast between the wealth and glamour of the Strand and the Savoy, and the working-class streets, docks and industrial districts of Old Kent Road, Bow and Sailortown.
- Trade unions, industrial accidents, poverty, workers’ rights and the changing social order of Edwardian Britain.
- The Bryant & May matchwomen, women’s work, labour activism and the wider struggle for political equality.
- Why smell, sound, movement and atmosphere are essential to recreating historical London on the page.
- Mario’s recommended route for a history-filled London walk: the Strand and Fleet Street.
About Mario Theodorou
Mario Theodorou is an author, screenwriter and director. His Felix Grey Mysteries bring together political intrigue, historical research and a vivid sense of place, following a young Prime Minister through an Edwardian London of royal power, social reform, secret societies and hidden corners.
Mario describes his fiction as a way of helping readers see London differently: not as a polished tourist backdrop, but as a layered, lived-in city shaped by empire, migration, work, wealth, inequality and countless overlapping stories.
Places mentioned
This episode travels through many corners of Edwardian London, including:
- Downing Street
- The Houses of Parliament
- Buckingham Palace
- The Tower of London
- Freemasons’ Hall
- The Carlton Club
- The East India Club
- Fleet Street
- The Strand
- The Savoy Hotel
- Old Kent Road
- Bow
- Wapping and Sailortown
- St Bride’s Church
- Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese
Books mentioned
- The Felix Grey Mysteries by Mario Theodorou
- A Traveller in Time by Alison Uttley
🎧Listen and explore
If you enjoy this episode, you may also like our earlier episodes on:
📚Blog posts related: Have a read
- Buckingham Palace in Bloom: A Royal Spring Experience
- Inside Buckingham Palace
- Buckingham Palace in the Midst of Conflict: World War II and Eleanor Roosevelt’s Visit
- The Matchstick Girls Strike: A Labour History Revolution
- James Boswell in London: Life on Downing Street
- Downing Street in Georgian London: Architecture and Design
This conversation is a reminder that Edwardian London was not simply elegant drawing rooms and royal pageantry. It was a city in transition—where old hierarchies clashed with new technology, new political movements and new demands for justice.
Discover the Felix Grey Mysteries
The Felix Grey Mysteries are historical thrillers set in Edwardian London, combining political intrigue, mystery and real London locations.
The books take readers from Buckingham Palace and Downing Street to Fleet Street, the Tower of London and some of the city’s less familiar streets.
📖 Felix Grey and the Descendant
Set in London in 1904, the first novel follows Felix Grey as he becomes embroiled in a mystery involving a missing lord, political tensions and growing unrest between the government and trade unions.
Get the book: Felix Grey and the Descendant on Amazon
📖 Felix Grey and the Seven Assassins
The second Felix Grey mystery sees the young Prime Minister facing a new threat as a general election approaches and a group of seven assassins sets its sights on senior politicians and King Edward VII.
Get the book: Felix Grey and the Seven Assassins on Amazon
