Changes: Stupid Deaths

Revision as of 18:56, 27 August 2020

193439214 640 — Simon Farnaby as "Death"

Stupid Deaths is a recurring sketch in the Horrible Histories 2009-2013 TV series. It features historical figures explaining the circumstances of their death to the Death (portrayed by Simon Farnaby), who then decides if they can enter the afterlife.

Theme Song

"Stupid Deaths, Stupid Deaths, they’re funny cause they’re true, woo. Stupid Deaths, Stupid Deaths, Hope next time it’s not you! (Hoo hoo!)"

History

Series 1

Francis Bacon

Episode: 2
Era: Slimy Stuarts

Year of Death: 1626
Occupation: Philosopher
Method of Death: Froze to death while freezing a dead chicken.

Matthew Webb

Episode: 4
Era: Vile Victorian

Year of Death: 1883
Occupation: Famed swimmer
Method of Death: Died at Niagara Falls, during one of his stunts.

Franz Reichelt

Episode: 6
Era: Potty Pioneers

Year of Death: 1912
Occupation: Glue sniffer, inventor, & parachuting pioneer
Method of Death: Fell to death, while testing one of his parachutes.

Edmund II

Episode: 8
Era: Vicious Vikings

Year of Death: 1016
Occupation: King of England
Method of Death: Stabbed in the bottom by a Viking, who hid in a pit where Edmund was doing his business.

The Saxon King (portrayed by Jim Howick) tells of his famous death where he learns Vikings will stab you in the behind while doing your business!

General Pausanias

Episode: 11
Era: Groovy Greeks

Year of Death: 470 BC
Occupation: Spartan regent, general, & war leader for the Greeks
Method of Death: Starved to death while trapped in the House of Pancakes, surrounded by Spartans.

It also features Measly Middle Ages: The gory Middle Ages, which results in the Death Monster threatening to quit.

Aeschylus

Episode: 12
Era: Groovy Greeks

Year of Death: 456 BC
Occupation: Playwright & soldier
Method of Death: Killed by a tortoise, that an eagle dropped on his head.

Sigurd the Mighty

Episode: 13
Era: Vicious Vikings

Year of Death: 892
Occupation: Earl of Orkney
Method of Death: Died of wound infection when his leg was bitten by the teeth of a severed head.

Series 2

Bobby Leach

Episode: 1
Era: Vile Victorians

Year of Death: 1926
Occupation: Famed Swimmer
Method of Death: While on a publicity tour in New Zealand, Leach injured his leg when he slipped on an orange peel, and he later died of gangrene.

Victorian Niagara Falls daredevil (portrayed by Jim Howick) tells of his stupid death, which wasn’t as heroic as his work.

Heraclitus

Episode: 2
Era: Groovy Greeks

Year of Death: 475 BC
Occupation: Philosopher
Method of Death: Died of heat exhaustion while buried under a mountain of cow dung.

Tudor Entertainer

Episode: 3
Era: Terrible Tudors

Year of Death: 1540
Occupation: Entertainer
Method of Death: Stabbed himself whilst unprepared for an act.

Humphrey de Bohun

Episode: 4
Era: Measly Middle Ages

Year of Death: 1322
Occupation: Knight
Method of Death: Stabbed in the bottom by a pike under a bridge.

Clement Vallandigham

Episode: 6
Era: Awesome USA

Year of Death: 1871
Occupation: Politician
Method of Death: Accidentally shot himself with his own pistol, while representing a defendant.

Arthur Aston

Episode: 8
Era: Slimy Stuarts

Year of Death: 1649
Occupation: Army officer
Method of Death: Beaten to death, by Parliamentarian soldiers, with his own wooden leg.

World War II Businessman

Episode: Episode 9
Era: Woeful Second World War

Year of Death: 1940
Occupation: Businessman
Method of Death: Stepped off a train during the blackout before it had reached his station and fell to his death from a bridge.

Draco

Episode: 11
Era: Groovy Greeks

Year of Death: 600 BC
Occupation: Lawmaker
Method of Death: Suffocated by a mountain of hats and cloaks, caused by a Greek audience.

The Greek Lawmaker, although cruel, was a bit too loved by a Greek audience!

Diodorus the Hunchback

Episode: 12
Era: Rotten Romans

Year of Death: 200 BC
Occupation: Philosopher
Method of Death: Died when a doctor straightened his hunchback, with three large stones on his back.

Series 3

Greek Boxer

Episode: 2
Era: Groovy Greeks

Year of Death: Unknown
Occupation: Boxer
Method of Death: Crushed to death by a falling statue of his rival boxer, Theagenes of Thasos.

An unnamed contemporary of famous Greek boxer Theagenes of Thasos beats off his rival until he topples over onto him.

James II of Scotland

Episode: 3
Era: Measly Middle Ages

Year of Death: 1460
Occupation: King of Scots
Method of Death: Accidentally had his leg blown off, by a misfired cannon, known as "The Lion".

Knights Templar

Episode: 4
Era: Nasty Knights

Year of Death: 1187
Occupation: Crusaders
Method of Death: While sneaking into an Arab camp, one of the Knights accidentally fell into a pit & drowned in poo. The rest were then killed by the awakened Arabs.

Gruffydd Ap Llywelyn

Episode: 5
Era: Measly Middle Ages

Year of Death: 1244
Occupation: Prince of Wales
Method of Death: Fell to his death when attempting to escape using bedsheets.

Griffith tells what happened when he was escaping from the Tower of London.

Countess of Coventry

Episode: 6
Era: Gorgeous Georgians

Year of Death: 1760
Occupation: Irish beauty & London society hostess
Method of Death: Died of lead poisoning, by her own white lead beauty make-up.

Kitty Fisher

Episode: 6
Era: Gorgeous Georgians

Year of Death: 1767
Occupation: Courtesan
Method of Death: Died of lead poisoning, by her own white lead beauty make-up.

Moliere

Episode: 7
Era: Slimy Stuarts

Year of Death: 1673
Occupation: Playwright & actor
Method of Death: Coughed to death, on-stage, while pretending to be a sick person.

Henry I

Episode: 8
Era: Measly Middle Ages

Year of Death: 1135
Occupation: King of England
Method of Death: Died of diarrhea as the result of taking a laxative intended to treat his indigestion after too many lampreys.

Henry I (portrayed by Mathew Baynton) is made fatally ill by a meal of eels.

Milo of Croton

Episode: 11
Era: Groovy Greeks

Year of Death: Unknown
Occupation: Wrestler
Method of Death: He was attempting to tear a tree apart when his hands became trapped in a crevice in its trunk, and a pack of wolves devoured him.

The famous Greek strongman (portrayed by Laurence Rickard) learns that brawn doesn’t always beat the brain, & Death starts to get the hang of Sudoku puzzles.

Series 4

Tudor Archers

Episode: 1
Era: Terrible Tudors

Year of Death: Tudor Era
Occupation: Archers
Method of Death #1: The first archer shouted to him, "I bet you can't hit my hat!", so the rival archer attempted the challenge and missed, and shot him in the head.
Method of Death #2: The second archer shot one of his arrows, into the sky, he went to check where the arrow landed, and the arrow came down and landed into the top of the poor archer's head

Gyrth & Leofwine (King Harold's brothers)

Episode: 4
Era: Measly Middle Ages

Year of Death: 1066
Occupation: King Harold II's brothers
Method of Death: Both died in the Battle of Hastings, and ironically ended the Saxon Era.

Hannah Twynnoy

Episode: 6
Era: Gorgeous Georgians

Year of Death: 1703
Occupation: Barmaid
Method of Death: Killed by a tiger, as a result of bothering it.

Richard the Raker

Episode: 7
Era: Measly Middle Ages

Year of Death: 1326
Occupation: Cesspit emptier
Method of Death: Fell into his own cesspit & drowned in his own poo, during his day-off, from his job of gong-farming (poop-scooping).

Richard the Lionheart

Episode: 8
Era: Nasty Knights

Year of Death: 1199
Occupation: King of England
Method of Death: Died of gangrene after a small boy shot him in the arm with an arrow. The king was distracted by an enemy soldier smashing away arrows with a frying pan.

King Richard I of England tells his Stupid Death caused by the most simple mistake! Richard asked his knights to pardon the little boy, but Death learns that this did not happen when the boy sidles on scene after the king has left.

Pythagoras

Episode: 10
Era: Groovy Greeks

Year of Death: 495 BC
Occupation: Philosopher & Mathematician
Method of Death: Was killed by some rivals after refusing to run into a bean field, since touching beans was against his religion.

The Greek mathematician equates that being chased by assassins & running into bean fields don’t end well!

Robert Cocking

Episode: 12
Era: Vile Victorians

Year of Death: 1837
Occupation: Watercolor artist
Method of Death: Died in a parachute accident.

Series 5

Arthur John Priest

Episode: 2
Era: Troublesome 20th Century
Year of Death: 1937 (Ironically, the year of his death isn't shown anywhere on his pajamas.)
Occupation: Fireman, stoker, & survivor of various shipwrecks since the sinking of the RMS Titanic
Method of Death: Died in bed from pneumonia.

He was refused entry into the afterlife, as the Grim Reaper considered Priest's (portrayed by Jim Howick) death in bed too boring, & not stupid enough.

Ivan the Terrible

Episode: 3
Era: Ruthless Rulers

Year of Death: 1584
Occupation: Tsar of Russia
Method of Death: Died of a heart attack during a game of chess.

It doesn't seem to give full detail about his death.

Madame Blanchard

Episode: 4
Era: Gorgeous Georgians

Year of Death: 1819
Occupation: Aeronaut & the wife of ballooning pioneer Jean-Pierre Blanchard
Method of Death: During an exhibition, she launched fireworks that ignited the gas in her balloon; her craft crashed on the roof of a house & she fell to her death.

Hans Steininger

Episode: 5
Era: Terrible Tudors

Year of Death: 1567
Occupation: Burgomaster of Braunau
Method of Death: Died when he broke his neck tripping over his own beard during a fire exit.

Diane de Poitiers

Episode: 8
Era: Terrible Tudors

Year of Death: 1566
Occupation: Noblewoman & a prominent courtier
Method of Death: Died from metal poisoning as a result of consuming too much gold leaf, which is highly poisonous.

Emperor Domitian

Episode: 10
Era: Rotten Romans

Year of Death: 96 AD
Occupation: Roman emperor
Method of Death: Assassinated in the baths as a result of being deceived.

Pliny the Elder

Episode: 11
Era: Rotten Romans

Year of Death: 79 AD
Occupation: Lawyer, author, natural philosopher, naturalist, military commander, & provincial governor
Method of Death: Died in a rescue attempt during the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius.

John of Bohemia

Episode: 12
Era: Measly Middle Ages

Year of Death: 1346
Occupation: King of Bohemia
Method of Death: Killed in the Battle of Crecy when his companions tied their horses' reins to his own & charged-he was slaughtered in the ensuing fight.

Notes

Stupid Deaths had only three females for Gorgeous Georgians, all of whom were portrayed by Martha Howe-Douglas.
When Stupid Deaths started in Series 1, it first resembled an airport check-in, but from Series 2 onwards, it looks like a talent show deriving from Britain's Got Talent.
From series 6, Stupid Deaths was replaced with Chatty Deaths.

External Links

Stupid Deaths at Horrible Histories TV
Stupid Deaths: Video Selection at Horrible Histories TV. Thank you for reading

@@ Line 256: / Line 256: @@
 ====[[wikipedia:Arthur John Priest|Arthur John Priest]]====
 *<u>Episode</u>: [[Horrible Histories - Series 5, Episode 2|2]]
-*<u>Era</u>: [[:Category:Troublesome 20th Century]]
+*<u>Era</u>: [[:Category:Troublesome 20th Century|Troublesome 20th Century]]
 *<u>Year of Death</u>: 1937 (Ironically, the year of his death isn't shown anywhere on his pajamas.)
 *<u>Occupation</u>: Fireman, stoker, & survivor of various shipwrecks since the sinking of the RMS Titanic