Spontaneous Human Combustion - The Parapod Series 2, Episode 8 Review

Barry starts off by describing the unexplained phenomenon, "this is where people just burst into flames for no reason," he says, "this has been going on for ages. Charles Dickens wrote about it..." Ray interrupts to say, "can I stop you there straight away, just because it's not a film, doesn't mean it's not fiction."

According to Barry, "you'll burn in less than an hour, there'll be blue flames." Barry says they'll be a sweet, smoky smell afterwards, and often one extremity remains intact.

Barry continues with the history of Spontaneous Human Combustion starting with the first case which was reported by Doctor Thomas Bartholin in 1663. The victim was a French woman who burst into flames while lying on a straw bed, but weirdly the bed didn't burn at all. The next case, one of Barry's favourite cases, was Mary Reeser in the 1950s.

Barry is then forced to switch to an Irish accent to tell the story of Michael Faherty from Galway. His death was recorded as "spontaneous combustion" by the coroner in 2010.

Ray 8 - Barry 0.