The serially award-nominated and incessantly hilarious time travel podcast is back, and this time… it’s for good.
PastMaster, the history-bending time travel comedy podcast, returns to your eyes and ears with its most outrageous quotes and legendary guests ever.
PastMaster is a game where hosts Tan and Ryan rewrite history, going back in time and using their 21st century knowledge to try and survive and thrive, and above all, to avoid being burned as a witch. Which is easier said than done.
In their latest episode, arriving on all podcast players today, comedian Esther Manito goes undercover on the Silk Road. Other upcoming guests include: Sunil Patel, Heidi Regan, Bilal Zafar, The McPherson Twins (Patrick and Hugo), Rohan Sharma, Caroline McEvoy, Sallyann Fellowes, Ashley Haden, Tadiwe Mahlunge, Alasdair Beckett-King and Laura Lexx.
This stellar cast of comic time travellers will explore destinations including ancient China, the Mayan Empire, the Aksumite Empire, the lost American colony of Roanoke and the race to the South Pole.
“We’re unbelievably excited to have a cast of comedy mavericks joining us for season five of PastMaster,” say Ryan and Tan. “Our adventures so far have stretched from the Viking empire to Victorian London and from Prohibition-era Chicago to the Neolithic tribes of Eurasia. And yet we’ve only scratched the surface. Expect the unexpected, get ready for the most entertaining and educational PastMaster season yet and be prepared to laugh your head clean off.”
Episode one drops Monday 2 February and there will be a fresh quest every fortnight in 2026, peppered with occasional ‘side quest’ episodes in which Ryan and Tan test the game to breaking point.
PastMaster is part of the Mercury podcast network – the fastest growing independent podcast network in the world, with a comedy slate including Ghastly Women, and a new addition to be announced later this week.
In its first year with the network, the show has celebrated multiple Golden Lobe and Independent Podcast Award nominations, making it one of the hottest independent comedy podcasts in the UK.
Liam Heffernan, founder of Mercury, says “working with PastMaster has been an absolute joy, and helping them on their journey to becoming the biggest comedy podcast in the world is precisely why I launched Mercury. Not only is this one of the greatest shows of all time, but I see first hand how much time and energy Ryan and Tan put into it, so get on the PastMaster bandwagon now before it’s too late to say ‘I told you so!’”