"Victorian Slum House" takes viewers back to the British slums of the 1800s.
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Observe the social changes the slum dwellers face as they move into the 20th century. A few families prosper, but others continue to face the poverty endemic in Britain. See what steps are finally taken to alleviate the plight of the poor.
The slum residents enjoy an unexpected feast when Edward VII's cancelled coronation banquet turns up at their door.
The slum dwellers benefit from a day out of the Edwardian East End.
Enter the 1890s, when mass manufacturing and social reform offer a bit of hope for some of the residents, while others are plagued by a water shortage that dashes hopes for a promising laundry business.
At Howarth & Son Tailors Russell's struggling with Victorian tailoring techniques. Rebecca and Mandy try to help but Russell decides to join Adrian for a beer.
The doss-house has been condemned and Andy must find another way to make his living.
Despite high unemployment and intolerable conditions, people flock to London, desperate for work. When curious upper-class visitors are permitted to visit the slum as tourists, the participants realize how precarious their situation truly is.
A group of slum tourists take a look at the slum Andy's willing to show them, but Mandy is far less welcoming.
The Potter family tries to flog Victorian street food on the streets of Spittlefields but it's Victorian jokes that go down better.
Witness a dire economic depression heightened by the arrival of Irish migrants seeking work. Daily, the slum dwellers toil to fulfill clothing orders and make artificial flowers for factories. Some won’t be able to settle their debts.
John and Maria spend their first night in the doss-house and John understands the disappointment Victorian Irish immigrants must have felt when arriving in the East End.
The Howarths need help to finish their tailoring order. They turn to their neighbors and Mandy reflects on the harsh realties of life for poor Victorian children.
Tailor Russell and his family get to grips with the Victorian rag trade. Andy meanwhile discovers just how hard Victorian slum dwellers worked.
As the Howarths finish their wares for market day, Mandy feels close to her own ancestors and is moved by what they must have gone through.
Follow participants as they move into an 1860s tenement made up of sparse rooms, a shared water pump and outhouses. They seek to make a living by matchbox making, wood turning and the rag trade, work once done by their impoverished forebears.
