The Sewer King

Name: The Sewer King
Director: Edward Bazalgette
Released: 2003-09-25
Duration: 50 min
Cast: Charlie G. Hawkins, Norman Lovett, Mark McGann, Pip Torrens, Sam Troughton

S1 E4 September 25, 2003 0h 50m

Source:

Overview

Set in London during the 1850s, this episode focuses on the construction of the London sewerage system, built to replace the antiquated medieval system that was overworked and inadequate for the needs of the-then largest metropolis in the world, causing epidemics of disease and a permanent foul stench to fill the air. The episode follows the efforts and work of Joseph Bazalgette, the brilliant engineer who designed the influential and modern sewer system that would purify the city, transform the streets above and would result in the end of the epidemics of cholera and typhoid that had ravaged the population - although not for the reasons that he initially thought.