Watch Victorian Slum House

Name: Victorian Slum House
Genre: Reality
Released: 2017-05-24
Cast: Michael Mosley

TV-PG
2017
1 Season
7.9 (206)

Victorian Slum House is a historical reality show that explores the living conditions of the less fortunate individuals during the Victorian era in the East End of London. The show aims to highlight the struggles of the impoverished people during the late 1800s by transporting modern-day people back in time to experience the grueling realities of living in a slum. The show aired on PBS in 2016 and features Michael Mosley as the host.

The premise of the show is to take 21st-century people who have found themselves struggling with poverty or financial difficulties and see if they can survive in conditions similar to that in Victorian times. Eight individuals or families, who are living near or below the poverty line currently or have been homeless, are invited to step back in time and experience what life was like in the past for the underprivileged.

The main cast members are given the opportunity to live in a recreated East End slum, complete with six houses identical to those in the 1860s. Each of the eight households is given their home with no indoor plumbing, no modern amenities, and only minimal supplies to imitate the conditions of living in the slums of Victorian England. The cast has to wash their clothes by hand, cook on a coal-fired stove, and learn to survive on meager rations while trying to keep their livelihoods alive.

The Victorian Slum House is a five-part series that explores the lives of East Enders in the 1860s starting from 1860 to 1900. Each episode covers a decade and the challenges that come with it, such as health, work, and living conditions. The first episode exposes the living conditions in the slums in 1860, including sharing beds and disappearing children. The second episode enlightens us on how the residents of the slums were forced to send their children to work at age 5 to contribute to the family's income, and by the turn of the century, the East End families are shown to have more secure jobs and housing.

The families are expected to put in hard work daily, with many of them having to work outside the home to bring in extra income. The activities done at their daily jobs are reminiscent of the work that would have been typical for the residents of the East End slums, such as selling fish or matchsticks or building ships.

The show is an excellent representation of how the working class lived during that time period without modern utilities and the harsh reality of being homeless or struggling financially. The show also shows how hard it was for women in those times, who weren't allowed to earn a living and depended on their husbands for survival.

The show does an excellent job of balancing entertainment and education, with an emphasis on education of the time period, and the challenges of surviving with minimal means. The show's aim is not to glorify the past, but rather put a spotlight on how the developments of the industrial age impacted the working-class households, which largely made up London's population at that time.

In conclusion, Victorian Slum House is a fascinating show for history buffs and those interested in observing how the less fortunate classes of the past coped with harsh living conditions. The show is both educational and entertaining, and while it has a somber note, it manages to provide viewers with a stark reminder of the struggles of the working class back in the day. The show does an excellent job of portraying life scenes of the past while making a connection with the present-day viewers' experiences.

Victorian Slum House is a series that ran for 1 seasons (5 episodes) between May 24, 2017 and on PBS

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Seasons

5. The 1900s

May 30, 2017

In the final episode of the series, the slum dwellers move into the 20th century and social change is in the air. Community spirit is embodied by the arrival of the Co-operative Movement, and shopkeepers the Birds have members to look after, rather than customers to profit from. While some continue to prosper, others come face-to-face with the poverty endemic in British cities during the era. The effects of this on children hits home when the slum's kids see photographs of their Edwardian counterparts. The wealth division in Edwardian Britain has a bittersweet resonance when the residents get a taste of Edward VII's cancelled Coronation banquet, which was packed up and sent to the poor of Whitechapel in 1902. The wider world continues to impact on life in the Slum, and some enjoy a day trip out to the countryside. The men exercise their right to vote and the women of the Slum learn what East End women did in the quest for suffrage. At long last there are state wide measures designed to alleviate the plight of the poor, and it's time for the slum dwellers to return to life in the 21st century. As they prepare to leave, thoughts turn to the effects of slum clearance on British communities and to lessons that can be learned for the future.

4. The 1890s

May 23, 2017

The slum dwellers have moved into the 1890s, when Britain was slowly recovering from an economic depression. Cheap foodstuffs and mass manufactured goods have found their way into the slum's shop, but only some of the residents can afford them. The Howarths are the lucky ones, they now have a bespoke tailor's shop and tailor Russell can make good money catering to middle class Londoners who couldn't afford Saville Row suits. Their relative prosperity means Mandy can turn her attention to being a respectable Victorian house wife. The Potter family's experience reflects the lives of countless Victorian poor who struggled with low wages and irregular work, but they are offered a lifeline by their neighbour Maria who needs help with her laundry business. But a water shortage during the 1890s makes life even harder and it forces Maria and her brother John to leave the Slum. Finally it seems that the wider world was taking notice of the plight of the Victorian poor when the slum dwellers are introduced to Charles Booth's great poverty survey. The residents experience a wave of Victorian social reform including slum clearance, and there's much excitement when there's a visit to see the new council housing that would have been on offer. But it's bittersweet when they learn the reality of what happened to their forebears.

3. The 1880s

May 16, 2017

The slum dwellers have moved into the 1880s - a turbulent decade for London's East End. Unemployment was sky high and living conditions intolerable but still people came, desperate for work. The pressures are immediately felt by the Howarth family, who find themselves employing new workers in their Victorian sweat shop. Their workforce would have been made up of newly arrived immigrants and the Howarths' workers all have their own story to tell. But Mandy Howarth is moved to tears when she finds out that the sweated trades are part of her own family history. The Potter family become street sellers, selling sheep's trotters and jellied eels in London's East End. But their newfound living is quickly curtailed as it was in 1880s Bethnal Green. Fellow slum residents Andy Gardiner and John Barker come face-to-face with the harsh realities of working life in London's docks during the era when only one of them could have hoped to earn. While everyone tries to make ends meet, some unwanted visitors arrive in the form a slum tour party and resentment reaches boiling point. The slum dwellers soon understand why the 1880s was a decade of protests and strikes and, though a strong sense community is forming, the precarious nature of Victorian slum life is ever present.

2. The 1870s

May 9, 2017

The slum dwellers have left behind the 1860s, when London was the richest city on earth and it was hard but possible to make ends meet. Now they must live through a dire economic depression that blighted the 1870s. Tailoring family the Howarths have become 'sweated workers', so called because of the rate at which they had to work. They must toil nonstop to make up Victorian factory orders for clothing. It's food for thought when they're forced to employ their neighbours' children to complete the work. The Potter family can no longer rely on breadwinner Graham as he struggles to find work, so they join forces with single parent Shazeda to try and get by making artificial flowers. For Heather Potter, the experience has added poignancy when she finds out the fate that befell her own poverty stricken East End ancestors. There are new arrivals in the slum when siblings John and Maria Barker arrive from Ireland. They're horrified by the conditions that would have greeted Irish migrants to Victorian London. But they're young, strong and have no dependents and they do have the ability to work. As the week progresses rent collector Andy and the shopkeepers the Birds begin to worry that some in the slum won't be able to settle their debts. A moonlit flit has a knock on effect for all, and the harsh realities of life for the Victorian poor hit home.

1. The 1860s

May 24, 2017

In this episode the slum dwellers move into the 1860s, when London was the capital of the world's first industrial superpower and the richest city on earth.

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Where to Watch Victorian Slum House

Victorian Slum House is available for streaming on the PBS website, both individual episodes and full seasons. You can also watch Victorian Slum House on demand at PBS.