Season 1 (2004)
Release date: 2004-05-07
Episodes (3):
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1. Fire and Destiny
From Boudicca's torching of the city to the Blitz raids, Ackroyd examines how London survives fire.
Release date: 2004-05-07
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2. The Crowd
Historical figures recall the city's drama of crime and punishment, and its unquenchable thirst for spectacle, drink and sex.
Release date: 2004-05-12
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3. Water & Darkness
In the Victorian era London finally achieves its destiny as the heart of a world empire, but Peter Ackroyd and historical figures expose the city's rotten underbelly.
Release date: 2004-05-19
Cast
Jim Carter
as Henry Fielding
Derek Jacobi
as Tacitus
Michael Feast
as Christopher Wren
Alex Jennings
as Stephen Spender
Tom Hollander
as T.S. Eliot
Chris Langham
as Ned Ward
Philip Jackson
as Samuel Pepys
Toby Stephens
as Casanova
Ronan Vibert
as Joseph Conrad
John Woodvine
as Henry Moore
Jack Shepherd
as Thomas de Quincey
Don Warrington
as Ignatius Sancho
Timothy West
as Henry Mayhew
Danielle Rees
as Charlie Meyer
John Simm
as Friedrich Engels
Harriet Walter
as Virginia Woolf
Anton Lesser
as Charles Dickens
Philip Madoc
as Geoffrey of Monmouth
Tim Pigott-Smith
as John Evelyn
Amanda Root
as Charlotte Bronte
Rest of the cast - click here to expand
Peter Ackroyd - Himself - Presenter