How the Victorians Built Britain

Michael Buerk looks at the creation of mass manufacturing, which meant that goods could be produced at a rate that had never been seen before. In Manchester, he learns how engineer George Stephenson created the first intercity railway, so that cotton could be transported quickly and cheaply from Liverpool docks to Manchester's mills. Michael also discovers how the sewing machine - newly created in 1851 - created the rag trade, and visits what was probably the first shopping mall in the UK, the Burlington Arcade in London.

Presenter Michael Buerk looks at how the Victorians created what is now known as the modern home, exploring the huge rise in house-building during the period. He travels to Fakenham, Norfolk, to visit the last remaining gasworks in England, and discovers how the Victorians mastered the art of producing 'town gas' from coal. He also investigates how the kitchen was transformed with the advent of gas cookers, as more complex meals including the Sunday roast steadily became the norm across the nation.

This episode is about the development of London's pioneering transport system in the mid-19th century. With the help of contributor Judith Flanders, Michael Buerk paints a vivid picture of the phenomenal chaos and reek of London streets before Charles Pearson had the literally groundbreaking idea of an underground railway.