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City of Vice

City of Vice

In the 1750s London’s perilous streets were run by armed gangs, corrupt night watchmen and thief takers. Then two Westminster magistrates, novelist Henry Fielding and his brother, John, obtained a grant from Parliament allowing them to bring some law and order to the crime-ridden boroughs of Central London.

Created By
StatusEnded
Original NameCity of Vice
First Air DateJanuary 14, 2008
Last Air DateFebruary 11, 2008
Seasons1
Episodes5
Episode Runtime 50min
LanguageEnglish
Original LanguageEnglish
Production Countries
Production Companies
NetworksChannel 4
S01E05

Episode 5

Henry looks back on the struggle to fund the Bow Street Runners in the first place, and reflects on how close London came to not having a police force at all… As the new magistrates of Westminster, novelist Henry Fielding and his blind half-brother John want to set up a police force to tackle London's soaring crime epidemic. They find a potential patron in Lord Newcastle, the Prime Minister's brother, but he is unsure of such a force's merits. With the help of Saunders Welch, the High Constable of Holborn, the brothers set out to show Newcastle they can rid the streets of the violent criminal gangs.

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