Episode 1

Jay Blades explores the fascinating history of London's East End, from the Shoreditch site where Shakespeare performed, to the story of the original Jack the Lad. He starts where London's East End begins, by the Roman city wall, to hear how East of the wall became a place for "outsiders" in the 1500s, where immoral or forbidden activities would take place like gambling and bear baiting. Heading to St Dunstan's Church in Stepney, Jay discovers how the Great Plague in 1665 devastated the East End's population due to poor living conditions, and is spooked by the fact that thousands of plague victim's bodies still lie in the church's grounds.