Synopsis
After four weeks of the drudgery of a Victorian level of housework, Joyce comes up with a 1900 solution: finding a servant to do the dirty work, as most women in her position would have done a hundred years ago.
- Programme: 1900s House
- Episode: 05: How to be a Victorian
- Channel: Channel 4
- Broadcast year: 1999
- History | Industrial Revolution
Licence: ERA Licence required
Free to watch for UK schools, colleges and universities with an ERA Licence
UK only
Staff and students of licensed education establishments only
Cannot be adapted
Add Notes
More clips from 1900s House
01: The Time Machine | 1900s House
01: The Time Machine | 1900s House
We go behind-the scenes to find out how an ordinary terraced house in the shadow of the Millennium Dome was transformed into a time machin...
02: Time Travellers | 1900s House
02: Time Travellers | 1900s House
In Somerset, the Bowlers indulge in a last supper of junk food before saying goodbye to the 20th Century and hello to life in the year 1900.
03: A Rude Awakening | 1900s House
03: A Rude Awakening | 1900s House
The Bowlers wake up to their first morning in the 1900 house. There is no water, potties need emptying and the milk has gone off. The drea...
04: Cleanliness is Next to Godliness | 1900s House
04: Cleanliness is Next to Godliness | 1900s House
It is a week since the Bowlers began their time travel experience. But no-one has had a decent bath. The range cooker, whi...
06: Upstairs / Downstairs | 1900s House
06: Upstairs / Downstairs | 1900s House
A newcomer arrives at the house as Elizabeth, their new "maid of all work' starts domestic service. Scrubbing,washing,ironing,carpet ...
07: Women's Liberation | 1900s House
07: Women's Liberation | 1900s House
The arrival of the maid has given Joyce the freedom to investigate the history of the suffragette movement. But the more she learns abou...
08: The Good Old Days | 1900s House
08: The Good Old Days | 1900s House
A night out at a Music Hall is a great success but proves a rude introduction to the seedy world of Victorian London.
09: Back to the Future | 1900s House
09: Back to the Future | 1900s House
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10: A Year to Remember | 1900s House
10: A Year to Remember | 1900s House
The Bowlers reflect on the highs, lows and unforgettable moments of their three month living-history experiment.
More resources about Urbanisation and social reform in the Victorian era
The 1860s | The Victorian Slum
The 1860s | The Victorian Slum
A group of 21st-century people move into a recreated Victorian slum. In this episode, the slum dwellers move into the 1860s, when London was t...
The 1880s | The Victorian Slum
The 1880s | The Victorian Slum
A group of people move into a recreated Victorian slum. The slum dwellers have moved into the turbulent 1880s: unemployment was sky high, livi...
03: The Circus | Britain's Best Buildings
03: The Circus | Britain's Best Buildings
This edition visits the Circus, a perfect circle of palatial terraced houses in the centre of Regency Bath.
The 1870s | The Victorian Slum
The 1870s | The Victorian Slum
A group of 21st-century people move into a recreated Victorian slum. The slum dwellers live through a dire economic depression that blighted t...
Episode 4 | 24 Hours in the Past
Episode 4 | 24 Hours in the Past
Six celebrities work in four Victorian workplaces. The six celebrities spend their final 24 hours in the workhouse.
The 1900s | The Victorian Slum
The 1900s | The Victorian Slum
A group of people move into a recreated Victorian slum. In the final episode the slum dwellers have moved into the 20th century and social cha...
The 1890s | The Victorian Slum
The 1890s | The Victorian Slum
A group of people move into a recreated Victorian slum. The slum dwellers have moved into the 1890s, when Britain was slowly recovering from a...
01: Britain's Moral Makeover | Ian Hislop's Age of the Do-Gooders
01: Britain's Moral Makeover | Ian Hislop's Age of the Do-Gooders
Ian Hislop salutes the unsung heroes of Victorian Britain who improved cities, housing and working conditio...
01: Painting the Town | The Victorians
01: Painting the Town | The Victorians
Jeremy Paxman begins his exploration into Victorian Britain by investigating the most dramatic event of the age - the explosion of gre...
04: Dreams and Nightmares | The Victorians
04: Dreams and Nightmares | The Victorians
Jeremy Paxman discovers how, during the dying years of Victoria's reign, artists led a revolt against Victorian values of money an...
02: Suffer the Little Children | Ian Hislop's Age of the Do-Gooders
02: Suffer the Little Children | Ian Hislop's Age of the Do-Gooders
Ian Hislop celebrates the dynamic and eccentric Victorian reformers who brought about the most remarkable...
03: Sinful Sex and Demon Drink | Ian Hislop's Age of the Do-Gooders
03: Sinful Sex and Demon Drink | Ian Hislop's Age of the Do-Gooders
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05: Social Progress | What the Victorians Did For Us
05: Social Progress | What the Victorians Did For Us
How the opportunities in employment and education created the middle classes and gave them such luxuries as their own to...
Episode 2 | Full Steam Ahead
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This episode looks at how railways began to move people, rather than just goods, around the country.
Episode 3 | Full Steam Ahead
Episode 3 | Full Steam Ahead
Ruth Goodman, Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn find out how railways transformed the British diet.
S02E01: The Church in Danger | The Battle for Britain's Soul
S02E01: The Church in Danger | The Battle for Britain's Soul
The 18th century was a time of great upheaval, with forces old and new poised to attack the established Protesta...
The Bristol Entertainment
The Bristol Entertainment
A thousand years of the gossip, scandals, successes, disasters, eccentricities and cupidities that lie behind the facades of a great city.
Workers or Shirkers? Ian Hislop's Victorian Benefits
Workers or Shirkers? Ian Hislop's Victorian Benefits
Ian Hislop presents an entertaining and provocative look at Victorian attitudes to the poor, exploring the views of five...
02: Home Sweet Home | The Victorians
02: Home Sweet Home | The Victorians
Jeremy Paxman continues his exploration of the Victorian world by entering the Victorian home, a haven of order. But he soon discovers a...
02: Time Travellers | 1900s House
02: Time Travellers | 1900s House
In Somerset, the Bowlers indulge in a last supper of junk food before saying goodbye to the 20th Century and hello to life in the year 1900.