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.
1 season · 5 episodes
Episode 1
Jan 14, 200850 min
The Fielding brothers are dining at a tavern run by Jack Harris, an infamous pimp, when a messenger announces that a woman's body has been found at a nearby bagnio. Despite being raped and horrifically mutilated, the woman, Ann Bell, miracu
Episode 2
Jan 21, 200850 min
When the Reverend Erasmus Cavendish is found murdered in his Soho church, his maid informs the Runners that the reverend was a homosexual (a crime punishable by hanging) and points the finger at a man named William Flynn as the prime suspec
Episode 3
Jan 28, 200850 min
A break-in at a sugar merchant's Mayfair home brings the Bow Street Runners into conflict with their patron, Lord Newcastle. He reminds the Fielding brothers that their prime duty is to protect the property of the rich and yet the number of
Episode 4
Feb 4, 200850 min
Tom Jones, an infamous gang leader, is broken out of jail by his Irish gang, who maim several prison guards along the way. This high-profile jailbreak questions the authority of the Bow Street Runners and risks making Lord Newcastle look ve
S1 E5Episode 5
Feb 11, 200850 min
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 hal
