City of Vice
Encyclopedia
City of Vice is a British historical crime drama television
series set in Georgian
London
and was first screened on 14 January 2008 on Channel 4
. It is produced by Touchpaper Television part of the RDF Media
Group. The series mixes fiction with fact following the fortunes of the famous novelist Henry Fielding
(Ian McDiarmid
) and his brother John
(Iain Glen
). Henry and John Fielding were magistrates of Westminster
and the men who created the modern police
force in Britain through the Bow Street Runners
. The series was written by Clive Bradley and Peter Harness
, whose scripts were nominated for a Writers' Guild of Great Britain
Award for Best Series, 2008. It was directed by Justin Hardy and Dan Reed. The historical consultant was Hallie Rubenhold
.
The show uses authentic historical research to tell the story of the two men battling to create a police force, 75 years before Robert Peel
founded the Metropolitan Police
. Henry Fielding’s memoirs and contemporary sources such as the Old Bailey Sessions Papers
have been used to provide historical accuracy to the series.
The series uses innovative mapping sequences to follow the narrative and characters' progress, wherein John Rocque's
map of 1746 is seen from above, becomes firstly 3D and ultimately merges with film sequences of the next scene to pick up the narrative tale.
The series won the Royal Television Society Judges' Award, 2008.
(Written by Peter Harness. Directed by Justin Hardy.) The Fielding brothers investigate an attempted murder of a prostitute found raped and horrifically mutilated in a bagnio
.
Episode two
(Written by Clive Bradley. Directed by Dan Reed.) The Reverend Erasmus Cavendish is found murdered and the evidence leads to an infamous Molly house
on Saffron Hill
, a brothel and rendezvous for London's gay men where William Flynn is named as the prime suspect.
Episode three
(Written by Peter Harness. Directed by Dan Reed.) The Bow Street Runners investigate a burglary in Mayfair
, the search leading to the shanty town
s of Covent Garden
, known as the Seven Dials
, and a gang of Irish immigrant criminals.
Episode Four
(Written by Clive Bradley. Directed by Justin Hardy.) The gang leader, ironically named Tom Jones, is broken out of jail by his Irish gang, who shoot several prison guards in the process. The Bow Street Runners then travel to the Seven Dials to re-arrest Jones. Henry Fielding accompanies them to make sure Jones is apprehended, but is taken hostage by the gang. The Runners must decide if they're prepared to make a deal with the criminal elements of London to ensure his release.
Episode Five
(Written by Clive Bradley. Directed by Justin Hardy.) Henry's narrative returns to the situation before the creation of the Runners. While lobbying the Duke of Newcastle
to obtain his support for the venture, Henry investigates a secretive trade in child prostitutes. The UK DVD
release of the series has this as the first episode.
. The first episode of City of Vice was relatively well received in the British press, The Times describing it as "an antidote to the current spate of twee costume dramas" and "more likely to resonate with cynical modern audiences". The Guardian
described it as looking "gravelled for cash" but compensating with "documentary direction and Ian McDairmid's voice, as rich as a liqueur."
Entertainment One
released the complete series on DVD in Region 1 on June 10, 2008.
Each character is played by an actor.
The game itself is accompanied by several minigames which simulate various activities like picking locks or shooting. The game was produced by Brighton based company Littleloud, and won a BAFTA in November 2008.
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
series set in Georgian
Georgian era
The Georgian era is a period of British history which takes its name from, and is normally defined as spanning the reigns of, the first four Hanoverian kings of Great Britain : George I, George II, George III and George IV...
London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and was first screened on 14 January 2008 on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
. It is produced by Touchpaper Television part of the RDF Media
RDF Media
Zodiak Media is a Anglo-American television production company. It was formed in 2010 when RDF Media Group was acquired by, and merged with Zodiak Entertainment...
Group. The series mixes fiction with fact following the fortunes of the famous novelist Henry Fielding
Henry Fielding
Henry Fielding was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich earthy humour and satirical prowess, and as the author of the novel Tom Jones....
(Ian McDiarmid
Ian McDiarmid
Ian McDiarmid is a Scottish theatre actor and director, who has also made sporadic appearances on film and television.McDiarmid has had a successful career in theatre; he has been cast in many plays, while occasionally directing others and although he has appeared mostly in theatrical productions,...
) and his brother John
John Fielding
This article is about the London magistrate. For the soldier, see John Williams .Sir John Fielding was a notable English magistrate and social reformer of the 18th century. He was also the younger half-brother of novelist, playwright and chief magistrate Henry Fielding...
(Iain Glen
Iain Glen
Iain Glen is a Scottish film and stage actor.Iain Glen was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and trained at RADA where he won the Bancroft Gold Medal. He was married to Susannah Harker from 1993 to 2004; they have one son, Finlay...
). Henry and John Fielding were magistrates of Westminster
Westminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
and the men who created the modern police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
force in Britain through the Bow Street Runners
Bow Street Runners
The Bow Street Runners have been called London's first professional police force. The force was founded in 1749 by the author Henry Fielding and originally numbered just six. Bow Street runners was the public's nickname for these officers, "although the officers never referred to themselves as...
. The series was written by Clive Bradley and Peter Harness
Peter Harness
Peter Harness is an English playwright, screenwriter and actor. He grew up in Hornsea, East Yorkshire and attended Oriel College, Oxford where he studied English and graduated with a first. He is a former president of the Oxford Revue. He was one of Screen International's Stars of Tomorrow, 2007...
, whose scripts were nominated for a Writers' Guild of Great Britain
Writers' Guild of Great Britain
The Writers' Guild of Great Britain, established in 1959, is a trade union for professional writers. It is affiliated with both the Trades Union Congress and the International Affiliation of Writers Guilds .-Activities:...
Award for Best Series, 2008. It was directed by Justin Hardy and Dan Reed. The historical consultant was Hallie Rubenhold
Hallie Rubenhold
Hallie Rubenhold is a British historian.Rubenhold was born in Los Angeles and undertook a BA in History at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She then gained an MA in British History and History of Art and an MPhil in History from the University of Leeds, on subject of marriage and...
.
The show uses authentic historical research to tell the story of the two men battling to create a police force, 75 years before Robert Peel
Robert Peel
Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet was a British Conservative statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 December 1834 to 8 April 1835, and again from 30 August 1841 to 29 June 1846...
founded the Metropolitan Police
Metropolitan police
Metropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...
. Henry Fielding’s memoirs and contemporary sources such as the Old Bailey Sessions Papers
Old Bailey
The Central Criminal Court in England and Wales, commonly known as the Old Bailey from the street in which it stands, is a court building in central London, one of a number of buildings housing the Crown Court...
have been used to provide historical accuracy to the series.
The series uses innovative mapping sequences to follow the narrative and characters' progress, wherein John Rocque's
John Rocque
John Rocque was a surveyor and cartographer.Rocque was born no later than 1709, since that was the year he moved to England with his parents, who were French Huguenot émigrés...
map of 1746 is seen from above, becomes firstly 3D and ultimately merges with film sequences of the next scene to pick up the narrative tale.
The series won the Royal Television Society Judges' Award, 2008.
Episodes
Episode one(Written by Peter Harness. Directed by Justin Hardy.) The Fielding brothers investigate an attempted murder of a prostitute found raped and horrifically mutilated in a bagnio
Bagnio
A Bagnio was originally a bath or bath-house.The term was then used to name the prison for hostages in Istanbul, which was near the bath-house, and thereafter all the slave prisons in the Ottoman Empire and the Barbary regencies...
.
Episode two
(Written by Clive Bradley. Directed by Dan Reed.) The Reverend Erasmus Cavendish is found murdered and the evidence leads to an infamous Molly house
Molly house
A Molly house is an archaic 18th century English term for a tavern or private room where homosexual and cross-dressing men could meet each other and possible sexual partners. Molly houses were one precursor to some types of gay bars....
on Saffron Hill
Saffron Hill
Saffron Hill is the name of a street in the south eastern corner of the London Borough of Camden, between Farringdon Road and Hatton Garden. The name of the street derives from the fact that it was at one time part of an estate on which saffron grew....
, a brothel and rendezvous for London's gay men where William Flynn is named as the prime suspect.
Episode three
(Written by Peter Harness. Directed by Dan Reed.) The Bow Street Runners investigate a burglary in Mayfair
Mayfair
Mayfair is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster.-History:Mayfair is named after the annual fortnight-long May Fair that took place on the site that is Shepherd Market today...
, the search leading to the shanty town
Shanty town
A shanty town is a slum settlement of impoverished people who live in improvised dwellings made from scrap materials: often plywood, corrugated metal and sheets of plastic...
s of Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
, known as the Seven Dials
Seven Dials
Seven Dials is a small but well-known road junction in the West End of London in Covent Garden where seven streets converge. At the centre of the roughly-circular space is a pillar bearing six sundials, a result of the pillar being commissioned before a late stage alteration of the plans from an...
, and a gang of Irish immigrant criminals.
Episode Four
(Written by Clive Bradley. Directed by Justin Hardy.) The gang leader, ironically named Tom Jones, is broken out of jail by his Irish gang, who shoot several prison guards in the process. The Bow Street Runners then travel to the Seven Dials to re-arrest Jones. Henry Fielding accompanies them to make sure Jones is apprehended, but is taken hostage by the gang. The Runners must decide if they're prepared to make a deal with the criminal elements of London to ensure his release.
Episode Five
(Written by Clive Bradley. Directed by Justin Hardy.) Henry's narrative returns to the situation before the creation of the Runners. While lobbying the Duke of Newcastle
Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and 1st Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne, KG, PC was a British Whig statesman, whose official life extended throughout the Whig supremacy of the 18th century. He is commonly known as the Duke of Newcastle.A protégé of Sir Robert Walpole, he served...
to obtain his support for the venture, Henry investigates a secretive trade in child prostitutes. The UK DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
release of the series has this as the first episode.
Reception
City of Vice launched with 2.7 million viewers and an 11% share in the 9pm hour on Channel 4Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
. The first episode of City of Vice was relatively well received in the British press, The Times describing it as "an antidote to the current spate of twee costume dramas" and "more likely to resonate with cynical modern audiences". The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
described it as looking "gravelled for cash" but compensating with "documentary direction and Ian McDairmid's voice, as rich as a liqueur."
DVD release
Contender Entertainment Group released the complete series on DVD in Region 2 (UK) on February 18, 2008. This release has been discontinued and is now out of print.Entertainment One
Entertainment One
Entertainment One Ltd is a leading international entertainment business operating in the United States, Canada, the UK, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia and New Zealand...
released the complete series on DVD in Region 1 on June 10, 2008.
Bow Street Runner – the game
Bow Street Runner is an online game in five parts to accompany the series. Like the television series the game attempts to be historically accurate. The player takes control of a "Bow Street Runner" and has to solve several crimes by collecting clues, consulting witnesses and visiting several places in Georgian London.Each character is played by an actor.
The game itself is accompanied by several minigames which simulate various activities like picking locks or shooting. The game was produced by Brighton based company Littleloud, and won a BAFTA in November 2008.