Home / Series / BBC Documentaries / Aired Order / Season 2011 / Episode 33

The Children Who Built Victorian Britain

The catalyst to Britain's Industrial Revolution was the slave labour of orphans and destitute children. In this shocking and moving account of their exploitation and eventual emancipation, Professor Jane Humphries uses the actual words of these child workers (recorded in diaries, interviews and letters) to let them tell their own story. She also uses groundbreaking animation to bring to life a world where 12-year-olds went to war at Trafalgar and six-year-olds worked the fields as human scarecrows.

English
  • Originally Aired February 1, 2011
  • Runtime 60 minutes
  • Content Rating United States of America TV-PG
  • Network BBC
  • Created February 3, 2011 by
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  • Modified February 3, 2011 by
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Name Type Role
Jane Humphries Guest Star