Pamela Cox

Series bringing black-and-white films of the era back to vivid life.

Offers audiences a unique window into a bygone era when a thrilling new invention, the motion picture camera, first captures a nation on film.

Dr Pamela Cox presents this three-part series following the journey of the shopgirl from an almost invisible figure in stark Victorian stores, to being the beating heart of modern shops.

A century ago, 1.5 million British people worked as servants – astonishingly, more than worked in factories or farms. But while servants are often portrayed as characters in period dramas, the real stories of Britain’s servants have largely been forgotten. Presented by social historian Dr Pamela Cox – herself the great-granddaughter of servants – this three-part series uncovers the reality of servants’ lives from the Victorian era through to the Second World War.