Charles Dickens presents a topical chat show about workhouses in Victorian times. Nelly travels to a workhouse in Nottinghamshire. In 1861, 35,000 children under 12 lived and worked in workhouses in Britain. These children would work day and night, and their masters would often treat them very badly. A workhouse boy, very like Charles Dickens’s famous character Oliver Twist, reports on the living conditions for children, including work picking out old ropes, harsh discipline and punishment by whipping. He shows us the cold, cramped conditions the boys have to sleep in, as well as telling us about the brutality of the staff. The boy tells us about the story of how he ended up in the workhouse. We get to see the jobs the boys are given in order to pay their keep at the workhouse, as well as hearing the boy's views on the situation.
