What to watch
The Great Plague: Outbreak
CHANNEL 5, 9PM
“For me the connections between the two pandemics are remarkable. It’s a frightening lesson in history,” says Xand van Tulleken at the outset of this never-so-relevant nightly three-part study of Britain’s worst pandemic ever (so far, at least) – the bubonic plague that cost more than 200,000 lives in the mid-17th century.
A doctor and regular presenter of health and well-being shows, Van Tulleken is also a former epidemic surveillance officer with the World Health Organisation, so he is on firm ground here. In this opener he explores the origin of the 1665 pandemic, doomed efforts by the authorities to prevent its arrival in Britain, how and where it broke out in London and, above all, how it spread. In his sights is the belief that it was transmitted by rats, or rather their fleas – an idea he debunks, though his alternative is no more palatable. He also emphasises how better and more sanitary living conditions helped shield wealthier communities then as now. Along for the
ride are broadcaster John Sergeant and archaeologist Raksha Dave, who explore grislier matters like
symptoms, outcomes and where plague still persists in modern times. Gerard O’donovan about graduate recruits in a frenetic London investment bank settles down into a more This Life mode, as the focus shifts to the trainees’ backgrounds and home lives, though there’s still no shortage of bullets to dodge at work.