Episode 2 of 3

Tuesday 15 June 9.00-10.00pm BBC FOUR

This second episode tells the story of rude music hall, from its roots in the low dives of the Victorian cities to the seaside variety shows of the 20th century. Current-day performers recreate the acts of celebrated music hall stars such as Champagne Charlie and Marie Lloyd.

The programme also examines the moral panic that came with the arrival of photography in the Victorian age. Now saucy photographic images became available to anybody who had the money to buy them.

The satirical and rude world of one of Britain’s first comic book icons – the boozy anti-hero Ally Sloper – is revealed, and Rude Britannia shows how in the 20th century a seaside culture of rudeness emerged, with bawdy peepshows on the pier – the Mutoscopes – and the great picture postcard art of Donald McGill.

Rude Britannia concludes on Wednesday.