This program shows London as an overcrowded, filthy city ripe for the two disastrous events destined to strike at its heart within one year’s time. In the first part of the program, set in 1665, a live actor uses vivid descriptions by period character Dr. Nathaniel Hodges, and readings from Daniel Defoe’s Journal of the Plague Year, to show a society stretched to its limits by raging disease. Superstitions surrounding the disease are discussed, along with the social and political factors that contributed to its onset and spread. In the second part of the program, an actor playing period character Samuel Pepys uses readings from Pepys’ diary to explain the causes and provide political and social insights into the fire that in 1666 destroyed most of London, including St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Royal Exchange. (53 minutes)