Victorian London: Difference between revisions

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Land of [[Ominous Fog|fog-shrouded streets,]] Cockney flower girls, soot-faced urchins, friendly Bobbies, and ''[[Sherlock Holmes]]''. Also home to [[Jack the Ripper]], so you'd best mind your step while walking through Whitechapel, unless you want to wind up lying on a marble slab with some grim-faced police detective from Scotland Yard inspecting your corpse.

Be on the lookout also for wispy, top-hatted Vampires wearing long black capes. A run-in with one of those could leave you floating in the Thames with a pair of holes in your neck and your body drained of blood. Other things to avoid are [[Opium Den|opium dens]] and any evil cultists, [[Mad Scientist|Mad Scientists]]s, creepy Egyptologists, or [[Wax Museum Morgue|Wax Museum curators]] who seem to have a more-than-proper interest in your girlfriend. On the other hand, if you meet [[The Grotesque|a man with a bag on his head and a strong speech impediment]], be nice to him.

Speaking of more-than-proper... you'd ''better'' watch your step, guv'nor, as the moral tone of this period is, well, positively Victorian. If you're a woman, prepare to be able to defend your 'virtue' literally with your life. Conversely, if you're a man, be aware that any tampering at all with this fragile commodity may lead to 'either marriage, or breach of promise [lawsuit]!' Of course, underneath all this middle-class repression, everybody -- welleverybody—well, everybody male, anyway -- isanyway—is a sex-mad brothel patron, the seedier the better, so it may not be ''all'' bad.

* ''[[Topsy Turvy]]'' a movie about [[Gilbert and Sullivan]] and the staging of their operattaoperetta ''[[The Mikado]]''.

* Ankh-Morpork on [[Discworld]], except it's more like modern New York set in Victorian London. With dwarfs. And trolls. There's even a few neurotic vampires with hilarious accents.

** ''[[David Copperfield (novel)|David Copperfield]]''

* ''[[The War of the Worlds (novel)|The War of the Worlds]]'' Centerscenters around the exodus of London at one point. And it's where the Martians die. In 1898.

* ''[[The Witch Watch]]'' is set here for the most part.

* Elizabeth Peters's ''[[Amelia Peabody]]'' stories start in this period and move through [[The Gay Nineties]] into [[World War OneI]]. But Amelia and her husband (though notably ''not'' her children) retain their [[Victorian London]] sensibilities throughout. Most of their adventures actually happen in Egypt, as they are archaeologists.

* [[Anne Perry]]'s mystery novels are very conscious attempts to subvert the common Victorian stereotypes, by playing up the tension between facadefaçade and the reality of human emotion. When this works, it works brilliantly; however, when it doesn't, the result tends to be lurid melodrama that makes [[w:Sheridan Le Fanu|Le Fanu]] look plausible.

* The second trilogy of the ''[[Welkin Weasels]]'' depicts a furry version of Sherlock Holmes -- notHolmes—not connected in any way to ''[[The Great Mouse Detective]]'', but a [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|weasel]] by the name of Montegu Sylver -- livingSylver—living in a [[Victorian London]] [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture]] full of furries.

* ''[[Darkness Visible]]''.

* Philip Pullman's ''[[Sally Lockhart]]'' series.

* Molly Hughes' ''[[A London Family]]'' trilogy does for middle-class London what Flora Thompson's ''[[Lark Rise to Candleford]]'' did for rural England at largely the same time (1870s-90s). Thompson and Hughes even wrote their books at the same time (1930s).

* The ''[[Arcane Society]]'' novels written by Amanda Quick fall into this era, whereas the Jayne Ann Krentz novels are modern era and Jayne Castle are futuristic.

* One of the downtime locations of ''[[Time Scout]]''. The two latter books take place during [[Jack the Ripper]]'s ''tour de force.''

* The ''[[Gemma Doyle]]'' series takes place here.

* ''[[The Infernal Devices]]'', prequel trilogy to the ''[[Mortal Instruments]]'' series takes place here.

* A not uncommon destination for ''[[Doctor Who]]'': "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S4 E9/E09 The Evil of the Daleks|The Evil of the Daleks]]", "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S14 E6/E06 The Talons of Weng Chiang|The Talons Of Weng-Chiang]]", "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S26 E2/E02 Ghost Light|Ghost Light]]", "[[Doctor Who/NS/Recap/S1 E3S27/E03 The Unquiet Dead|The Unquiet Dead]]", "[[Doctor Who/NS/Recap/S2 E2S28/E02 Tooth and Claw|Tooth and Claw]]", and "[[Doctor Who/NS/Recap/S4 S30/E14 The Next Doctor|The Next Doctor]]" have all been set in the Victorian era. "[[Recap/Doctor Who NSS 6 E 7/Recap/S32/E07 A Good Man Goes Toto War|Doctor Who NSS 6 E 7 A Good Man Goes To War]]" had a short scene in [[Victorian London]] and two characters from the era who were prominently featured. Even knockoffs of Victorian London have been seen: "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S23 E4/E04 The Ultimate Foe|The Ultimate Foe]]" was set in a simulation of Victorian London (long story), and "[[Doctor Who/Recap/2010 CSACS A Christmas Carol/Recap|A Christmas Carol]]" was set in Victorian London [[Recycled in Space|IN SPACE!]]

* The [[Sy FySyfy]] series ''[[Sanctuary (TV series)|Sanctuary]]'' uses this often in flashbacks to Helen Magnus and The Five, one of whom was in fact Jack the Ripper (rounding out the group was the Invisible Man, Sherlock Holmes, and Nikola Tesla.)

* One of the domains of ''[[Ravenloft]]'', the city of Paridon, aptly enough for a gothjcgothic setting, ''is'' Victorian London, including a [[Jack the Ripper]] [[Expy]].

== [[Video Games]] ==

* City of Haze and 13th street in ''[[Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin]]''.

* The moments of ''[[American McGee's Alice|Alice: Madness Returns]]'' not set in Wonderland are set in Victorian London, aka The Real World for Alice.

* ''[[Wizard 101]]'': the world Marleybone is an [[Expy]] of this mixed with [[Steampunk]]. Oh yeah, and the people are all [[Petting Zoo People|dogs, cats, rats, or the occasional frog.]]

* The setting for ''[[Amnesia: aA Machine For Pigs]]'', sequel to ''[[Amnesia: The Dark Descent|Amnesia the Dark Descent]]''.

* The "Four Beheadings and a Funeral" story in ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' episode "Treehouse of Horror XV" ''is'' this trope applied to the show.

* Most of ''[[The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!|The Pirates in An Adventure With Scientists]]''

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[[Category:Victorian LondonBritain]]