The Worst Jobs in History - Season 2

Tony Robinson examines some of the terrible tasks in Britain's past, and tries them out to find the worst. He begins with the country's urban history, as he gets a bloody nose as a fighting woman, works as a water caddy and confronts his fear of heights as a fireman.

Tony Robinson examines the history of employment opportunities in the royal court, including such roles as lance-maker, laundry woman, fireworker and hall boy. He also offers an insight into one of the worst posts - purple maker - in which the worker was given the task of creating purple items by extracting the colour created when shellfish rotted in urine.

Tony Robinson examines some of the worst industry-based employment opportunities in history. He tries his hand at positions such as bridge-builder, soap-boiler, glass-blower, presser, legger and saggar-maker's bottom-knocker, before heading down the mines to experience life as a child hurrier.

Tony Robinson examines some of history's least pleasant employment opportunities at sea. He investigates the unenviable roles of liar, underdog, midshipman, flying man, lighthouse builder, gut-girl and stoker, before exploring why some took on the voluntary but extremely dangerous position of lifeboat man.

In the final programme of the series, Tony Robinson explores some of the most terrible employment opportunities available to those living in rural areas in the past. He tries his hand at being a shepherd boy, nettle harvester, chaff-box boy, sedge cutter and sin eater, and comes across one of his most terrifying jobs - steeplejack - as he tackles the highest spire in Oxford.

Let's face it, there's always been plenty of extra work to be done at Christmas time. Be it late night shelf-stacking at your local mall, cramming this year's must-have items into valuable shop space in an effort to fuel the 'pile 'em high, sell 'em dear' festive shopping frenzy, or doing the night shift down the sorting office to help out the postie, it's a tradition for students, down-at-pocket teenagers and lonely housewives.

But the seasonal labour market hasn't always been just about earning pin money and having a lark. Back in the olden days, folks had to work their fingers to the bone in some of the worst Christmas jobs in history …