London in 1665 was a city under siege, not by armies, but by an invisible enemy: the Great Plague. Rob Rinder and historian Ruth Goodman team up to bring us The Great Plague with Rob Rinder & Ruth Goodman, airing Thursday, July 10, 2025, at 9:00 PM on 5. The film explores the devastating impact of the disease on Londoners, from the wealthy merchants to the struggling poor.
Rob Rinder takes on the role of investigator, looking into the lives of London’s richer residents, including a cloth merchant and a well-off vicar living in Covent Garden. It’s a look at how even money couldn’t buy safety from the sickness. Ruth Goodman, on the other hand, gives us the story of a poor gravedigger, a man trying to keep his family alive in London’s overcrowded, poverty-stricken backstreets. Her focus is on the gritty realities faced by those with little to no means.
The film reveals secret burials and the odd cures people tried, along with the various theories people had about how the disease spread. It also highlights the surprisingly vital need to wash your underwear during the plague, which sounds trivial but was anything but.
The film makes clear who fled, who stayed, and who stood their ground against the deadly illness. It gives a look at what it meant to live, and ultimately die, during one of London’s darkest times, no matter your social standing.
