Explore the infamous tale of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet street, tracing its origins from Victorian penny dreadfuls to the stage and screen adaptations. Learn the layered history of Fleet Street in London, blending fact with fiction.
The Dark Fictional Legacy of Sweeney Todd
Visitors to the UK may not be aware of Fleet Street’s newspaper heritage, but they may have watched the film or seen the stage production of Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. The story dates back to one of the so-called ‘penny dreadful’ magazines of 1846, a genre of lurid horror fiction.
The story ‘The String of Pearls’ introduced the character of Sweeney Todd, who murdered his unwitting customers, by tipping them up through a trap door while they sat in the barber’s chair, causing them to fall into the cellar below. If the fall didn’t kill them, Todd would slit the throats of his unfortunate victims.
They were then transported by means of an underground passage to Todd’s partner in crime, Mrs Lovett, who had a pie shop in nearby Bell Yard, and I’m sure you can imagine what went into her pies!
Evolution to Stage and Screen Adaptation
The story was picked up in 1970 and turned into a play by Christopher Bond. The American composer, Stephen Sondheim, saw this and was inspired to create a musical about it, which had its debut in 1979 not in London but in New York, though the following year it reached the West End where it was a huge success.
Nearly 30 years later in 2007, a musical film was made starring Johnny Depp as Todd and Helena Bonham-Carter as Mrs Lovett, bringing the story and music to a new audience. There are those who argue that the character of Sweeney Todd was based on a real person, but hard evidence for this is lacking. Maybe it is because it seems just faintly plausible.
Blending Fiction with Real Locations
But what is true is that the location where the murderous Mr. Todd is said to have worked still exists, at 186 Fleet Street. There is no barber here, just the offices of D.C. Thomson, the Dundee-based publishing company.
Although one thinks of Fleet Street as having been the home of the national press, the regional press needed a presence here too, certainly in the days before modern communication.
Fleet Street’s Newspaper and Publishing History
The journalists have long abandoned Fleet Street, scattered to the winds, but DC Thomson still occupies the building, though it is advertising staff based here now. The front of the building overlooking Fleet Street, and the side of the building overlooking the courtyard of St Dunstan’s in the West contain reminders of the heyday of publishing.
Picked out in glazed brickwork are some of DC Thomson’s publications, including the People’s Friend, the Dundee Courier, and the Sunday Post. Of five publications listed, four are still produced to this day. But the publication from their stable which is probably the best known does not feature on the wall, for that is the children’s comic, The Beano.
Maybe it was not serious enough for a London street once bursting with globally recognised newspapers? However, if you take a peak through the window of number 186, you will see on the far wall one of its beloved characters immortalised in a pop art canvas – Dennis the Menace.
So even if there was no real life murderer located at this address, at least a fictional trouble maker is celebrated here.
Why not see this for yourself with a guided walk along Fleet Street, learning about the history of the printed word, exploring the alley ways off the ‘Street of Shame’, and more.
