Set in the underbelly of Victorian London's East End, "Joe Rat" follows the fortunes of a tosher, Joe, who lives by scavenging in the sewers around the area of Whitechapel.

It's a fast-paced and vivid tale of survival in a society which fosters neither friendship nor trust.

But Joe comes to know both after a chance encounter with a runaway girl, Bess, and the 'madman' who inhabits Pound's Field.

With gangs lurking round every corner and a life spent in the rat-infested tunnels below the streets, Joe needs more than a prime piece of tosh to change his fortunes.