The growth of towns and cities in Britain - especially London - brought dramatic developments in terms of sexual opportunity, adventure and identity.

Penny Corfield, of Royal Holloway College in Surrey, is one of a growing number of researchers who are putting this area of social history under the spotlight. In this programme she examines the legendary charms of the hackney carriage as a venue for casual sex, visits the area of London identified with the erotic print trade, and tracks down the oldest-surviving condoms in the country. There is also a look at how urban life was crucial in the shaping of gay identity.