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All Seasons

Season 1

  • S01E01 Episode 1

    • April 20, 1999
    • BBC One

    Following environmental health officers at London's Haringey council. The team investigates the home of an 81-year-old man who has filled all five bedrooms with rubbish.

  • S01E02 Episode 2

    • May 4, 1999
    • BBC One

    Following environmental health officers at London's Haringey council. The pest team are under pressure from irate customers complaining of mouse and rat infestations.

  • S01E03 Episode 3

    • May 11, 1999
    • BBC One

    Series following environmental health officers. An 81-year-old man is determined to stop the council from clearing his rat-infested garden, so takes the law into his own hands.

  • S01E04 Episode 4

    • May 18, 1999
    • BBC One

    Series following environmental health officers. The public mortuary is under siege as journalists await the result of a controversial inquest at the Coroner's court upstairs.

  • S01E05 Episode 5

    • May 25, 1999
    • BBC One

    Series following environmental health officers in London. The press are out in force as the inquest in the coroner's court ends. In the mortuary, a decomposed body arrives.

  • S01E06 Episode 6

    • June 1, 1999
    • BBC One

    Yet more high jinks as the environmental health officers at London's Haringey council carry out their unenviable tasks. This show features the tragic story of an abandoned baby.

Season 2

Season 3

  • S03E01 Episode 1

    • June 24, 2002
    • BBC One

    More intriguing stories about dirt. Brian Livsey and his team of street cleaners struggle with the mountains of rubbish dumped in the back alleys of Salford's red-brick terraces.

  • S03E02 Episode 2

    • June 25, 2000
    • BBC One

    The strangely absorbing exploits of Salford's environmental health workers. A garage is set on fire by local vandals, causing asbestos fibres to fall like snowflakes.

  • S03E03 Episode 3

    • July 8, 2002
    • BBC One

    John Peel narrates the series about the gritty characters who earn a living dealing dirt. A man who runs the furnaces at a crematorium recounts some unfortunate, yet amusing, tales.

  • S03E04 Episode 4

    • July 15, 2002
    • BBC One

    Yet more stories from the people who deal with the difficult and the dirty for a living. This time, dog warden Ian Richardson attempts to round up a pack of wild dogs in Salford.

  • S03E05 Episode 5

    • July 22, 2002
    • BBC One

    Trouble with the furnace at the crematorium in this edition, and it doesn't end there; as the backlog of coffins gets bigger, a bees' nest outside the chapel is disturbing mourners.

  • S03E06 Episode 6

    • July 31, 2002
    • BBC One

    John Peel narrates more grim tales. Salford's youngsters come under the spotlight as the graffiti squad clean the city's subways, and an aggressive stray dog is causing alarm.

  • S03E07 Episode 7

    • August 5, 2002
    • BBC One

    Revealing report on some of the filthiest, gut-wrenching jobs of all. Council workers Mike and Roy tackle some truly awful smells. Deadpan narration is courtesy of John Peel.

  • S03E08 Episode 8

    • August 12, 2002
    • BBC One

    Narrated by John Peel. 'Drain surgeon' Roy looks forward to a well-earned retirement. Meanwhile, at the crematorium, Barry and Gary come up with some unusual funeral music.

Season 4

  • S04E01 Episode 1

    • March 11, 2003
    • BBC One

    Spare a thought for our country's environmental health officers. New inspector Yunes Teinaz gets tough with restaurant owners, and there's more from 83-year-old Edmund Trebus.

  • S04E02 Episode 2

    • March 25, 2003
    • BBC One

    Just say sausages... in this visit to Haringey, pest-control officer George uses sausages to trap a plague of rats. Meanwhile, over at the mortuary, Paul has to test some blood.

  • S04E03 Episode 3

    • April 1, 2003
    • BBC One

    A group of New Age travellers who keep an extended family of pot-bellied pigs are threatened with eviction, but who has the unenviable task of serving the order?

  • S04E04 Episode 4

    • April 8, 2003
    • BBC One

    Documentary series following the exploits of environmental health officers in Haringey. Dr Yunes Teinaz confiscates some live snails from a grocer.

  • S04E05 Episode 5

    • April 15, 2003
    • BBC One

    Documentary series following the exploits of environmental health officers in Haringey. Paul Coombes shows some police cadets their first post mortem.

  • S04E06 Episode 6

    • April 22, 2003
    • BBC One

    Documentary series following environmental health officers in Haringey. Meat to be used in a Muslim festival gives cause for concern, and a tower block must be cleared of pets.

  • S04E07 Episode 7

    • April 29, 2003
    • BBC One

    Documentary series following the exploits of environmental health officers in Haringey. Pest control officer George Whordley tries to help a homeless man living under an arch.

  • S04E08 Episode 8

    • May 6, 2003
    • BBC One

    Documentary series following environmental health officers in Haringey. Officers investigate a strange smell, and the food team tracks down an illegal food operation.

Season 5

  • S05E01 Episode 1

    • September 16, 2003
    • BBC One

    In Bristol, pest officer Ian Thomas has his work cut out when he investigates a rat found in a car - presumably it wasn't driving. And Paul Vice must clear a mystery blockage.

  • S05E02 Episode 2

    • September 23, 2003
    • BBC One

    More unsavoury encounters for health officers as Bristol City Council clears up a hundred years of muck from a local boating lake - but must fish out any inhabitants first.

  • S05E03 Episode 3

    • September 30, 2003
    • BBC One

    Pest officer Ian Thomas is called to a rat-infested alleyway in the centre of Bristol, and the city's dog wardens are after a stray that has been running wild on a golf course.

  • S05E04 Episode 4

    • October 7, 2003
    • BBC One

    Housing surveyor Carl Turville clears up after an eviction from a council flat, and pest officer Stuart Royall has to disinfect a property where a man's body has lain undiscovered.

  • S05E05 Episode 5

    • October 14, 2003
    • BBC One

    Stuart Tonkins struggles to get into a hoarder's flat which is crammed from floor to ceiling with junk, while Paul Vice tries to find a lost manhole under an acre of rubble.

  • S05E06 Episode 6

    • October 28, 2003
    • BBC One

    More unsavoury adventures for the public services as Mark Coombes tries to catch a stray dog, and an arson attack on a council house leaves Carl Turville with his work cut out.

  • S05E07 Episode 7

    • November 4, 2003
    • BBC One

    Environmental health officers double up as ghostbusters when they help a woman who is being terrorised by ghostly activities in her council home - could an exorcist be the answer?

  • S05E08 Episode 8

    • November 11, 2003
    • BBC One

    Judgement day looms in the Britain's Cleanest City Competition, and pest officer Ian Thomas faces some mightily persistent cockroaches in a hairdressing salon.

Season 6

  • S06E01 Episode 1

    • March 4, 2004
    • BBC One

    Lewis Gayle, a council plumber, has his hands full when the sewage from a tower block erupts from a ground floor toilet, while Tim Stevens has an infestation of rats to deal with.

  • S06E02 Episode 2

    • March 11, 2004
    • BBC One

    Strong stomachs are required as the grime-busting team are summoned to the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, when rubbish chutes in a 60s tower block become obstructed.

  • S06E03 Episode 3

    • March 18, 2004
    • BBC One

    Incidents in London's East End include the funeral of an elderly lady with no next of kin, and the discovery of a medieval burial site containing the remains of 10,000 people.

  • S06E04 Episode 4

    • March 25, 2004
    • BBC One

    The Tower Hamlets Environmental Health Department have a baffling case to cope with - somebody's keeping fighting cocks in a caravan underneath the railway arches.

  • S06E05 Episode 5

    • April 6, 2004
    • BBC One

    There's a suspicious death to investigate in the Tower Hamlets mortuary and the team also discover some illegally dumped and rotting meat. Plus wasp nests in unlikely places.

  • S06E06 Episode 6

    • April 13, 2004
    • BBC One

    Entertainingly stomach-churning exploits in London's East End. Hot temperatures mean hot heads and high emotions as the environmental officers face a bad cockroach epidemic.

  • S06E07 Episode 7

    • April 20, 2004
    • BBC One

    More pleasant discoveries for the environmental health officers. A tenant's dogs are stinking out a council block and a woman is attracting rats by leaving food out for the pigeons.

  • S06E08 Episode 8

    • April 25, 2004
    • BBC One

    Bristol's cleaning teams are on high alert as judgement day looms in the Britain's Cleanest City Competition. And a pest officer tackles some particularly persistent cockroaches.

Season 7

Season 8

  • S08E01 Episode 1

    • May 2, 2006
    • BBC One

    For those of you who have ever moaned about your jobs, tune in here and moan no more! Freddy and Jim have the task of clearing out four tonnes of rubbish from a tenant's flat.

  • S08E02 Episode 2

    • May 9, 2006
    • BBC One

    Every day brings a new joy for the environmental health officers in Edinburgh. Vandals trash a 300-year-old tomb so the council are left to pick up the pieces.

  • S08E03 Episode 3

    • May 16, 2006
    • BBC One

    More eye-watering adventures with the Edinburgh environmental health officers. Mortuary technician Vicky faces a body which is so badly decomposed it's barely identifiable.

  • S08E04 Episode 4

    • May 25, 2006
    • BBC One

    Not for the faint hearted, this show follows environmental officers in Edinburgh at work. It's summertime and the pest control boys have the ultimate gadget to see off wasps.

  • S08E05 Episode 5

    • May 31, 2006
    • BBC One

    The eye-opening series following environmental health officers in Edinburgh. Graveyard workers Stuart and Gareth venture down to the city's tombs to evict homeless people.

  • S08E06 Episode 6

    • June 6, 2006
    • BBC One

    Eye-popping series following the usually grotty work of council health officers in Edinburgh. Paul and Hazel are panicking over the amount of dog poo in the heart of town.

  • S08E07 Episode 7

    • June 13, 2006
    • BBC One

    Another instalment of the show that will have you wincing at the filthy jobs some have to do. Christmas shoppers who drop their cigarette butts leave town with a little less cheer.

  • S08E08 Episode 8

    • June 20, 2006
    • BBC One

    Eye-watering documentary series which goes behind the scenes with Edinburgh environmental health officers as they endeavour to keep the city's homes, streets and parks clean.

Additional Specials

  • SPECIAL 0x1 A Life of Grime Special: Mr Trebus

    • May 3, 2001
    • BBC One

    An update of the story of 83-year-old Edmund Trebus, who is continuing to wage a battle with his council over his right to live in a house full of rubbish.

  • SPECIAL 0x2 A Life of Grime Special: Pets

    • November 27, 2001
    • BBC One

  • SPECIAL 0x3 A Life of Grime Special: Food

    • December 4, 2001
    • BBC One

  • SPECIAL 0x4 A Life of Grime Special: Vermin

    • December 11, 2001
    • BBC One

    This episode focuses on pests and vermin, exploring the problems caused by fleas, blood-sucking bedbugs and rampaging rats.

  • SPECIAL 0x5 Mr Trebus Special

    • October 13, 2002
    • BBC One

    An update of the story of 83-year-old Edmund Trebus, who is continuing to wage a battle with his council over his right to live in a house full of rubbish. Update edition: John Peel narrates a tribute to the recently deceased [29/09/2002] Edmund Trebus.