The second episode looks at his marriage to Catherine Hogarth, the early years of his fame, the effects of family life on his work and how he used his writing, as well as his growing reputation, to improve social conditions.

By the time he was 25, Dickens was considered by many to be the most famous and best-loved novelist in the world. The second episode looks at his marriage to Catherine Hogarth, the early years of his fame, the effects of family life on his work and how he used his writing, as well as his growing reputation, to improve social conditions. Dickens'stories - a brilliant melding of fiction and reportage - were imbued with contemporary and topical references, real issues for his avid audience. In Oliver Twist, he conjured his own vision of hell - the workhouse. In Nicholas Nickleby, he crusaded against another notorious institution, the so-called private academies for unwanted children. At home, the death of his beloved sister-in-law Mary - who became for him the idealized image of the virginal female - struck the first blow to his marriage with Catherine. Later traumas would include the deaths of his father and his baby daughter, Dora.