The Thames has been a highway, a frontier and an attack route; it has been a playground and a sewer, a source of water and a source of power. Every stretch has its own character, atmosphere and stories. Thames: Sacred River explores the river from source to sea. Peter Ackroyd, bestselling author of London: The Biography, tells the story of the river and the people who have lived on and by it over the centuries. In part two, The Working River, we discover the wherries, barges and bridges, the industries, lawmakers and lawbreakers who form the life of the river.