From the newspaper date seen in Oliver Twist: Episode #1.5 (1985), and other signs and inscriptions throughout, it is established that the bulk of the story takes place in 1835 and 1836, ending the year before the novel started serialization. This also explains the scattered references to the King rather than the Queen who is more commonly acknowledged in Charles Dickens works. The King is William IV, who died in 1837 and was succeeded by his niece Queen Victoria, who began the Victorian age which lasted for the majority of the 19th century. England would not have a king again until the accession of King Edward VII in 1901.