Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in serialized Victorian popular fiction, known as "penny dreadfuls". A story called "The String of Pearls" was published in a weekly magazine during the winter of 1846-47. Set in 1785, the story featured as its principal villain a certain Sweeney Todd and included all the plot elements that were used by Sondheim and others ever since. The murderous barber’s story proved instantly popular – it was turned into a play before the ending had even been revealed in print. An expanded edition appeared in 1850, an American version in 1852, a new play in 1865. By the 1870s, Sweeney Todd
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street shop's chimney. Mrs. Lovett stalls the Beadle with "Parlor Songs" until Todd returns to offer the Beadle his promised "free shave"; Mrs. Lovett loudly plays her harmonium to cover the Beadle's screams above, as Todd dispatches him. In the basement, Toby discovers human remains in a pie, just as the Beadle's fresh corpse comes tumbling through the chute. Maddened, he descends into the sewers of London. Mrs. Lovett then informs Todd that Toby has found out about their secret, and Todd decides to kill Toby. Anthony arrives at the asylum to rescue Johanna, but cannot bring himself to shoot Jonas