The 18th Century City of London was naturally quite different from the London of later times, shrouded in a thick fog that carried an odd smell, and the surfaces of buildings were coated with the black ash formed after coal combustion, making the entire city appear grimy.
If it had been the real 18th Century, the rise of the first Industrial Revolution would have injected new vitality into the city of London, with a large number of buildings being constructed, significantly changing the city and the lives of its inhabitants.
But in this space of misaligned timelines, London seemed especially bizarre.