The musical is based on 18th century serialized magazine story called The String of Pearls. There have been many adaptations since then, of which this is by far the most famous. The judge and the beadle, as well as Todd's wife and daughter and the revenge plot, are not in the original story, where Todd's motive is simply to rob his customers and profit by providing meat for Mrs. Lovett's pies; but the original story does feature the barber chair that tips over and dumps the corpses down a chute, as well as a young sailor who is in love with a girl named Johanna (no relation to Todd), and a boy named Tobias who comes to know too much.