Edwardian Farm
1/12, series 1, Wednesday 10 November
BBC2 8:00pm - 9:00pm
Archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn and social historian Ruth Goodman move to a new location - Morwellham Quay on Devon's Tamar river - for their latest living history challenge: to live and work as Edwardian farmers for exactly one year. As they arrive by sailboat on a misty September morning, the farm looks eerily romantic and rather charming, although some local characters, with their thick Devonshire accents and almost comically ruddy faces, take the edge off that fanciful notion. Farming in the early years of the 20th century was a more mechanised affair than it was for the Victorians, but still tough work. Nothing fazes this excitable trio, though. A blocked chimney? Pass us a bunch of holly on a rope and we'll sort it in no time. Cleaning a sheep's head "in the usual manner" for dinner? No problem. Three days of back-breaking work producing quicklime to spread on their arable fields? What a laugh! Sometimes you get the feeling that living in the present day isn't nearly as much fun for these three.
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Subtitled, Widescreen, Audio-described Radiotimes
