| Edwardian Farm | |
|---|---|
| Format | Documentary |
| Starring | Peter Ginn Ruth Goodman Alex Langlands |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 12 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Lion Television |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC Two |
| Original airing | 10 November 2010 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Edwardian Farm is an historical documentary TV series in twelve parts, first shown on BBC Two from November 2010 to January 2011. It was made for the BBC by independent production company Lion Television and filmed at Morwellham Quay, an historic quay in Devon. The farming team was historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn. The series was devised and produced by David Upshal and directed by Stuart Elliott.
The series is a development from two previous series Victorian Farm and Victorian Pharmacy which were among BBC Two's biggest hits of 2009 and 2010, garnering audiences of up to 3.8 million per episode.[1][2][3]
An associated book by Goodman, Langlands, and Ginn, also titled Edwardian Farm, was published in 2010 by BBC Books.[4]
Contents |
The trio prepare for the arrival of their livestock, and Ruth cooks a sheep's head stew.
The team get to grips with shire horses and Alex and Peter make cider.
Ruth prepares for the arrival of the farm's pigs, while Alex and Peter plough the land.
As winter sets in, the three farm dwellers must look further afield to earn a crust.
The continuing winter forces Alex and Peter down a tin mine, while Ruth makes lace. The tin mine is the King Edward Mine, Camborne, Cornwall, and the lace-making is at Honiton.
6 months into their year, Ruth, Alex and Peter explore the daily lives of the Edwardian Farmers. This episode has a slightly different format to the rest of the series; instead of covering a whole month's changes, it is subtitled A Day in the Life and uses a framing device of Ruth writing a letter describing the more mundane aspects of daily life on the farm.
Spring arrives with the lambs and the potato crop planted with manure. Daffodils are harvested and sent by train across the country.
April arrives and time is divided between the land and the sea.
Summer brings the tourists, so the farm provides strawberries and clotted cream.
June arrives so the sheep go up onto the moors of Dartmoor with Alex and Peter guiding, leaving Ruth to run the Farm.
July brings the harvest, cherries and potatoes. The annual day holiday is a welcome distraction.
August brings to an end the year on the farm, weather dictates the harvest and the seaside brings much needed fertilizer.