Tales from the Green Valley is a historical documentary TV series in 12 parts, first shown on BBC Two in autumn 2005.
The series was made for the BBC by independent production company Lion TV. It was directed and produced by Peter Sommer. The Series Producer was David Upshal. The narrator was Owen Teale, and the music was composed by David Poore.
The series recreates everyday life on a small farm in Wales in the 1620s, using authentic replica equipment and clothing, original recipes and reconstructed building techniques. Much use is made of period sources such as agricultural writers Gervase Markham and Thomas Tusser.
The series features historians Stuart Peachey and Ruth Goodman, and archaeologists Alex Langlands, Peter Ginn and Chloe Spencer.
The series has been released on DVD, distributed by Acorn Media UK.[1]
An associated book by Stuart Peachey-–The Building of the Green Valley: a reconstruction of an early 17th-century rural landscape-–was published in 2006.[2]
Contents |
A Tudor Feast at Christmas – a "spin-off" from the series, broadcast in December 2006 – showed the team recreating a Tudor banquet at Haddon Hall.[3]
A new series set in the 19th century entitled Victorian Farm was screened on BBC Two in January 2009[4] and Edwardian Farm in November 2010[5].
The series followed on from a number of social history documentaries on UK television based on historical reconstructions, including The Victorian Kitchen Garden, The Victorian Kitchen, The Victorian Flower Garden and The Wartime Kitchen and Garden.
The reality television genre has also used historical reconstructions as the basis for a number of shows including The 1900 House and Coal House.