Edwardian Farm

Edwardian Farm
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
Release
Original network BBC Two
Original release 10 November 2010 (2010-11-10) – 19 January 2011 (2011-01-19)
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 depicts a group of historians trying to run a farm like it was done during the Edwardian era. 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[1][2] and directed by Stuart Elliott, Chris Michell and Naomi Benson.

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, receiving audiences of up to 3.8 million per episode. The series was followed by Wartime Farm in September 2012, featuring the same team but this time in Hampshire on Manor Farm, living a full calendar year as World War II-era farmers.[3][4][5]

An associated book by Goodman, Langlands, and Ginn, also titled Edwardian Farm, was published in 2010 by BBC Books.[6] The series was also published on DVD, available in various regional formats.

Episodes

# Title Directed by Original air date
1"September"Stuart Elliott10 November 2010 (2010-11-10)
The trio establish their domicile, scrubbing flagstone floor and cleaning out a clogged chimney. They build a hayrick to put up hay, hire a stonemason to make a trough, learn to thatch, make a rag rug, begin keeping chickens and sheep. Ruth cooks a sheep's head stew.
2"October"Stuart Elliott17 November 2010 (2010-11-17)
Alex and Peter milk goats and train the ploughhorses. They begin a market garden of strawberries. Ruth pickles apples, salts a ham, and smokes bacon. Alex and Peter press apples to cider (scrumpy), freighting first the apples, then the barrel on the river. They visit a cooper and make lime putty. They read government agricultural leaflets, collect eggs, make chicken stew, and celebrate Halloween Edwardian style.
3"November"Chris Marshall24 November 2010 (2010-11-24)
Ruth prepares for the arrival of the farm's pigs and works on the privy, while Alex and Peter compare ploughing with horses to ploughing with the world's oldest working tractor. Peter begins a trout hatchery. In order to repair the hedgerows, Alex takes a trip to a water-powered smithy for a billhook. Ruth makes sloe gin for Christmas and entertains with a gramophone.
4"December"Chris Marshall1 December 2010 (2010-12-01)

As winter sets in, the three farm dwellers must look further afield to earn a crust.

Peter and Alex fish for crabs while Ruth hires herself out for domestic work. Ruth rides a bicycle and tries period cleaning techniques, including early vacuums. They separate growing calves from their mothers. Alex finds out how leather is made. They celebrate Christmas modestly, as poor farmers might have, and listen to a Methodist Christmas message.
5"January"Stuart Elliott8 December 2010 (2010-12-08)
The continuing winter forces Alex and Peter down a copper mine, while Ruth makes lace. The copper mine is the King Edward Mine, Camborne, Cornwall, and the lace-making is at Honiton.
6"A day in the life (February)"Stuart Elliott15 December 2010 (2010-12-15)
Six months into their year, Ruth, Alex and Peter explore the daily lives of Edwardian farmers. This episode has a slightly different format to the rest of the series; instead of covering a whole month's changes it uses a framing device of Ruth writing a letter describing the events of a single day on the farm.
7"March"Chris Mitchell19 December 2010 (2010-12-19)
Spring arrives with the lambs and the potato crop planted with manure. Daffodils are harvested and sent by train across the country.
8"April"Stuart Elliott24 December 2010 (2010-12-24)
April arrives and time is divided between the land and the sea.
9"May"Naomi Benson31 December 2010 (2010-12-31)
Summer brings the tourists, so the farm provides strawberries and clotted cream.
10"June"Chris Mitchell6 January 2011 (2011-01-06)
June arrives so the sheep go up onto the moors of Dartmoor with Alex and Peter guiding, leaving Ruth to run the farm, mixing and spraying "Bordeaux" on the potato crop. Alex and Peter try their hands at sheep-shearing and dry stone walling, and observe sheepdogs at work. Ruth makes her own cheese and visits an early wool mill. Finally, they have an Edwardian picnic with a vintage auto and then go rambling and letterboxing on the moor.
11"July"Stuart Elliott12 January 2011 (2011-01-12)
July brings the harvest, cherries and potatoes. Ruth goes salmon fishing on the River Tamar with a seine net. Peter and Alex pick cherries from tall ladders and Ruth prepares cherry preserves. They try out Edwardian potato digging devices and employ child labour. The annual day holiday at Lynmouth is a welcome distraction.
12"August"Stuart Elliott19 January 2011 (2011-01-19)
August brings to an end the year on the farm, weather dictates the harvest and the seaside brings much needed fertilizer.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/taking-edwardian-farm-to-the-next-level/5020424.article
  2. ↑ http://watch.tvguide.co.uk/engage/1419643/103447255-edwardian_farm
  3. ↑ Holmwood, Leigh (13 February 2009). "TV ratings: Bumper harvest for Victorian Farm". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 27 May 2010.
  4. ↑ http://www.shropshirestar.com/2009/01/10/farm-show-beats-big-brother/
  5. ↑ http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/multi-platform/news/piers-morgan-fails-to-bask-in-glamour/1990245.article
  6. ↑ "Edwardian Farm". Amazon. Retrieved 11 December 2010.
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