Victorian Farm (2009)

Genre

documentary film

Country

United Kingdom

Length

1 season, 6 episodes

Rated

18+

Rating

9.0 of 10 from 8 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

Three historians live for a year on a recreated 1880s farm in Shropshire. They use only period tools, clothing, and recipes to perform daily tasks like planting, cooking, and building.

educationalrelaxedhands-onretromethodicalauthenticcozyobservational

What happens

Victorian Farm is a British historical documentary TV series in six parts, first shown on BBC Two in January 2009, and followed by three Christmas-themed parts in December of the same year. The series, the second in the BBC historic farm series, recreates everyday life on a farm in Shropshire in the 1880s, using authentic replica equipment and clothing, original recipes and reconstructed building techniques. It was made for the BBC by independent production company Lion Television and filmed at a preserved Victorian era living museum farm, Acton Scott Historic Working Farm, Shropshire. The farming team was historian Ruth Goodman, and archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn. Much use was made of period sources such as The Book of the Farm: Detailing the Labours of the Farmer, Farm-steward, Ploughman, Shepherd, Hedger, Cattle-man, Field-worker, and Dairy-maid by Dr Henry Stephens, first published in London in 1844. The series was one of BBC Two's biggest hits of 2009, with audiences of up to 3.8 million per episode. It was highly praised by reviewers. A corollary miniseries, Victorian Farm Christmas, comprised three episodes aired at Christmastime in 2009. An associated book by Langlands, Ginn and Goodman, also titled Victorian Farm, was published in 2009. The book reached number one on the Sunday Times best seller list in February 2009. The series is a sequel to Tales from the Green Valley, shown on BBC Two in 2005. The BBC commissioned two follow-ups with the same production team and cast: Victorian Farm Christmas, which aired in December 2009, and Edwardian Farm, aired from November 2010. In September 2012 the same cast returned with the third instalment of the BBC Farm series: Wartime Farm. The fourth installment came in 2013, Tudor Monastery Farm. Various Christmas specials were also broadcast. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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• Tudor Monastery Farm (2013)
• Tales from the Green Valley (2005)
• Wartime Farm (2012)
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