Wartime Farm is a British historical documentary TV series in eight parts in which the running of a farm during the Second World War is reenacted, first broadcast on BBC Two on 6 September 2012. The series, the fourth in the historic farm series, following the original, Tales from the Green Valley, was made for the BBC by independent production company Lion Television in association with the Open University, and was filmed at Manor Farm Country Park, now Manor Farm and River Hamble Country Park respectively, close to Southampton.Hampshire County Council: Manor Farm Country Park The farming team consisted of historian Ruth Goodman, and archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn. The Wartime Farm commissioning executives for the BBC are Emma Willis and James Hayes, and the Executive Producer for Lion Television is David Upshal.
An associated book by Langlands, Ginn and Goodman—Wartime Farm: Rediscovering the Skills and Spirit of World War II—was published in 2012.London: Mitchell Beazley. In addition, a free booklet was made available to viewers in the UK and Ireland, by the Open University.
The team Goodman, Ginn and Langlands began their collaboration with Tales from the Green Valley (2005), a programme exploring life on a small farm in Gray Hill, Monmouthshire, Wales, in the 17th century. They lived for a full calendar year as 1880s tenants on the Shropshire estate of Acton Scott in the programme Victorian Farm (January 2009), followed by Victorian Farm Christmas (December 2009), which picks up the narrative a year later. The historians went to Morwellham Quay in Devon for Edwardian Farm (2010). Tudor Monastery Farm (2013) explored what farming was like near the end of the reign of Henry VII, at the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum. They explored 13th-century life and work in Secrets of the Castle (2014), filmed at Guédelon Castle in Treigny, France. Victorian Pharmacy (2010), on which Goodman was a presenter, is sometimes listed as part of these documentaries.
Episodes
Related programme Wartime Farm, Christmas Special was broadcast on BBC Two and BBC HD on 18 December 2012. The 60-minute programme recreated the conditions of Christmas 1944 and was presented by Ruth Goodman and Peter Ginn.
Ratings
No. Title Original air date Total viewers (millions) BBC2 Weekly Ranking
References
External links
Wartime Farm on Open University