Down on the farm

Introduction

Taking a trip back in time (without the aid of a TARDIS), three people with archaeological, historical and agricultural skills devote a year of their life to re-creating a 19th century rural environment. This is the premise behind BBC series Victorian Farm. From the warmth of summer to the depths of winter, they turn the clock back a hundred years to rediscover a forgotten world from an age long gone.



From planting and harvesting crops to animal husbandry, building pigsties, bee-keeping, tree-felling, driving steam engines and operating period machinery, the group try to do everything the old fashioned way, wearing period costumes and using only tools and materials available at the turn of the century.



The series was first broadcast on BBC Two in January/February 2009.

Video and Audio

You get a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and a DD2.0 stereo soundtrack as first broadcast. Nothing earth shattering, and nothing to complain about either.

Extra Features

Sadly nothing here.

Conclusion

When I was at school there was a ITV schools programme called "How We Used to Live". It ran for around six series, covering various periods of 19th and 20th century history. I'd hazard a guess that anyone under the age of about 25 never saw it. It was a very interesting insight into times past, and at least two series concentrated on different periods in the Victorian era.



As I mentioned in my Al Murray's Road to Berlin DVD review, there is much debate about education in schools at the moment. In fact, just this morning there was a story on the inflexibility of the current national curriculum. As with the second world war, TV programmes about the Victorian era should be compulsory viewing, and this DVD of a very good TV series is ideal for that. It's important that people growing up today understand how so much from the Victorian era shaped the world they live in, and how some of those old farming methods are being revived in order to improve the quality of what we produce from our land. This series gives a fascinating look at just those subjects.

If you enjoyed the TV series then you might like to watch it again. And you certainly should be educating your children with it. Recommended.