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Wartime Farm is the fourth farm series from the now familiar team of Ruth Goodman, Peter Ginn and Alex Langlands
Following on from the earlier ‘farm’ series. ‘Tales from the Green Valley’, ‘Victorian Farm’ and ‘Edwardian Farm’ Wartime farm sees them take another step closer to the present day and into what is still living memory for many people. This means that they are able, for the first time, to talk to people who were actually there, which adds an extra dimension to the proceedings.
The series is split, as before, into six one hour episodes. And it follows the team as they live through a farming year -
This was a time of significant change for UK farming. No longer was it sufficient for farmers to do their best. A combination of limited imports and the need for food to feed the troops meant that there wasn’t enough food in the UK. Rationing was part of the solution, but the farms were also put under intense pressure to increase production beyond what might otherwise have been considered reasonable.
You can read more about how they got on and the filming locations in my episode reviews.
After completing their year at Manor Farm, the team return to recreate a wartime Christmas as it would have been in 1944. There is less to do on the farm at this time of year. The cows still need milking etc, of course. But December provides an opportunity for maintaining hedges and ditches.
That’s not what we are here for, however. This is the Christmas special. So we’re treated to decorations, presents and feasting under rationing.
You can read more about the Christmas Special and the locations where it was filmed in my review of Wartime Farm Christmas.
The entire Wartime Farm series is available on DVD. There is also a book to support the series.
The latest farm series, Tudor Monastery Farm is currently showing on BBC2 and is available on iPlayer until Christmas day. You can find out about that series and where it was filmed here.
You can also see A Tudor Feast at Christmas at various times during the festive season on Good Food. See my review of a Tudor Feast at Christmas for more details.