Shining a light on a forgotten contribution to the war effort was Wartime Farm (BBC Two) in which historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn went back in time to witness an agricultural revolution. It was their third such adventure, having endured hard harvests and wild winters in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. This time, we were left in no doubt of their heroism. Winston Churchill said that “Farms of Britain were the frontline of freedom” and the plucky trio attempted to double crop production (well, in theory) and feed the nation from their 62 acres of prime Hampshire pasture.
It was a noble effort, but it made for rather uninvolving television. We were introduced to a world of portable petrol generators and removable bespoke blackout frames which seemed to excite both Langlands and Ginn. Poor Goodman, in the role of the farmer’s wife, was reduced to picking rosehips, fitting lino and nodding enthusiastically as a “household technology” expert introduced her to an iron. Still, she was game. “You’ll have muscles,” laughed Pete, the farmer as she tried to crank up a pre-war tractor. “I have muscles,” she cried defiantly, before nearly passing out on top of Henry the sheepdog.
You felt rather sorry for Henry. He was drawn into Ginn’s tedious mission to build a mole subsoiler. It was a sorry saga, even the earnest narrator sounded weary – “Oh, the improvised bracket has bent” – and Henry was chastised for digging up potatoes when he should have been digging for lead. He was probably planning his escape…
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