Did anyone else watch this? I thought it was done more realistically than Back in time for dinner (more than the beginning of it anyway, I didn't watch all the episodes) It specifically aimed to show how the poor lived in Victorian times, and portrayed the grime and hardship most graphically. Not personally vicious to them as in some of the reality shows, and not a contest to see who would be ejected each time.
The intrepid volunters started by streetcleaning and collecting horse dung (real) and were told to separate out the dogpoo (real) to go to the tanners. After a lunch of coarse bread and strong cheese, they went on to the dustyard to separate the debris they had collected into categories, sieving ashes and washing bones and scraps of material.
They cooked up some bacon and onions over an open fire and ate it, then the men were sent off on a special evening job - collecting night soil (contents of privies - real). They slept on the floor with pillows stuffed with straw, and had no chance of a proper wash, and were paid pennies by harsh bosses.
Next morning the women had an hour to mix the night soil with spent hops for fertilizer and pack it in sacks, while the men packed barrels with the ashes.
Can't wait to see what they get them to do next week! This week we had Anne Widdecombe up to her ankles in mud beating a carpet. Alistair McGowan shovelling shit. Colin Jackson makng a toothbrush out of a bit of stick, and telling the rest that back home they did this with sugarcane, so it was just the same, just not as sweet. Tyger Drew-Honey stealing buttons from the rubbish and using them to pay for a pint, until the dustyard owner caught him.
