Local Food Heroes Blog

Monday, 08 03 10 - 17:36

BBC Program needs 'Shopkeeping' families

The makers of Who Do You Think You Are?, Edwardian Country House, and New Tricks are looking for a butcher, baker and grocer along with their families to take part in a unique living history experience for BBC ONE.

What is required? We are looking for bakers, butchers, grocers and their families to feature in a new, prime-time BBC ONE living history series. The programmes will chart the history of the British High Street from 1870 – 1970 by taking a group of skilled modern shopkeepers back in time. We are hoping to find lively, outgoing families with children aged between 8 - 18 years who can rise to the challenge of living and trading their way through 100 years of British history. We want families who can help bring this ambitious series to life and who will relish the opportunity to give modern customers a unique insight into the history of their trade.

How? The families will start by running their shop in the 1870s for one week. Then they will be fast-forwarded through time and spend a week running their shop in different key eras of British History - the Edwardian era, the 20s and 30s, the Second World War, the early 1960s and finally the 1970s. In each era, the shopkeepers and their families will have to live and run their shop as authentically as possible.

When? The series will be filmed during the summer of 2010 over approximately 9 to 10 weeks.

Where? The trades’ people and their families will relocate for the duration of the filming to a modern-day market town in the South West. We will be taking over 5 shops, dotted around a picturesque market square. It’s an ambitious and exciting way to stage this fascinating living history project and gives our shopkeepers an unprecedented chance to demonstrate to an entire town the challenges which their forebears would have faced on a daily basis.

Why? This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for a family to explore the history of their trade. It’s a chance to celebrate Britain’s rich history of independent trading and to showcase experts in their craft. Our butcher, baker and grocer will have the chance to learn old time skills in their shop, which will be meticulously decorated and fitted out. They’ll need to tempt modern customers with once-fashionable recipes and use traditional methods to create them. And they’ll grapple with the challenges of rationing and other rules and regulations laid down by history. It’s a chance to experience the evolution of the British High Street first hand.

For more details on this exciting opportunity, please contact Zara on 020 7241 9232, or email zara.margham@walltowall.co.uk

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