Tudor Monastery Farm Christmas, BBC2 - TV review
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.An opportunity to feel satisfied with your festive lot was provided by Tudor Monastery Farm Christmas, a seasonal special of BBC2's living history series, which gave us the lowdown on how a Tudor farmstead would have celebrated. On the one hand, they did get a whole 12 days off work – the luxury! – for a festive period which began on 25 December and extended well into January. On the other hand, the partying was preceded by Advent's four weeks of fasting and back-breaking toil.
Regular TMF viewers will have been unsurprised at the enthusiasm with which historian Ruth Goodman took to the various kitchen labours, including scraping the skin off a pig's skull (the Tudor's preferred stuffed pig's head to turkey. Strange Tudors) and risking life and limb to ignite a huge furnace for pie-baking. Meanwhile, the boys, Tom Pinfold and Peter Ginn, were having slightly less fun outdoors chopping holly and ivy to decorate the hall for feasting.
All of the many forgotten Christmas traditions were fascinating, but the greatest insight came from folklore expert Professor Ronald Hutton, who pointed out the continuity between the Roman's Saturnalia, the Viking yule, Tudor festivities and our modern Christmas. In every midwinter festival throughout Northern Europe and throughout history, there are three constant components: feasting, lighting, and greenery: "It's bringing in whatever is still green in the woods to remind us that out there life is still going on. It's really good therapy."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments