Secrets of the Castle [DVD] [UK Import]

I love the three archeologists, for all their knowledge, they are also very entertaining and I enjoy their interactions. This show is one of several Historic Farm series that I vastly enjoy. I marvel at the simple and brilliant ingenuity of our ancestors who were able to perform marvelous engineering feats with the most basic of means with outstanding skill. Not to mention being to build lives with their own two hands. Ruth and the other guys, I forget names easily, demonstrate medieval life down to the most simple aspects of daily living to the more dramatic aspects like castle building and warfare. My family members wandered in while I was watching and became glued.

The only disappointment was when we finished the final episode. We want to see more!

My historical reenactment team of Ruth Goodman and Peter Ginn are back at it again along with Tom Pinfold. I found Tom to be more easygoing this time around than he was in Tudor Monastery Farm. This endeavor is a little different from the previous onesproduced by BBC/Upshal because they were not bringing something back to original state or close to it but they were starting from the ground up. I still did managed to enjoy it. The interactions with other collaborators felt a little bit stiff. It didn't feel natural with the exception of one or two people. But the information that went along with the building at the castle was very informative which is was what I enjoyed. This time around I saw Ruth being more physical than in the previous projects. Ruth and Peter still have that amazing work chemistry/friendship.

This was such an insightful and well presented view of the construction of a castle, with all the trades shown as they would have been in the 13th. Watching the masons, smiths, carpenters, and other craftspeople has given me new appreciation for medieval construction.

Essentially this same cast and crew offered us extended periods of living in the past, from a Victorian farm to a farm on Medieval monastic lands, and now this - an experimental archeology site in France spanning decades where a 13th-century castle is being built using original skills and methods. Part of this formula is showing how difficult those crafts were by having a member of the cast try and fail. Ruth actually knows what she's doing. Thus they have her do things she's never done. Mostly I wince a lot during these segments but they serve a purpose.It's extremely sanitized to suit a broad audience. You never see an animal slaughtered. You never see anyone using a privy. Plus you just know Ruth must have had a source of caffeine, or something stronger. Most important, though, and most appealing is that, unlike other examples of reality television, there is no personal conflict shown whatsoever.Sadly the very trends we see here involving trade and travel would work against Medieval Europe the following century when the Black Death would wipe out at least half the population. The very same interconnected nature of the world being born then would work against us during the pandemic of 2020, though with less horrifying results.

As a big fan of Tudor Monastery Farm I was expecting the same level of cinematography and although this DVD set's post production resulted in a lot of washed out color, I still loved the content and scripting. Well worth the purchase, plays fine on my US Xbox One, Ruth Peter and "Tommo" are wonderful presenters. They do not come across as professional actors to me which makes watching this series so much more authentic and engaging. I was simply amazed at what could be accomplished using a rudimentary plumb line, compass, level and a couple of chisels.I hope they re-master this and Tudor Farm for Blu Ray for the States some day. What would be even better: Make a Part 2 of the Farm (surely there must be more content that they could cover) in 4K Blu Ray.

No scripted conflict or contrived drama, just a very likeable cast doing a very interesting job and learning along with us the viewers about a lost world.

A fascinating, five hour program about Guedelon, a castle in Burgundy being built from the ground up using entirely methods and materials from the 13th century. My husband and I visited it within a year or two of the making of this film and loved the experience but were disappointed at how little of what the site had to offer that we were able to see in a day. This program, with demonstrations of most of the crafts involved in castle building, more than made up for what we had missed in person.

Loved this series - in fact all of the historical series by this group (Green Valley, Tudor, Victorian, Edwardian and Wartime Farms, the Victorian Pharmacy and Full Steam Ahead) - they are great presenters. We've watched and rewatched them - there's always some gem we didn't catch before. The scholarship is solid, the presentation unpretentious and interesting, and the ambiance is peaceful (no small attraction nowadays). Highly recommended.

We see so many castles, palaces etc and are amazed at their architecture and grandeur, we wonder how they could have possibly made it and finally we get a glimpse inside that process. Secrets of the Castle is different to many other documentaries and stars the group who were in Tudor Monastery Farm. This documentary is along the same lines as that but also including the building of a new castle. Guédelon Castle is a major project and experiment that has been ongoing since 1997 and set to be complete in 2022 possibly. It is a project like no other and the documentary is great at giving us a glimpse into it.Ruth, Peter and Tom from Tudor Monastery Farm go back further in time to the 13th century and lend a hand with building the castle. We see how the spiral stairs are made, how the stones are transported from the quarry, archway doors made etc and each is equally as fascinating. While we see how the castle is made, Ruth also shows us how people would have lived in the 13th century. She makes up her house (really just a one room shack) and teaches us how she uses reeds to keep the floor warm and use as bedding, why food is hung up from the ceiling etc. Ruth shows us how they would have ate, what they would have served it in and even gets all her cooking equipment made. This isn't a documentary just for people who want to see a castle being made from scratch, it is also for anyone who wants to learn more about medieval life.All in all, it is a very entertaining and enlightening documentary. This is the first (and probably only) time we will get to see a new castle being built and so I think this documentary is a good piece of history to own. It is very easy to watch too and Ruth, Peter and Tom make it fun to watch and not too dry or slow.

I have most of the other DVDs with Ruth, Peter and Alex and in this series with Tom Pinhole who replaces Alex!Love all of these stories and they do their best to see that everything is factual!You can go to the Guedelon Castle page and see more!

I am now watching this series for the second time, and wanted to read my original review. However, I do not seem to have written one. Why, I do not know because the programmes have been so interesting. It is definitely " hands on" history, and brought to life with such enthusiasm and effort. No wonder that the project is a 25 year task. We learn how real people lived in those times, and how determination, hard graft and inspiration created such large and solid buildings. All the history series by the same trio ( or almost the same ) have been fascinating, and brought to life in an informative but entertaining way. Oh, if only "O" level had been so dynamic I might have achieved a higher mark!

Secrets of the Castle is an interesting dvd about the archeological project of building a medevil castle. The dvd did have a couple of scratches which was frustrating - but that has nothing to do with the riveting historical subject matter.