Turn Back Time - The Family - Episode 1

Good morning, we are going to continue our journey through history meets reality TV with Turn Back Time: The Family.  This would be a good series to show to a family and consumer education class.   The first episode explores the Edwardian period and the families are going to live the lives of their ancestors.  A row of terraced houses was transformed into family homes that belonged to the early 1900s.  Three families were chosen to live in the houses.  They will learn about 100 years of family history.
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The Taylor family is from Norfolk.  They are a family of six and are a busy family.  The second family is the Meadows family and they are a self-made family.  It is a family of four.  They run a polo school is excited to do something as a family outside of polo.  The last family is the Goldings and they are a family of five.  For them, family is about equality.  At the start of the show, the families will be given a guidebook with the rules they will have to follow.

The family was something to expire in the early 1900s.  One house was the typical upper-middle-class family, the second house was for a middle-class family and the last house belongs to a working-class family.  Which house will the families be assigned to?  The answer surprises them and the viewer.  The house assignments are based on what the family ancestors lived as.  The Taylors are confident that there was no millionaire ancestor in their family. 

The families meet with their guides and the guides reveal which houses each family will live in.  The Taylors are assigned to the upper-middle-class home.  The Goldings are assigned to the middle-class home while the Meadows are assigned to the working-class home.  The Taylor meets the staff that will assist them through their journey.  They will have five servants in the home.  The Taylors are shocked at their good luck, believing that there was no money in the family.  So who made the family money?  Juliette the guide explains who made the money, and Mr. Taylor’s ancestor owned a cotton mill.

The Meadows will have a tougher challenge in the working-class home.  They will live in two rooms and the four will have to share a bedroom.  They will have to use a chamber pot or a privy.  It was a shock for the family.  Joe, the third guide, helps explain why the Meadows ended up in the working-class home.  Mr. Meadow’s grandfather was a general laborer.  Mr. Meadows will have to look for work to make money.  The oldest daughter will work as a scullery maid in the big house.

The Goldings will live in a middle-class home.  It is modest with seven rooms.  They will have running water and the latest cooking range.  Susan, one of the guides, explains why the Goldings live in a middle-class home.  Mr. Golding’s ancestor was a tailor who immigrated from Russia.  This ancestor prospered from the start.  So Mr. Golding would have had a white color job.

The families will shed their clothes and dress in period costumes.  They settle in for the night.  So how will the families cope with their roles?  What will the families learn about their ancestors?  How will the children adjust?  Tune into this episode to find out how the families will cope with their life.

This would be a good series to show during a history class and home economics or family and consumer education class.  It is a good summary of the evolution of the family over one hundred years.