A group of modern shopkeepers and their families are on the journey of a lifetime - they're taking over empty shops in a neglected market square in Shepton Mallet to see if they can turn back time for the British High Street. They'll live and trade through six key eras of history and in this episode they begin their journey in the 1870s, when the high street was born.
The shopkeepers make up the key trades; there's the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker and the grocer. Overseeing it all is an expert Chamber of Commerce, headed up by greengrocer and MasterChef judge Gregg Wallace.
The shopkeepers soon learn that Victorian trading means truly going back to basics. The bakers struggle with back-breaking work and baking through the night. The butcher must sell every bit of a giant pig, and the Ironmonger realises that there isn't much call for mangles and mole traps in 2010. Over at the grocer's, 21st-century customers must wait for coffee to be roasted, tea to be mixed and butter to be patted. While the town finds Victorian produce hard to stomach, all the shopkeepers struggle to keep their customers onside in the run-up to market day.
Edwardian
The butcher, the baker, the grocer and the ironmonger are joined by a dressmaker, and together they must provide a modern town with the exceptional service and luxuriant shop displays worthy of the Edwardians.
The baker's family find themselves running an Edwardian tea shop, while the butchers must sell game in all its gory glory to modern customers. The grocer has trained staff, but the challenge of creating an early 20th century wedding breakfast piles on the pressure.
All the shopkeepers struggle with maintaining standards, and it becomes clear that underneath its glossy veneer the Edwardian high street was a tough place for women and children. The arrival of call-up papers reminds the traders and the town of the terrible impact that World War One had on Britain's communities.
BBC1 - 2-9 November 2010 - 2 x 60 minutes
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