The Village

“The Village” is a BBC television series penned by Peter Moffat. This drama unfolds in a Derbyshire village during the 20th century. The inaugural series, which Moffat envisions as the beginning of a 42-hour epic, premiered in the spring of 2013 and spans the years from 1914 to 1920. A second series, set to air in 2014, will advance the narrative into the 1920s. Future installments are planned to explore periods such as the Second World War and post-war Austerity Britain.

The series chronicles life in the village through the perspective of Bert Middleton, who is depicted at various stages of his life: as a child by Bill Jones, as a teenager by Alfie Stewart, and as an elderly man by David Ryall. John Simm portrays Bert’s father, John Middleton, an alcoholic farmer in the Peak District, while Maxine Peake plays Bert’s mother, Grace. Peake, a favorite of Moffat, has been described by him as “the best actress of her generation” and has previously starred in his series “Criminal Justice” and “Silk.”

Moffat has expressed his ambition to create a “British Heimat,” referencing Edgar Reitz’s monumental German series “Heimat,” which chronicled the life of an extended family in the Rhineland from 1919 to 1982. Unlike “Downton Abbey,” this series presents a working-class history, where “domestics are expected to face the walls when the master walks by.”