A single drama recreating eighteen months in the life of an 18th-century farmer’s wife, based on her personal diaries.
This film re-creates eighteen months in the life of Anne Hughes (Elin Jenkins), a young farmer’s wife on a remote Herefordshire farm in the 18th century. Drawn directly from her diaries, the narrative documents the rhythms of her daily existence: the practicalities of cooking and butter-making, her domestic quarrels with her husband John (Barry Jackson), and her observations of the blossoming romance between her maid, Sarah (Joanne Pearce), and a local man, Jem Jenkins (Jason Kemp).
Broadcast on Christmas Day under the title ‘Her Boke, In Wiche I Write What I Doe, When I Have Thee Tyme’, this single film was a quiet and meticulous work of historical reconstruction. Director Michael Croucher and producer Alastair Reid took the authentic diary of an 18th-century farmer’s wife and translated its humble entries into a complete dramatic world. The production sidesteps conventional narrative; it finds its drama instead in the seasonal routines and domestic details of rural life. Its understated beauty and emotional truth earned widespread critical praise for offering a profound and authentic alternative to the usual festive television fare.
Broadcast: BBC Two – Bristol, 1 Episode, 25 December 1978
From the diaries of: Anne Hughes
Director: Michael Croucher
Producer: Alastair Reid
Designer: Chris Robilliard
Main Cast: Elin Jenkins (Anne Hughes), Barry Jackson (John Hughes), Joanne Pearce (Sarah), Juliet Harmer (Mistress Prue), Ann Way (Mistress Jenkins), James Duggan (Cousin Ned), Christopher Bramwell (Parson Cross), Angela Barlow (Mistress Ellis), Jason Kemp (Jem Jenkins)
