Coal House at War   Acorn Media UK RRP: £24.99 AV9747 Certificate: E Available 07 December 2009

In the non-fictitious Stack Square, three families engage in living history, giving up their contemporary comforts to live the lives of miners in south Wales...

Coal House at War (2008) is a continuation of the first series Coal House and sees a further three families from the twenty-first century living the lives of their ancestors in war time south Wales. Although life in south Wales was undoubtedly hard, both men and boys over the age of fourteen had to put in long shifts at the Blaentillery No.2 Coal Mine, the hardships face by the families often seemed to draw them closer together as they worked as a unit to get through the bone aching day with little in the way of provisions.

The entire second series is presented over three DVD’s.

Disc one holds the first five half hour episodes with three half hour extras in the form of the children’s perspective on weeks one to three. Disc two holds episodes six to nine, with no extras and the final disc has documentaries featuring the families. The Griffithses (59 min, 21 sec) uses behind the scene footage and interviews to get a feeling for what it was really like to take part in a living experiment.

The same format is used for both the Paiseys (59 min, 18 sec) and the Tranter-Davieses (59 min, 29 sec). The last extra on the disc, The Bevin Boys & Evacuees (59 min, 57 sec), takes a look at some of the other characters which were introduced to the families lives to enhance the experience.

Overall this was a fascinating social experiment which not only showed the adaptability of the families, but also allowed the viewer a glimpse into the reality of 1944 living. The families are engaging to watch to the point that you really start to feel for their plight. I’m not so sure that I would be quite as quick to give up my creature comforts.

But for all the privations and hardships the thing which shines through in these documentaries is the basic decency of the families and a reflection in their enjoyment of the experience that maybe the shiny toys with which we surround ourselves do not enhance our live so much as create schisms in our relationships.

8

Charles Packer