Hidden Villages

Name: Hidden Villages
Released: 2014-01-01T00:00:00.000Z

TV Show · Documentary · Travel

In this series, renowned actress Dame Penelope Keith travels through Britain's charming villages to uncover why these places are so unique and special. Armed with her vintage 'Batsford' travel books, Penelope explores the rich artistic, literary and royal histories of each region, discovers how time has changed village communities, and seeks out local traditions which continue to this day.

2014 · 46m

EPISODE 1

East Anglia

Penelope begins her journey with a trip to East Anglia. While there, she attends a regatta on the Norfolk Broads, takes to the skies over the village of Little Snoring, learns to speak like a native of the county and attends a fete - complete with a performance by wheelbarrow display team the Red Sparrows.
EPISODE 2

North-West England and North Wales

In this episode, Penelope travels to the industrial heartlands of north-west England and north Wales, where she explores a Victorian garden in the shadow of a nuclear power plant, finds out about burgeoning tourism in Snowdonia, and goes to her first music festival.
EPISODE 3

South-West England

Penelope concludes her first trip with visits to Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire, where she sees villages that have been used on film and TV.
EPISODE 1

Devon and Cornwall

Penelope is in the land of rugged coastal communities and cliff-edge fishing villages, but also of huge numbers of holiday makers. She visits the most exposed theatre in the country and Fowey Harbour.
EPISODE 2

Cumbria

The actress learns about life in the renowned landscape of Cumbria. The wonder of the Lake District cannot be ignored, but from Morecambe Bay to the Pennines, Penny finds there is much more to life in a Cumbrian village than tourists and tea shops, and all of it owes a great deal to the dramatic local geography.
EPISODE 3

Royal Deeside

Penelope travels through Royal Deeside, a remote part of Aberdeenshire. It’s a land of enormous estates served by tiny communities. Penelope visits the few villages that exist and explores how important Queen Victoria was in shaping modern Deeside.