Secrets of the Castle

{{Infobox television

| alt_name = Secrets of the Castle with Ruth, Peter and Tom

| image = Château de Guédelon (août 2012).jpg

| image_size = 300

| caption =

| genre = Factual

| creator =

| based_on =

| developer =

| writer =

| director = Blythe Tinker, Stuart Elliott, Lindsay Hill, Giulia Clark

| creative_director =

| presenter =

| starring = {{Plainlist |

Peter Ginn
Ruth Goodman
Tom Pinfold }}

| narrated = Paul McGann

| theme_music_composer =

| opentheme =

| endtheme =

| composer = Matthew Winch, Andy Hamilton

| country = United Kingdom

| language = English

| num_series = 1

| num_episodes = 5

| list_episodes = #Episode list

| executive_producer = David Upshal

| producer =

| editor =

| location = Guédelon Castle, Treigny, France

| cinematography =

| camera =

| runtime = 60 minutes

| company = Lion Television

| channel = {{Plainlist |

BBC Two
BBC Two HD }}

| first_aired = {{Start date|2014|11|18|df=yes}}

| last_aired = {{End date|2014|12|17|df=yes}}

| related = {{Plainlist |

}}

Secrets of the Castle, or Secrets of the Castle with Ruth, Peter and Tom is a British factual television series that first broadcast on BBC Two from 18 November to 17 December 2014.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/proginfo/2014/46/secrets-of-the-castle BBC - Programme Information] The series stars archaeologists Peter Ginn and Tom Pinfold, and historian Ruth Goodman. In the series, the team takes part in the medieval construction project at Guédelon Castle[http://www.guedelon.fr/en/ Guédelon Official Website] in Treigny, France. During their stay there, they reveal what kind of skills and crafts were needed to build a castle in the 13th century, by using the techniques, tools and materials of the era.

Location

The castle construction site shown in the series is Guédelon Castle in France, a 25-year experimental archaeology project where a castle is being built using only the techniques, tools and materials from the Middle Ages, ie. without electricity or modern power tools.

Episode list

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!style="background: #bfe0bf;"| #

!style="background: #bfe0bf;"| Title

!style="background: #bfe0bf;"| Directed by

!style="background: #bfe0bf;"| Original air date

!style="background: #bfe0bf;"| UK viewers
(millions){{cite web | url=http://www.barb.co.uk/whats-new/weekly-top-30? | title=BARB Top 30s}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=1

|Title=Why Build A Castle?

|DirectedBy=Stuart Elliott

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2014|11|18|df=yes}}

|Aux4=1.58

|ShortSummary=

The team arrives at Guédelon, in the Burgundy region of France, to join the world’s biggest archaeological experiment - a 25 year project to build a medieval castle from scratch, using only the tools and materials available in the 13th century.

|LineColor=bfe0bf

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=2

|Title=Defending The Castle

|DirectedBy=Blythe Tinker

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2014|11|25|df=yes}}

|Aux4=1.89

|ShortSummary=

Ruth, Peter and Tom look at the ingenious features medieval castle-builders came up with to withstand attack from an ever more formidable array of siege engines.

|LineColor=bfe0bf

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=3

|Title=Inside The Castle

|DirectedBy=Lindsay Hill

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2014|12|2|df=yes}}

|Aux4=1.70

|ShortSummary=

Ruth, Peter and Tom enter the surprisingly colourful world of medieval interior design. The castles that we see today are in fact scarred by centuries of decay. Most of their original roofs, carpentry and interior finishes have long since disappeared, but in their heyday they were lavishly decorated.

|LineColor=bfe0bf

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=4

|Title=The Castle’s Community of Skills

|DirectedBy=Blythe Tinker

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2014|12|9|df=yes}}

|Aux4=1.65

|ShortSummary=

The team delve deeper into the secrets of the skilled communities who built medieval castles. The stonemasons working on the castle walls are dependent on blacksmiths, whose metalwork was magical to the medieval mind-set.

|LineColor=bfe0bf

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber=5

|Title=Beyond The Castle Walls

|DirectedBy=Giulia Clark

|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2014|12|17|df=yes}}

|Aux4=1.78

|ShortSummary=

Ruth, Peter and Tom look at the castle’s place in the wider medieval world. 13th century Europe was a busy, developing, connected place, where work, trade, pilgrimages and Crusades gave people the opportunity to travel across the continent and beyond.

|LineColor=bfe0bf

}}