Edwardian Servants: Celebrities Face the Harsh Realities of 1913

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:00]10 famous faces are going on an epic journey.

[00:00:03]>> It's 2015, but not for long.

[00:00:07]>> They're traveling into the past.

[00:00:10]>> This is an historical circus >> with no idea where or when they're headed.

[00:00:17]>> Wow.

[00:00:19]>> Wake up in another place, in another era.

[00:00:21]>> Oh my goodness.

[00:00:23]>> Exciting.

[00:00:24]>> They've been told nothing in advance.

[00:00:26]>> You know, I've got absolutely no idea [music] what we're doing.

[00:00:30]I mean, I've never had a costume fitting blindfolded.

[00:00:33]>> So, it's all a total surprise.

[00:00:36]>> Oh, wow.

[00:00:38]>> They're leaving the 21st century behind to crash land into six different moments in British history.

[00:00:46]>> When are we?

[00:00:47]>> We're early. Early >> 1796.

[00:00:50]>> Welcome to [music] 1913.

[00:00:52]>> Oh, wow.

[00:00:53]>> They'll be stripped of their celebrity status.

[00:00:57]>> Oh, no. We are. We're servants >> thrust into testing environments.

[00:01:02]>> Where's the food?

[00:01:03]>> It's coming.

[00:01:04]>> Don't shout.

[00:01:06]>> Pulling these things in.

[00:01:07]>> It is really hard work.

[00:01:09]>> And thrown to the bottom of the pile.

[00:01:12]>> SHUT UP AND LISTEN INSTEAD OF ARGUING.

[00:01:14]>> CAN they survive everything history has to throw at them?

[00:01:19]>> Oh, this is bad.

[00:01:21]>> Calm down, Fern.

[00:01:22]>> We sunk the B. Joking.

[00:01:25]>> That's horrific. They are the time crashers.

[00:01:33][music] Last time the time crashers became squires in medieval England.

[00:01:41]>> Oh, look at that.

[00:01:42]>> Welcome to 1468.

[00:01:46]>> Split into two teams. Move, >> they battled to prepare their knights for a joust.

[00:01:52]>> Looks a good color to you.

[00:01:55]Yeah, it smells lovely.

[00:01:56]>> Whilst the [music] blacks bickered, >> I cleaned out all the [ __ ] here. All the [ __ ] off his body.

[00:02:01]>> Left.

[00:02:02]>> The reds pulled together.

[00:02:04]>> Our only purpose is to serve the night.

[00:02:06]>> Come on. [screaming] >> And triumphed at the tournament.

[00:02:10]>> This is one of the best days of my life.

[00:02:12]>> That was brilliant.

[00:02:23]Nice.

[00:02:24]>> Oh, thank god we're rich. [laughter] Got a bit of a D Nabi vibe.

[00:02:36]>> Oh, sorry. Are you all right?

[00:02:38]>> Looks like I'm doing the washing up, doesn't it?

[00:02:44][snorts] [laughter] >> Oh my god.

[00:02:49]You look handsome, Keith. [music] >> My god, you look stunning.

[00:02:53]>> Thank you.

[00:02:54]>> Um, should we go up there [music] to the house?

[00:03:04]>> The time crashes.

[00:03:06]>> Oh my goodness.

[00:03:07]>> Have no idea where.

[00:03:09]>> Whose house is this then?

[00:03:10]>> Who?

[00:03:11]>> I've got a feeling we might be someone's waiter.

[00:03:14]>> Oh no, we are. We're servants. We're servants again, aren't we?

[00:03:17]>> Oh, man.

[00:03:18]>> Or when they are >> Victorian.

[00:03:21]>> Victorian maids.

[00:03:21]>> Victorian maids.

[00:03:23]>> It's 1913.

[00:03:25]The Great War is looming. And wealthy Edwardians are enjoying one final harrah. The British Empire is at its height, and the super rich are living a playboy lifestyle of unparalleled luxury.

[00:03:40]The ultimate status symbol is the Grand Country Estate. This is Chillington Hall in Staffordshire. It's been returned to its heyday and is about to play host to 10 [music] new visitors.

[00:03:55]News anchor Louise Mincchin, socialite Meg Matthews, [music] and TV presenter Fern Britain are housemaids.

[00:04:02]>> Time crashes guide. Welcome to 1913.

[00:04:05]>> Oh wow.

[00:04:06]>> Not Victorian.

[00:04:07]>> Footballer Germaine Genus, actor Charlie Condu, and comedian Chris Ramsay are all footmen. Here we go. What these? There we go.

[00:04:15]>> You've crashed into an Edwardian country house that is preparing to host an extravagant shooting party [music] for more than a dozen guests.

[00:04:23]>> Yeah.

[00:04:26]>> Shooting parties demonstrated both wealth and status.

[00:04:31]Influential Edwwardians got together for a weekend of hunting, socializing, and showing off. Both the house and the staff were expected to be perfectly turned out.

[00:04:46]>> Households such as this will expect the highest standards used as they are to their every being catered for unquestionably and with the utmost difference. That's something I will bear in mind.

[00:04:56]>> Okay.

[00:04:56]>> Louise takes charge of the maids.

[00:04:59]>> You are the first housemmaid. The second and third housemaids answer to you and you are responsible for their work. So please work hard.

[00:05:07]Each time crasher has a different status.

[00:05:11]>> Mine says [music] here you are the first footman because of your height and good looks.

[00:05:17]>> So they each have their own guide to 1913.

[00:05:20]>> I'm the third footman.

[00:05:21]>> I'm second footman.

[00:05:22]>> Second.

[00:05:22]>> We're basically in a league table [music] and everyone has got a superior and everyone has got a uh someone someone below them.

[00:05:29]>> I'm a boy.

[00:05:31]>> I'm a boy.

[00:05:32]>> Hallboy.

[00:05:33]Bottom of the pile are Olympian Greg Ratherford and weightlifter Zoe Smith.

[00:05:39]>> Scullery maid.

[00:05:40]>> Scullery maid.

[00:05:42]>> As the youngest member of the female household staff, you're inferior to everyone.

[00:05:46]>> So you're you're you're rock bottom then.

[00:05:49]>> As the hall boy, you are the [music] lowest ranking of all the male servants.

[00:05:52]You're at the beck and call of the senior ranking staff. Coming into a time period and being the lowest of low yet again. I'm hopeful they're going to be nice to me. I'm hopeful. The hall boy is wretched.

[00:06:03]>> I'm wretched.

[00:06:04]>> Yeah, you should tell him what to do and he must not answer back.

[00:06:08]>> Get on with the drawing up. [laughter] >> Do you want to >> No, there's too much noise coming out of the scullery here.

[00:06:17]>> What do we call you?

[00:06:19]>> Mrs. McMullen.

[00:06:21]>> Mrs. McMullen. Mr. McMuffin.

[00:06:24]>> Mrs. McMullen is the housekeeper. With 40 years experience running grand households, she now trains the staff of the modern world's mega rich.

[00:06:34]A housekeeper could punish or sack a servant as she pleased.

[00:06:38]>> And I don't want any insolence from any member of staff. Thank you. And you can wipe that silly grin off your face.

[00:06:46]>> I don't like being told what to do. I've got a massive problem with authority. My first impressions were that they were disrespectful when they came into the house. You may change the water, Zoe.

[00:06:58]That looks like soup.

[00:07:00]>> I like soup.

[00:07:01]>> Would you like me to put that into a mug for use of drinking? So, don't be silly.

[00:07:05]>> There are rules in the house which need to be obeyed. And it's very important that they are adhered to and no latitude is given. And if they are abused, well, they will [music] be censured.

[00:07:17]Hollywood actress Kirsty Alli and actor Keith Allen will have more senior roles.

[00:07:22]The >> ring. Yeah.

[00:07:26]>> But still managed to fall foul of the highest ranking of all household staff.

[00:07:31]>> He's one of the Adams family.

[00:07:33]>> Mr. Clayton.

[00:07:34]>> Why have you come to the front door? You should have got around to the servants's entrance.

[00:07:38]>> In the 21st century, he's a butler to some of the world's wealthiest.

[00:07:43]>> I expect obedience. I expect them to to listen to me, follow me, to obey me, and do what I tell them to do to the highest standards.

[00:07:52]>> If the servants's work isn't up to scratch, he can dock wages, issue punishments, and even dole out sackings.

[00:08:01]>> Keith has been given the role of gentleman's valet.

[00:08:05]>> Responsible for his wardrobe. God tweet.

[00:08:08]And as a mark of respect to your status, you must be waited upon by the lower servant.

[00:08:16]>> Kirsty is the ladies maid.

[00:08:18]>> That's an important position in Down Abbey. So that's good. That means I'm intimate with her and I'm close to her and she'll confide in me probably.

[00:08:28][music] With Sir Gerald and his wife, Lady Annabel, already asleep, it's time for the staff to head to their beds at the very top of the house.

[00:08:38]>> Oh, lovely. Such a beautiful, comfortable room.

[00:08:42]>> I think my lord has not been up here or my lady >> for a couple of centuries.

[00:08:49]>> The bedrooms, you know, they're not up to what I would like, but they're dry.

[00:08:55]And at least we've got a bed in this era because we didn't have a bed before.

[00:08:59]>> It's better than TUDA. TUDA Britain. I don't know if you felt these beds.

[00:09:03]>> Helping me make sense of Edwardian life is social historian and archaeologist Dr. Cassie Nuland.

[00:09:10]>> It's pretty opulent down here, isn't it?

[00:09:12]Where the family hang out. You've got all the modcons, electric lighting, running water, that kind of thing. But I bet you it's a different story upstairs.

[00:09:19]>> Oh, it really is. And it's so noticeable as you go upstairs. You know you've hit the servant floor because all the carpets disappear. There are no light switches and there's certainly no running water cuz you don't need it.

[00:09:29]You've got cheap servants to run up and downstairs with buckets. It's pretty grim actually.

[00:09:34]>> Things are even worse for the lowly hall boy.

[00:09:37]>> I [snorts] dread to think where Greg's sleeping. Let's go and have a look.

[00:09:43]>> Oh god.

[00:09:44]>> No.

[00:09:44]>> Oh god.

[00:09:45]>> Oh, you're kidding me.

[00:09:47]>> That is not good.

[00:09:48]>> No, mate. is in a corridor.

[00:09:56][music] >> As the lowest ranking male servant, Greg would have slept on the landing.

[00:10:03][laughter] >> I might as well just sleep on the floor.

[00:10:07]This [music] is absolutely pointless.

[00:10:09]>> It ensured he was constantly on hand for anything his superiors might require.

[00:10:15]>> Oh, thank God. Oh, how lovely.

[00:10:18]I have no [music] worries about Greg contending with that whatsoever.

[00:10:25]You might worry about the turd I'm about to deposit in the chamber pond, but what can I do?

[00:10:32]Needs must.

[00:10:35]>> It's dawn [music] today. The time crashers must lay on one of the most important events in an Edwwardian social calendar.

[00:10:45]>> Oh, >> you got some hot water first.

[00:10:46]>> Oh, look at that. It's the kind of attitude that gets you a gold medal.

[00:10:49]That's what that is.

[00:10:51]>> An elaborate shooting party hosted by their new masters.

[00:10:56]>> I don't want to outshine the lady, so I have to make myself look a bit matronly.

[00:11:04]>> Greg Rutherford has already been hard at work for an hour, but with a third of the population living in poverty, he'd have considered himself lucky. [music] disposing of other servants urine was a small price to pay for steady employment. [music] >> So I think you'd want to do as good a job as possible and that's what I'm trying to do. I'm desperately trying to [music] do a very good job.

[00:11:28]>> I guess for some people it's probably quite an honor to uh to be handling Keith Allen's Wii.

[00:11:37]>> Oh, I hate morning.

[00:11:39]>> As scullery maid, Zoe Smith should already have scrubbed the kitchen and started the food prep. Did your lion day?

[00:11:46]>> Yeah, exactly. On an enforced day like this.

[00:11:48]>> Footman, Chris Ramsey, Jermaine Gus, and Charlie Condu are also up and pining.

[00:11:55]The peacocks of the house.

[00:11:56]>> Ow.

[00:11:57]>> They were hired for their good looks.

[00:11:59]>> Thanks, mate. Sorry.

[00:12:00]>> And where the footmen were concerned, the taller the better.

[00:12:04]>> Well, personally, I don't like the idea that we get paid by height, but then that's cuz I'm a short ass.

[00:12:09]>> I obviously love the fact that we get paid by height. being six foot. It was like I get 36 pound a year. Whereas Chris and Charlie, you're on like 22 pounds a year just because they're smaller.

[00:12:26]>> You'll have to move a little faster, Greg, please, because breakfast is at 8.

[00:12:30]>> Greg's been doing his chores for an hour and a half.

[00:12:33]>> You may go now. That's good. Thank you.

[00:12:34]Thank you.

[00:12:35]>> Whereas Zoe has only just made it to the scalery.

[00:12:40]This really is like the most mundane task of the day. Really?

[00:12:44]>> Only 16 hours to go.

[00:12:50]>> Okay. I'm feeling quite nervous about this day actually.

[00:12:53]>> Are you?

[00:12:54]>> Well, is that because you are the number one because I'm >> Yeah, it is actually.

[00:13:01]>> Right. Hello, Zoe. There is a mug of tea here. To whom does that belong? Um, look at me when I'm speaking to you, please.

[00:13:10]And I cannot tolerate anybody [music] slacking or being late on their duties.

[00:13:15]You do not break off to make tea [music] for yourself. I do not want to have to speak like this again to you, Zoe.

[00:13:24]>> Servants had to follow orders unquestioningly or face expulsion and destitution.

[00:13:30]>> She's coming in. Oh, it's not done. It's not done. Hurry up. Then she tells me to stop doing my job. [music] that she's told me I've got 10 minutes to do so she can shout at me some more. I just don't have the right attitude for it.

[00:13:43]>> Before their main duties begin, it's breakfast time. [music] >> Milk tea comes. That'll be a nice one.

[00:13:50]>> That's all right. It's not too bad.

[00:13:51]>> I'm not going to ask you again. Would you please eat in silence?

[00:13:55]>> You're so hungry.

[00:13:56]>> I'm not interested. I asked you to eat in silence.

[00:13:59]>> Hierarchy and subservience were at the heart of life in Eduwardian England.

[00:14:04]>> [music] >> Please, you would ask permission to rise from the table.

[00:14:08]>> May I rise from the table, please, Mrs. McMullen?

[00:14:11]>> Yes.

[00:14:13]>> I need your attention, please, to remind you of some crucial rules of etiquette and behavior to follow today. This is a very important day. If you are addressed by Sir Gerald or Lady Annabelle, they will not use your names. You will be called William or Jane. It's kind of appalling really that they wouldn't even bother to learn your names. You would just, you know, they just call you James or William or John or whatever. And it shows how unimportant you were to them.

[00:14:42]>> When you're working in the house and Sir Gerald or Lady Annabelle passed through, you turn around and you face the wall.

[00:14:51][snorts] That is practicing the art of being invisible. Everybody clear?

[00:14:57]being invisible.

[00:14:59]You know, you're not treated as a an individual at all. You're not even treated sort of really as a human.

[00:15:04]You're just a being that does things for other people.

[00:15:10]>> In a grand house like this, staff worked 80our weeks with just half a day off.

[00:15:17]Ironing the master's morning newspapers provided a rare chance [music] to catch up on news from the outside world. I've got the Daily Mirror here, which is a nice bit [music] of tabloid. Let's see what Meg Matthews has been up to this week. Oh my [music] word.

[00:15:32]>> It's only when you come to a place like this that you realize how isolated servants actually were.

[00:15:38]>> Strike fever. Already in London alone, six strikes are in progress. [music] And >> it's so ironic. Workers would have been striking all over the place.

[00:15:47]Suffragettes would have been chaining themselves to railings. And yet the servants would have been living in a bubble.

[00:15:53]>> They might read about it in the papers, but they can't join in. They're poorly paid, so they can't really go anywhere.

[00:15:58]They get no time off. They can't attend rallies. And they can be dismissed instantly without references, which means they're never going to work again.

[00:16:05]You've got a lot to lose.

[00:16:06]>> Suffraet knocked down and gravely injured in an attempt to stop race. So apparently a woman [music] has snatched at the bridal of the king's horse, injuring herself and the jockey. Look at that.

[00:16:17]>> There's footage of it.

[00:16:18]>> Oh my god. I mean, it's very shocking, isn't it? I've never seen that photograph.

[00:16:22]>> It's crazy that people literally had to be human sacrifices just so we could get our voices heard in like 2015. Like, >> it's insane.

[00:16:32]>> Mr. Allen, Sir Gerald is ready for his breakfast.

[00:16:35]>> Thank you, Mr. P. [music] [music] >> Morning, St. Gerald. Ah, Alan >> upstairs valet Mr. Alan.

[00:16:50]>> My lady >> and ladies maid Miss Ally are attending to their master and mistress for the first time.

[00:16:56]>> Looking fit as a fiddle, sir, if you don't mind me saying.

[00:16:58]>> Not at all, Alan.

[00:17:00]>> Not at all.

[00:17:02]>> Spritly old cove.

[00:17:04]Large pair of testicles I noticed in his pants as he was doing his knee lifts.

[00:17:10]A full sack, as we say.

[00:17:15]A valet had to tend to all his master's needs, from helping him get dressed to arranging extramarital affairs if needs be.

[00:17:28]>> Perfect weather for a suit, sle.

[00:17:30]>> Yes, I'm expecting [music] great things of the shoot. That is delightful.

[00:17:36][music] >> You could clip a couple of my toners, which I noticed are getting a little long. Sorry, sir.

[00:17:45]doesn't seem to be clipping very well.

[00:17:47]>> I think it may be so that your nails are wet and moist. Maybe if we leave [music] them for a couple of minutes to just brittle up.

[00:17:54]>> Well, let's try it then. Yes.

[00:17:59]>> Down the hall, lady's maid Kirsty is getting to know her new mistress, Lady Annabelle.

[00:18:04]>> I thought perhaps you'd like a pompador today.

[00:18:12]part servant and part companion.

[00:18:16]The position of ladies maid was a tricky one to [music] get right.

[00:18:21]>> Gently.

[00:18:23]>> I think she'll confide in me when she wants to confide in me. It's her prerogative to confide in me or not. So she doesn't want me to be chatty. I see that. So I have to shut >> reading about this business at the Derby.

[00:18:39]>> Oh, you mean the suffragette?

[00:18:41]>> Yes. Very brave woman, sir.

[00:18:43]>> Brave maybe, but misguided, I would have said.

[00:18:46]>> As misguided as the editors of the newspaper that have bothered to report such an event.

[00:18:52]>> I have had a very colorful um life to [music] date. My experiences are from one end of the spectrum to the other.

[00:19:00]See Preston North End are doing very well, sir. And the football association cup.

[00:19:04]>> I've been in prison, detention center, and I've also been in public school uh and comprehensive schools. Sure, please.

[00:19:12]>> But you have to accept the parameters that you work [music] in. You keep your dignity.

[00:19:16]>> One must have one's collars well starched at.

[00:19:19]>> I absolutely agree, sir. In these situations, [music] you leave yourself somewhere else. Don't give too much away.

[00:19:27]>> For the other male servants, the most important task of the day will be laying on a late lunchon for the master and his guests. They've got just two hours to set everything up.

[00:19:37]>> Right, lads. And as first footman, Jermaine is in charge >> today. I just want us to kind of just get knuckled down. Just get it done.

[00:19:46]>> Jermaine's really good as a boss. A footballer and he's that whole team mentality. Get together lads and all that. Slap each other's bums on the way in the shower. He loves it.

[00:19:54]>> Lunch will be held in the grounds, which means all furniture, crockery, and food will have to be carried outside.

[00:20:02]But first, the lunchon tent [music] needs putting up. I can see all this logan. in charge of construction, long jumper and hall boy Greg and third footman comedian Chris Jammer match before.

[00:20:15]>> Yeah, man. I mean, I use them to put pictures up in the house. [laughter] >> I think the one person that obviously everybody worries about when it comes to taking tasks serious is Chris. But he's he's going to be with Greg. And Greg, don't mess about. Cheers. Thank you.

[00:20:31]Okay, >> come on. Let's just smash through it.

[00:20:34]While Greg tackles the hard labor.

[00:20:37]>> Come on, hall boy. Hurry up.

[00:20:39]>> Chris takes on a more supervisory role.

[00:20:42]>> Place the top of the sidelines in towards the center of the tent for easy access later on.

[00:20:50]What What does this mean?

[00:20:53]Back at the house, the reception rooms are being readed to welcome the guests.

[00:20:58]There are fires to clean, furniture to dust, and rugs to sweep. These corsets are really difficult to bend down with.

[00:21:07]I mean, as I'm doing this, they're actually stabbing into the front of my thighs cuz they're that long.

[00:21:12]>> Performing hard physical labor in restrictive clothing left many maids with crippling back and spinal problems.

[00:21:20]>> So, she said only polish the sides and the top bit probably.

[00:21:23]>> Their duties were to be performed quickly and above all, quietly.

[00:21:27]>> Just going to do the dusting here. I've done dusting. I've done dusting in [music] here. You've done dusting? Yes.

[00:21:31]So you can do the next image, right?

[00:21:33]>> And I've done that wrong, too. Can I plug? Please plum. Okay, we got >> something TV presenter Fern is struggling with. [music] >> Good. All done here.

[00:21:43]>> Hello, Mr. Right. Yes, I'm aware that there was conversation [music] and talking coming from this room. Remember, Sto Ve at [music] all times.

[00:21:52]>> Fun. She needs to rein herself in in the way she conducts herself. A little bit too chatty, a little bit too informal.

[00:22:00]She needs to learn the dignity and discretion that goes along with being a senior housemaid.

[00:22:06]>> I am talking.

[00:22:09]>> Calm down, please. Farn listen to instructions. Yes, Mrs. McMullen.

[00:22:15]For a moment, you feel like a 14-year-old. [music] And I wanted to go and be bullshy. And I thought, stop. And now it's passed. It's okay.

[00:22:27]With the Eduwardian shooting party guests due within the hour, Jermaine and Charlie prepare to transport over 200 items of china, silver, and crystal to the lunchon tent.

[00:22:41]Me and Jermaine were doing great inside and we'd got everything packed up and we polished everything and it was lovely.

[00:22:46]And then we realized how much we had to bring out.

[00:22:51]>> Oh no, they're bringing out the stuff already.

[00:22:55]>> We thought you'd have it up by now.

[00:22:57]Yeah, I do.

[00:22:58]>> And then we got out here and I mean nothing had been done.

[00:23:02]>> Lads, lads, lads, what's going on? What?

[00:23:03]Seriously, what's going on?

[00:23:04]>> Mate, it's been an absolute nightmare.

[00:23:06]>> We just need to get a move. And I'm thinking, >> no, look, we're going at this now as quick as we possibly can.

[00:23:10]>> We've got a million things to carry.

[00:23:12]What about if we all went back, got all the stuff out here, and then we'll pitch in with you as well.

[00:23:18]>> Jermaine has taken charge.

[00:23:20]>> You want to go do that before we put the scent up then?

[00:23:22]>> Yeah. Right.

[00:23:24]>> But time is running out.

[00:23:29]Strong to the finish cuz I eat me spinach. Greg know Greg carrying two of these on his own cuz he's a beast.

[00:23:36][laughter] >> While Greg steps up, Zoe's get up and go has got up and gone.

[00:23:43]>> Right, Zoe, I have your next task. Two feeasants. Two feeasants for you to pluck. I'm going to demonstrate to you how to [music] pluck them.

[00:23:52]>> I can't watch this. I really can't.

[00:23:55]Turn around.

[00:23:57]Turn around. This is your job in this household.

[00:24:01]>> This isn't the first time Zoe's been phased by a dead animal.

[00:24:06]>> Faced with a bo's head in the Elizabethan era. Oh god.

[00:24:10]>> She relied on Fern to do the dirty work.

[00:24:12]>> That's all right.

[00:24:13]>> This time there's no one to help her.

[00:24:16]>> Just take a few feathers and firmly pull in a twist. Right. I'm going to leave you to that now.

[00:24:23]>> [sighs] [snorts] >> I don't think Zoe's going to do it, which is bonkers. This would have been central to the kind of work that a scalery maid would have had to have done. You couldn't afford to be squeamish about fur and feathers in those days.

[00:24:35]>> Oh, and that is a choice job, too, because the scullery maid gets to keep the feathers so she can sell them on to pillow stuffers or fancy hat makers and make herself a bob. This is scullery maid's perks.

[00:24:47]>> A refusal to perform duties would have serious consequences for a scullery maid.

[00:24:53]Servants lived under constant threat of dismissal for breaking any number of rules.

[00:24:59]>> One of the most important was to be invisible. [music] >> These are cushions.

[00:25:10]>> We did not hear her. And I realized because I just saw Meg's eyes and I thought, "Oh gosh." And then I was trying to stop Fern, but you know, how do you stop someone silently?

[00:25:20]So, no, we definitely did the wrong thing. Then >> we need a better code than that.

[00:25:27]>> That was like a spook coming through.

[00:25:35]>> An hour behind schedule, the footman finally heave the tent into position.

[00:25:41]Great.

[00:25:43]Come on. Get in. Right. Whoa. Not too much. Tie it off.

[00:25:47]>> I am so impressed.

[00:25:50]In the kitchen, the feeasants are still untouched.

[00:25:53]>> You haven't started plucking the bird.

[00:25:55]>> I don't plan to.

[00:26:00]>> If you are refusing to do it, you leave me no alternative but to dismiss you without a character.

[00:26:07]Take your cap off, your apron off, leave them on the bench, and go and [music] collect your things.

[00:26:16]I do eat [music] meat at home, but when it comes, it's just meat. It's sort of so far removed from the animal it was.

[00:26:23]The connection in my head's not there at all. I actually am quite surprised that like how I've reacted. I thought I would at least give it a go, but it turns out I can't even do that.

[00:26:34]>> Oh my gosh. Look >> what >> Look.

[00:26:36]>> Oh [music] no.

[00:26:38]>> I think Zoe's been fired.

[00:26:41]>> See [music] there?

[00:26:43]Where will she go now? Thieves shall have no reference from anywhere.

[00:26:47]>> Nothing. No.

[00:26:47]>> And so where will she be?

[00:26:49]>> Dismissed without a reference, she'd be unlikely to work as a servant again. Her bleak future could mean the workhouse, even prostitution.

[00:27:04]The surviving time crashers are given no time to mourn [music] Zoe's departure.

[00:27:09]The Edwardian shooting party is about to begin.

[00:27:13]Stand with your shoulders back, please.

[00:27:15]And your feet. That's very good.

[00:27:17]>> Footman Germaine, Charlie, and Chris.

[00:27:21][music] Handmaidaids Kirsty, Louise, and Fern are lined up outside to impress the guests.

[00:27:30]The more servants you had, the higher your status in society.

[00:27:35]And a flashy new motor car driven by Valet Keith delivers the guests in style.

[00:27:45]Good day.

[00:27:47]>> Wonderful to see you again.

[00:27:48]>> Wonderful to see you.

[00:27:50]>> Lovely thing is they line all the servants up, but no one pays them the slightest bit of notice.

[00:27:55]>> No, but as far as the people who are in the house is concerned. This is a chance for them to show their status, isn't it?

[00:28:01]It's not just being polite. It's saying, "Look at the number of servers."

[00:28:05]>> Sometimes they're smart. [music] you be so kind as to go through the servants entrance now and get on with the rest of the day.

[00:28:14]>> We stood there for ages in perfect formation like back straight.

[00:28:19]>> Yeah.

[00:28:19]>> Head eyes forward and all the rest of it. And they came in and just walked straight past us. Didn't even look at us, >> aren't we? We're just things. We're just >> We are things. Yeah.

[00:28:26]>> There to show how rich >> Sir Gerald is. So, >> yeah.

[00:28:31]>> Hurry up now. We're massively behind time.

[00:28:36]An hour later, the gentleman head out to shoot. By 1913, King Edward, the king of leisure, had been dead for three years.

[00:28:45]But his legacy lived on as the super rich tried to outdo each other with ever more elaborate parties. Be careful.

[00:28:52]Don't get a speck of mud on it. Don't get a speck of dirt.

[00:28:56]The most important thing is [music] the cutlery is parallel to one another and the same distance from the end of the table. Despite the alfresco [music] setting, lunchon is a highly formal affair.

[00:29:06]>> Place the water glass one in away from the tip of the main course knife >> with strict rules of service and etiquette for the footman to follow.

[00:29:16]>> For years, I had a job as a waiter. So, I do know what I'm doing in this situation. I've I've never been quite as precise as this. I've never had to, you [music] know, measure an inch from the edge of the table and all that. It's that's quite over the top.

[00:29:31]All liquids are served from the right hand side and all foods are always served from the left hand side. You go around the table in a clockwise direction, almost a dance around the table, but nobody really wants to know you're there. It has to be done very calmly, [music] very quietly.

[00:29:52]>> All in all, very good gentlemen.

[00:29:54]Excellent.

[00:29:54]>> Thank you. Thank you.

[00:29:56]>> Thank you, Mr. Gre.

[00:29:59]Competition to bag the most birds was fierce. At his Sandingham estate, one of King Edward's shooting parties famously brought down over 7,000 birds in 3 days.

[00:30:12]>> Charlie, I'm the first footman to stay with me to serve. And the other two, I need you to go back to the house to lift and carry the food we're going to have.

[00:30:20]>> Service is aler, which means course by course.

[00:30:23]>> That's good. So, it's not one trip, it's it's four.

[00:30:26]>> It's four.

[00:30:26]>> Fantastic.

[00:30:28]Please, may we get on [clears throat] >> soup?

[00:30:35][music] Up at the house, the women are waiting for their hostess, Lady Annabelle, to join them.

[00:30:45][music] Every social occasion demands a different dress and hairstyle. Despite having spent several hours with her mistress, Kirsty still hasn't managed a single conversation.

[00:30:59]Before I was an actress, I had so many jobs. You know, I know how to sew. I can make clothes, curtains, pillows. I think I'm a hearty girl. I'm afraid you're going to have to get a move on.

[00:31:12]I'll move faster, lady. In the United States, class structure isn't very prevalent. Belittling somebody or treating them subserviently doesn't go over great with me.

[00:31:27]If you had a Malay [music] who was just a [ __ ] you would have the worst life ever. In [music] fact, I wouldn't do it.

[00:31:35]It's sort of shocking to me how I wouldn't want to [music] necessarily be the Mady. It seems like it would bore the Jesus out of me. I just couldn't I wouldn't want to live that kind of a life.

[00:31:46]Perfect.

[00:31:48]I'm ready. Well done, Annie. Thank you, my lady.

[00:31:54]>> I want to check your department and your presentation.

[00:32:00]>> Housemaids Louise, Fern, and Meg are about to serve afternoon tea.

[00:32:05]>> Your behavior is quiet. It is serene.

[00:32:09]Don't speak until you are spoken to.

[00:32:12]They'll have to tread a careful line between blending into the background while attending to the lady's every whim.

[00:32:20]>> Tea, madam, please.

[00:32:24]>> Oh, I'm sorry. I take my tea black.

[00:32:26]>> Oh, I apologize.

[00:32:28]>> Jane, do you want tea, >> but no milk?

[00:32:32]>> Jane?

[00:32:32]>> Yes, madam. Yes, madam.

[00:32:36]They were quite frightening these women and they all called us Jane. I mean how humiliating is that? We just called they can't even bother to remember your name.

[00:32:44]It's just Jane. So you all look up and they just say you. I'm like me. You you know just even the way and then they just look away like that.

[00:32:54]>> Sugar madame.

[00:32:57]>> If you didn't like it then you're out.

[00:32:59]>> I'm rather late. I apologize. Cream jam.

[00:33:02]One house in Edwardian London went through 34 maids in 32 years.

[00:33:08]>> Did you say were they from an agency?

[00:33:10]>> Yes.

[00:33:10]>> Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. They're from the village.

[00:33:14]>> The [music] lady herself and the lady's friends were the most obnoxious bunch of people. They were horrible, treating us as if we couldn't hear them insulting us.

[00:33:24]>> Should we say partially trained?

[00:33:29]The way they treated us is simply to keep us under at all [music] times.

[00:33:38]>> Sandwich or cake, madam.

[00:33:40]>> Shocking.

[00:33:44]>> Oh god.

[00:33:56]>> I'm so sorry. Don't grin, whatever you do. You can get sacked for this. Fern realized [music] she had made a very, very serious mistake.

[00:34:10]>> Lady, in [music] Lady Annabelle's eyes, it would be complete disaster and she will be talked about in the county for the next month. many people.

[00:34:21][music] >> That is such such a dire thing to happen at a tea party. So very disturbing.

[00:34:31]>> Accept my apology.

[00:34:37]>> Out of 10, I reckon that went about two and a half.

[00:34:41]>> Are you mortified?

[00:34:42]>> Well, I am mortified. She's given me such a glare. I mean, if looks for kill, I would be 6' under.

[00:34:51]>> The shooting party is finally ready for their feast.

[00:34:55]>> Hi, Lord.

[00:34:56]>> Accompanying Sir Gerald is his valet, Mr. Allen.

[00:35:00]>> Good day shooting, sir.

[00:35:01]>> I have to be in the ey line of Sir Gerald so that at any given moment, I just have to anticipate that he might want something.

[00:35:08]>> Priority for the footman, the food, >> to the field, to the 20-minute walk.

[00:35:14]A constant stream of dishes needs to be fed the 500 m from the house to the tent. It's >> one day he doesn't have a horse and cart to take all the food out.

[00:35:23]>> Yeah, that's true. Something. It's excellent. Do you have a ladle?

[00:35:27]>> Ladles are in there.

[00:35:28]>> As Chris and Greg do the leg work, footballer Germaine and actor Charlie have to perform the allimportant table service.

[00:35:36]>> Me and Jermaine seem to [music] work really well together, so I think service should go well.

[00:35:41]I think Chris is a liability and it's best that he keeps away from the guests.

[00:35:46]>> Take this back to the kitchen and bring out the second course now.

[00:35:49]>> Thank you.

[00:35:50]>> But we're quite reliant on them getting uh getting things to us on time. This is quite heavy. So is this really heavy.

[00:35:57]>> Yeah.

[00:36:03]>> Oh, lads.

[00:36:08]>> Wow. [music] Tell you what, you don't realize how heavy big plates of food are until you got to carry them about 4 500 m.

[00:36:16]>> Presentation is everything. Think about that when you carve. That is actually very good. [music] >> You all right with them? What would you have these?

[00:36:24]>> I'll take these.

[00:36:30]>> With four courses and drinks to carry back and forth, >> we need water. Chris and Greg cover several miles during the hourlong lunch.

[00:36:39]Oh, >> is I not running clothes?

[00:36:43]>> This is quite impressive, isn't it?

[00:36:45]Imagine having something like this in your back garden.

[00:36:47]>> King Edward would tuck away eight courses for a light lunch like this and then another 12 in the evening >> and then have cheese and biscuits at night. [laughter] >> Gentlemen, I give you the king.

[00:37:00]>> The king. King.

[00:37:06]They are obviously the 10% that own the 90% of the wealth and their conversations [music] are all about money. They're all about making money and exploitation.

[00:37:16]And to be honest, if they were on fire, I wouldn't pay someone no more.

[00:37:24]>> It's 1913 [music] and the shooting party lunchon is in full swing.

[00:37:30]Housemaids Fern, Louise, and Meg are kept busy in the house.

[00:37:36]>> But every bell means another encounter with the female guests.

[00:37:43]>> I appear to have left my magazine in the store. Please fetch it for me.

[00:37:47]>> Certainly will. So there's no point in me even trying to be charming. I just have to do the job.

[00:37:55]>> I must show you these. And if I [music] do the job, I won't get sacked.

[00:38:01]>> Drawing room.

[00:38:06]>> You must you must be careful of your being so hard.

[00:38:13]>> That'll be all. Thank you.

[00:38:20][music] >> Outside, Jermaine and Charlie's lunchon service has been impeccable.

[00:38:26]But it's with the final course that the master of the house really hopes to impress.

[00:38:31]>> Oh my goodness. Hello.

[00:38:33]>> Wow.

[00:38:34]>> Dessert is a spectacular Edwardian jelly.

[00:38:37]>> It can't be done. It can't be done.

[00:38:39]>> Which third Third Footman Chris and Hallboy Greg must transport.

[00:38:44]>> Steak, plenty of potatoes. Wash it down.

[00:38:46]>> The gentlemen are finishing their main course, but there's no sign of dessert.

[00:38:53]>> They're nowhere to be seen. I don't know what they've done. I know how long it takes back to the house and it's not this long.

[00:39:00]>> It's moving around as of independent of itself. The cream and the fruit looks so good to me right now.

[00:39:10]>> It's madness. [music] Do you mind?

[00:39:14]>> Mission impossible.

[00:39:15]>> This is harder.

[00:39:18]>> We have to apologize. There's no dessert.

[00:39:20]>> Well, let's wait. Hopefully, they won't.

[00:39:22]Some of them are still eating. So, >> he's just about to finish, isn't he?

[00:39:26]What should we do? Should we give him some more to drink?

[00:39:28]>> Whoa, whoa, whoa. Okay, maybe. Whoa, whoa.

[00:39:30]>> Oh, god.

[00:39:33]>> Stop laughing. You're making a move.

[00:39:35]We're [laughter] >> Oh, god. Right. Lean it this way. Lean it this way. Stop laughing.

[00:39:44]Stop it. No. NO.

[00:39:47][screaming] >> [laughter] >> I don't know where they are. They're not back with a dessert. And it doesn't take this long to get back to Can't wait.

[00:40:01]You're going to have to just go and hurry him up, mate. Okay. Shall I go and get it?

[00:40:04]>> Okay, I'll go.

[00:40:10]>> You are kidding me.

[00:40:12]>> Wasn't our fault. [laughter] >> It fell over. We had to carry it from It was like a joke. It was the wibbliest chelly I've ever seen in my life.

[00:40:20]>> We've got to get it over there.

[00:40:21]>> No. No, we can't.

[00:40:23]>> WE HAVE TO. WE'LL JUST PUT IT onto bowls. They won't see it.

[00:40:25]>> No, they will. No, they won't.

[00:40:26]>> There's another. There's another. I can't even explain the distance of walking that food and how heavy it actually is.

[00:40:33]>> The fatigue you get. My arms are cramping at points and then to top it all, you get to the big big jelly and it breaks. It falls. And I And I lost it. I I absolutely lost the plot.

[00:40:47]Charlie, what is happening?

[00:40:48]>> They've dropped it.

[00:40:50]They They've dropped the jelly on the floor.

[00:40:54]>> They dropped it. I think they've sort of gone a bit hysterical.

[00:41:00]>> Gentlemen, would you please be quiet? I can hear you.

[00:41:04]>> Two slightly less impressive jellies have arrived. [music] So, at least there's something for Jermaine to serve.

[00:41:11]I want you to choose the best one and present it to his lordship and place it on the table in front of his lordship.

[00:41:18][music] >> Well, I say >> I think marvelous. Yes, marvelous.

[00:41:26]James, thank you, sir.

[00:41:27]>> Thank you, Sir Gerald.

[00:41:28]>> Have you all seen this magnificent?

[00:41:31]Despite the odd mishap, the shooting party has been a great success and Sir Gerald's guests depart suitably impressed.

[00:41:43]I think we did perform an impeccable service, me and Charlie. So quite pleased with myself. I quite enjoyed being number one today.

[00:41:52]I'd like to think that >> footman two and three and the hall boy would say that I did a good job.

[00:41:58]I feel personally there was a hierarchy of people. Every single person knew who was above and under them and it was very very prevalent in everyone's minds.

[00:42:07]Everyone knew what was going on.

[00:42:08]>> Lads, would you like to uh >> help us clear the table?

[00:42:12]>> So yeah, it's been an interesting one today. I'll be happy to leave.

[00:42:16]>> It was too much.

[00:42:19]>> With the shooting party over, so is the time crashes stay in 1913. 1913 is not nice. I'm glad that it's over.

[00:42:30]>> It was the rules. It was being called Jane. It was facing the walls.

[00:42:34]>> It's not just inequality for women.

[00:42:36]It's, >> you know, men as well. If you're tall, you get more money. How much we've changed in 100 years.

[00:42:44]>> There's kind of a romantic notion about this time in history. But when you're in it, it isn't like that at all. and and I feel like it's too close to 2015. I can feel the reality of it and it makes me uncomfortable.

[00:43:01]>> I imagine this year [music] was the last golden summer that Britain would ever know as the land of hope and glory before the First World War. Now I see it as a year which was growing to [music] be deeply poisonous. And if the war hadn't come, this would have stretched on for another hundred [music] years. It was a horrible life with horrible people keeping a mass hundreds of [music] thousands of people under the thumb.

[00:43:28]>> If this was my life for real, >> I would probably have got a couple of those guns and shot them all.

[00:43:37]>> Enter.

[00:43:38]>> Before they leave, there's one time crasher who's been singled out for praise.

[00:43:43]>> Good evening, Greg. If you carry on working the way you've worked over the last two days, there's no shadow of a doubt that one day you you'll make footman and certainly one day you'll make butler. Fantastic.

[00:43:54]>> I'm extremely impressed.

[00:43:55]>> Thank you very much.

[00:43:57]>> So for that we have a reward for you.

[00:44:00]I'm the only person to get this reward I have to say which is a piece of paper and a pencil so that you can write a letter home and I thank you very much for [music] your efforts.

[00:44:08]>> Thank you.

[00:44:10]>> I wish you all the best. Isolated and cut off from their families, writing letters home was a lifeline for those below stairs.

[00:44:19]But paper and pencils were often withheld by senior staff and offered as a rare reward. I can imagine [music] what a huge privilege this would be just because it wouldn't happen very very often and [music] any any chance to to speak to the outside world and your family obviously most importantly [music] must have just been amazing. It must have been incredibly hard as an existence. It must have been a a pretty awful one for them. So I I very much sympathize.

[00:44:55][sighs] The time crashers are about to leave their brief stay in 1913, possibly their toughest assignment yet.

[00:45:06]And what with the suffragettes and the great unrest and the staggering inequality, it must have seemed at the time as though the Edwwardian world was about to come to an end. And indeed, it was. Within a year, it had been swept away by the greatest war the world had yet seen.

[00:45:30]Next time, it's 1796 and the time crashers find themselves on a Georgian farm.

[00:45:38]>> Look at these [crying] babies.

[00:45:40]>> Look, >> you are one hell of a vegan sandwich.

[00:45:44]>> They may think they're in Arcadian England.

[00:45:48]That was good.

[00:45:49]>> But they'll have to get their hands dirty.

[00:45:53]>> Oh my god.

[00:45:55]>> Looks horrendous.

[00:45:56]>> Doesn't look very good, does it?

[00:45:57]>> No.

[00:46:00]>> Oh no. Keep him out of there.

[00:46:03]>> What are we going to do?