
Acting
Ruth Goodman
Born
1963-01-01 (63)
Place of birth
England, UK
Known for
Acting
Credits
24 titles
Ruth Goodman is a British freelance historian of the early modern period, specialising in offering advice to museums and heritage attractions. She is a specialist in British social history and is a presenter of the BBC educational documentary seriesVictorian Farm, Victorian Pharmacy, Edwardian Farm, Tudor Monastery Farm and Wartime Farm. She also presented the 2005 series Tales from the Green Valley, and occasionally presents features for The One Show. She has been a consultant to the Victoria & Albert Museum and Shakespeare in Love. She is also a member of the Tudor Group, a re-enactment organisation for the Tudorperiod. As a result of her social history research, she has stopped using det…
Known for
6.8Comedy panel show about people with the same first name, hosted by Sue Perkins.
Insert Name Here
2016
7.9Paddy McGuinness and Cherry Healey get exclusive access to some of the largest factories in Britain to reveal the secrets behind production on an epic scale.
Inside the Factory
2015
6.7From a piece of meteorite found in Tutankhamun's tomb to the Crown of Thorns, explore some of the most perplexing and unusual objects lying hidden away in museums, laboratories and storage rooms
Strangest Things
2021
9.0Historical observational documentary series following a team who live the life of Victorian farmers for a year.
Victorian Farm
2009
5.2Jo Brand is joined by three different celebrity Bake Off fans to shine a spotlight on the good, the bad and the soggy bottomed from the most recent episode.
The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
2014
NRIn this six-part course, discover everything you need to know about Victorian Britain, guided by historian Ruth Goodman and filmed on location at Black Country Living Museum.
Victorian Life
2024
Film credits
2020s · 4 titles
NRThe story of Eyam, a small, isolated village in the Peak District, whose residents endured one of the worst outbreaks of bubonic plague ever seen. In the mid 1660s, plague reached the remote Derbyshire village, and as the disease tore through the community, young vicar William Mompesson made an extraordinary decision - to seal the village off entirely. Historian Ruth Goodman tells the story of some of the villagers who lived and died through 14 months of horror.
The Great Plague: The Village That Saved Britain
2026
10.0Self-confessed Christmas Scrooge, Miriam Margolyes, turns to her love of Charles Dickens and the festive traditions in 'A Christmas Carol' to see if she can rekindle her love for Christmas
Miriam's Dickensian Christmas
2022
NRHouses buried under snow. Rivers frozen solid. World War II bombers dropping bread to isolated villages. How did Brits survive the snowiest winter ever recorded - and could it happen again? A host of familiar faces including John Craven, Amanda Barrie, Timothy West and Neil Kinnock share their childhood memories of the icy winter of '47 and explain why it remains unparalleled to this day.
The Big Snow of '47
2024
1.0The duo relive the Great Fire of London through the eyes of both the rich and the poor.
The Great Fire of London with Rob Rinder & Ruth Goodman
2025
2000s · 2 titles
7.7A group of historians and archaeologists prepare a Tudor feast as it would have been over 400 years ago, including the use of period clothes, recipes from the era, food sourced from the land and the absence of modern conveniences.
A Tudor Feast at Christmas
2006
NRVictorian Farm Christmas looks into the lives of 19th century farmers and shows you how to make traditional gifts, food, games and decorations.
Victorian Farm Christmas
2009
Series credits
6.8Comedy panel show about people with the same first name, hosted by Sue Perkins.
Insert Name Here
2016
7.9Paddy McGuinness and Cherry Healey get exclusive access to some of the largest factories in Britain to reveal the secrets behind production on an epic scale.
Inside the Factory
2015
6.7From a piece of meteorite found in Tutankhamun's tomb to the Crown of Thorns, explore some of the most perplexing and unusual objects lying hidden away in museums, laboratories and storage rooms
Strangest Things
2021
9.0Historical observational documentary series following a team who live the life of Victorian farmers for a year.
Victorian Farm
2009
5.2Jo Brand is joined by three different celebrity Bake Off fans to shine a spotlight on the good, the bad and the soggy bottomed from the most recent episode.
The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
2014
NRIn this six-part course, discover everything you need to know about Victorian Britain, guided by historian Ruth Goodman and filmed on location at Black Country Living Museum.
Victorian Life
2024
8.8Historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn turn back the clock to run Manor Farm in Hampshire exactly as it would have been during World War II.
Wartime Farm
2012
9.0Follows historians and archaeologists as they recreate farm life from the age of the Stuarts. They wear the clothes, eat the food and use the tools, skills and technology of the 1620s.
Tales from the Green Valley
2005
9.7Edwardian Farm is an historical documentary TV series in twelve parts, first shown on BBC Two from November 2010 to January 2011. It depicts a group of historians trying to run a farm like it was done during the Edwardian era. It was made for the BBC by independent production company Lion Television and filmed at Morwellham Quay, an historic quay in Devon. The farming team was historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn. The series was devised and produced by David Upshal and directed by Stuart Elliott. The series is a development from two previous series Victorian Farm and Victorian Pharmacy which were among BBC Two's biggest hits of 2009 and 2010, garnering audiences of up to 3.8 million per episode. The series was followed by Wartime Farm in September 2012, featuring the same team but this time in Hampshire on Manor Farm, living a full calendar year as wartime farmers. An associated book by Goodman, Langlands, and Ginn, also titled Edwardian Farm, was published in 2010 by BBC Books. The series was also published on DVD, available in various regional formats.
Edwardian Farm
2010
10.0Victorian Pharmacy is a historical documentary TV series in four parts, first shown on BBC Two in July 2010. It was made for the BBC by independent production company Lion Television. It was filmed at Blists Hill Victorian Town in Shropshire. It is a historical documentary that looks at life in the 19th Century and how people attempted to cure common ailments. Since some of the ingredients of Victorian remedies are now either illegal or known to be dangerous, Nick Barber often uses his modern pharmaceutical knowledge to produce similar products without those ingredients. The other main presenters are Tom Quick, a PhD student, and Ruth Goodman, a domestic historian who also appeared in Tales from the Green Valley, Victorian Farm and Edwardian Farm.
Victorian Pharmacy
2010
9.4How do you build a medieval castle from scratch? Domestic historian Ruth Goodman and archeologists Peter Ginn and Tom Pinfold make perhaps their most ambitious foray into the past as they head to France to take part in a build that has been underway since 1997. Our intrepid history adventurers join this magnificent construction at Guédelon Castle to recreate authentic medieval castle living from within its rising walls.
Secrets of the Castle
2014
9.0An immersive history series in which Ruth Goodman and Rob Rinder explore Britain's defining historical events through the contrasting experiences of the rich and the poor. Blending expert insight, authentic locations and compelling real-life stories, the series reveals how wealth, class and resilience shaped everyday life across Britain's most dramatic moments in history.
Rich Lives, Poor Lives
2025
NRLiving history show presented by Fi Glover. Six celebrities travel back in time to the relentless graft of Victorian Britain.
24 Hours in the Past
2015
NRA team of canine experts reveal the secrets of man's best friend, investigating the differences between different breeds and exploring the genetic history of the dogs of a small English village.
The Wonder of Dogs
2013
NRAssembles top historians and crime experts to re-examine the case of Jack the Ripper. Leading experts reveal their theories and discuss the evidence to support them. And, retracing the final steps of his victims.
Jack the Ripper: Hidden Victims
2022
9.1Historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologists Peter Ginn and Tom Pinfold turn the clock back 500 years to the early Tudor period to become tenant farmers on monastery land.
Tudor Monastery Farm
2013
9.3With the help of Victorian steam enthusiasts across the country, historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologists Peter Ginn and Alex Langlands journey back in time to the era of steam which shaped modern Britain.
Full Steam Ahead
2016
9.7Victorian Farm Christmas looks into the lives of 19th century farmers and shows you how to make traditional gifts, food, games and decorations.
Victorian Farm Christmas
2009
