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Were the Bowlers the right family for the 1900 house? Series Producer
Simon Shaw thinks so.
  What
made you choose the Bowler family from among the hundreds who applied?
 Apart
from being an interesting family who were able to convey their feelings
well, they were just very representative of their social class.
They were not driven to do the experiment out of a complete fascination
with just one moment in history, nor did they live that slightly
cranky lifestyle of people who eschew modern appliances. They love
modern conveniences, and they enjoy life in general.
How
did the Bowlers measure up to your expectations?
They
met -- and exceeded them -- in many ways. They pushed the boundaries
constantly, introducing new stories to the agenda that we hadn't
even dreamt about. In her video diary, Joyce would bring out fascinating
information about how she was feeling, about how their diet, skin,
hair and bodies were changing. And all of that gave us so much more
than we originally intended. They were so open about every aspect
of their struggles, and they weren't afraid to put their hands up
and say, "We can't do this. This is too hard."
In
hindsight, would you change anything about the family selection
process?
Actually,
if I had my fantasy, I would be able to select two families to take
part concurrently. I had sympathy for the Bowlers since they were
the only family living this experience. The people next door, everybody
else on the street, everybody they saw when they went out shopping,
were living a normal life, and they had nobody to turn to compare
their experiences with. They felt very isolated in that sense, and
with another family participating, at least they could have felt
some sort of kinship.
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