Colonial House 2004

      A group of seventeen men, women, young adults and children arrive in Maine to live as original settlers of Plymouth Colony in 1628.  Three houses were provided on the property and later the colonists built a fourth house.  Chickens, goats, casks of ship’s biscuit, 500 lbs of salted fish, 1000 lbs of salted pork.  Also provided, 1 firkin (40.9 liters) of wine, 1 firkin of aqua vitae and a keg of beer.  The colonists traded with the Passamaquoddy people to secure seed corn to be planted in a large field near the settlement. 

      The people selected to serve as colonists were probably screened prior to their selection?  There is a couple included in this TV settlement that initially attended the Sunday services.  Later, they refused to attend and they were reprimanded by the settlement Governor.  Then they were asked to wear a letter representing their failure to attend.  Finally, it became accepted that they would not attend and this became a thorn in the community!!  The actual original English colonists in Maine established the Popham Plantation at the mouth of the Kennebec River in 1607.  Puritan Separatists initially known as the Brownish Emigration later became known as the Pilgrims.  Most of the citizens of Plymouth fled religious persecution and were looking for a place to worship as they saw fit.  I don't believe some of the soap opera drama in the series would've happened in an actual settlement in this time period?    3 1/2* (I liked this series)

 

60 min, 8 episodes, TV Mini-Series, aired on PBS with Jonathon Allen, Julia Friese, Carolyn and Don Heinz, Amy-Kristian Herbert, Paul Hunt, Jack Lecza, Jeff Lin, Dominic Muir, Michelle Rossi and John Voorhees, Giacomo Voorhees, Clare Samuels, Danny Tisdale, Craig Tuminaro, Dave and Debby Verdecia, Emily and Maddison Verdecia, Tony Verdecia, Kathryn Walker, Don Wood, Amy, Bethany and David Wyers, Jeff and Tammy Wyers.  Additional colonists were Jeff Lin, Dave, Debbie, Maddie and Tony Verdecai, Craig, Clare Samuels, Jack Lecza. 

Titles for episodes are A New World, Harsh Reality, City of God, The Outsiders, Regime Change, The Shake Up, The Reckoning, Judgment Day.

Note:  Imdb 7.5 out of 10, Amazon 3.3* out of 5* with 54 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Machias, Maine on a 1000-acre isolated area.  Also, in this area were several members of the current Passamaquoddy tribe of Maine.  Later members of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe set up a nearby camp.  Historians from Plimoth Plantation and Emerson Baker of Salem State College, an archaeologist and Maine Historian, aided in making the setting as accurate as possible.  There were thousands of applicants for the project.  Most were American but there are also some British citizens.  The owners brought two dogs into the settlement, Henry (a white dog) and Chloe (a brown dog).