Fantastic TV shows and where to find them Welcome back to Period Dramas, a weekly column that alternates between rounding up historic homes on the market and answering questions we?ve always had about older structures.
The pursuit of living in a historic home?whether the chase involves a restoration or an investigation of the structure?s past?is a story to be told.
Thankfully for us old-house fans, those stories are captured in an array of TV shows, many of which we?ve had in our YouTube queue for a while now and that we?re spreading the word about today.
Some of these programs let you vicariously live out the fantasy of restoring a run-down English country home. Others use live action role play to uncover how these houses were actually used?and reused?over the years. And while most are technically off the air, they?re all still available if you do a little poking around on the internet. Restoration Home

Restoration Home?which ran on the BBC from 2011 to 2013?follows individuals, couples, and families who buy neglected but architecturally significant English country houses and decide to restore them.
The host, Caroline Quentin, chronicles the often extensive and unruly restorations. She is joined by architectural historian Kieran Long and social historian Kate Williams, who are tasked with uncovering as much as possible about the house?s history and the people who originally built it.
This show doesn?t offer an idealistic view of the restoration process. Unlike ma...