Back In Time For The Corner Shop: How a Sheffield family of five went on a time-travel adventure

“We’d had quite an up and down year,” explains Jo who – along with her husband Dave and their children Sam, Olivia and Ben – was filmed in Sheffield for a whistle-stop tour of a century of neighbourhood retail at a fictional store in a former off-licence on the corner of Derbyshire Lane and Norton Lees Road.

“My mum was ill, Dave’s mum had been ill, both the older kids had gone away to university, and I also turned 50. So when I saw the opportunity I decided to apply on a whim, not thinking for one minute we’d get picked.”

But chosen they were - and now Back In Time For The Corner Shop starts on February 25. Over six instalments, overseen by host Sara Cox and historian Polly Russell, the Arderns discover how what they sell, how they sell it and who their customers are reflects the enormous changes in British society from the Victorian period to the present day.

The effect of post-war immigration on the nation’s diet is covered, as is the rise of major supermarket chains that posed a threat to smaller businesses.

The family spent last summer working in the shop and living upstairs. Starting in 1897 when the shop and the suburb around it was built, they will be seen baking their own goods, weighing loose items like tea, flour and sugar by hand, and making deliveries with a horse and cart.

As the years accelerate they discover the impact of Sheffield's steel industry, face the challenge of administering wartime rations, and experience innovations like phone cards, Smash Hits magazine and the National Lottery.

"I study history at university so partly it was just a learning experience," says Sam, aged 21. "I loved the idea of learning about corner shops and people throughout time, and how ordinary people would have lived their lives."

Jo adds: "What we’d hoped to learn as a family during the process was more about us and if we could survive managing to live and work together without killing each other. Also if we could go back to basics and manage without technology."

Jo, 50, is the deputy manager of a charity for visually impaired people in Sheffield, while Dave, 57, is the deputy manager of a care home. They live in Rotherham, but both were born in Sheffield and grew up in the city.

"My great-great grandad had a corner shop in London," says Jo. "We’d already done a bit of tracing in our family history and knew he was a green grocer. So when we saw the picture of his shop during filming and then saw the front of our shop which was modelled on that image, it was just amazing. So working in the shop and seeing how skilled that job had to be in those times really gave me that connection and respect for my relatives."

The corner shop, Dave says, was 'pivotal' to any community - and he thinks the show proves there might be advantages to reviving this way of life.

"It’s bringing that old ethos back - getting back that balance between the olden days and that modern convenience for people who want things quickly but haven’t got the time," he says. "It’s been quite an eye-opener."

He was also intrigued to notice that, before the days of free plastic bags, Victorian shoppers brought in their own packaging to take their purchases home - just as customers are increasingly expected to do today.

"There are now all these shops popping up that are zero-waste – they remind us so much of the Victorian era," says Dave. "That’s the future."

Sixteen-year-old Olivia's favourite point in history, meanwhile, was the 1970s and 80s.

"Things were so different and interesting," she says. "There was lots going on, and things were getting better after the two world wars. There were new technologies and as a teenager it was more fun."

Ben, 13, particularly enjoyed the 1950s and 60s.

"It was bringing all new technology in and having games and stuff so there were more options for teenagers," he says. "But they were still all social games so you stayed together as a family."

The first episode finds Jo and Olivia confined to the kitchen, a consequence of old-fashioned gender roles. They are required to cook jam, make unusual health tonics and prepare a rather challenging meal of Shredded Wheat doused in Marmite broth.

Viewers will see Dame Kelly Holmes putting the family through an Edwardian-style workout, as well as the Arderns throwing a peace party to celebrate the end of World War One.

Previous versions of the Back In Time concept include Back In Time For Dinner, in which families sampled home cooking across several decades, and Back In Time For School.

Ultimately, the process has brought the Arderns closer together.

"I think it was an excellent experience and it’s something that we will remember forever," says Dave.

Back In Time For The Corner Shop begins on BBC Two at 8pm on Tuesday, February 25. Episodes will be available to stream via the iPlayer.