HAY there!

KELVIN FLETCHER and wife LIZ invite TV Times to spend the day at their Peak District farm

- CAREN CLARK

FLETCHER’S FAMILY FARM
SUNDAY, 11.30AM, ITV1, & 7PM, ITVBE FACTUAL

On the cloudy August day that TV Times arrives at the 18th-century farm owned by Strictly Come Dancing 2019 champion Kelvin Fletcher and his actor wife Liz, we’re greeted by their friendly cavapoochon, Ginger, who bustles into the homestead.

‘Welcome to chaos!’ grins Liz, as she and Kelvin, known to many from his time on ITV1 soap Emmerdale as Andy Sugden, take us on a guided tour of their glorious Peak District abode, which features in their new show Fletcher’s Family Farm.

Beginning on ITV1 and ITVBe this week, the eight-part series follows the peaks and troughs of their farming life with daughter Marnie, seven, son Milo, four, and one-year-old twins Mateusz and Maximus. Kelvin and Liz only started farming two years ago, but their enthusiasm is infectious as they take us into the fields to see the incredible views and meet their inquisitive sheep and ‘snobby’ alpacas.

Farming life is all about mucking in – literally! – and we’re soon willingly helping to clean out and feed the pigs, and spending time cuddling a cute piglet who is only hours old.

After we’ve taken off our wellies, we join Kelvin, 39, and Liz, 40, in their cosy kitchen for a lovely chat…

Viewers followed your early days as farmers in BBC1’s Kelvin’s Big Farming Adventure last year. How would you describe this new series?