War Coal House families unveiled

The Coal House at War families on their way back to 1944: [L-R] The Griffithses, Tranter-Davieses and Paiseys

Three families chosen to travel back to wartime Wales in the second series of BBC's reality TV programme Coal House have been revealed.

They will leave 2008's comforts behind in exchange for the hardships of a World War II mining community.

In all 600 volunteered to step back to 1944 for Coal House at War after last year's Coal House gripped the nation.

But the families will not be on their own this time - Bevin Boys and evacuees will also be taking part.

As in the first series, the families will live in the tiny miners' cottages in Stack Square, Blaenavon, when they swap 2008 for 1944 for four weeks of filming in October.

Coal House at War; The families The Griffithses: Howell, 55, ex-miner, now council driver, Rose, 55, residential care home manager, Mandy, 34, dental nurse; Kieran, 11, Callum, nine The Tranter-Davieses: Geraint Davies, 42, criminal justice drugs worker; Laura Tranter, 37, substance misuse and criminal justice development officer; Annie-Starr Wilding, 17, Rosie Jane Wilding, 11, Caitlin Gigi Davies, 11, Maisie Ray Davies, nine, Tilly Juniper Davies, four The Paiseys: Dr Stephen Paisey, 33, university researcher; Natalie Paisey, 30, houswife, Isabel, nine, Gruffydd, seven, Euan, five, and Lara, two Evacuees and Bevin Boy: Caleb, 12, and Kia Shah, 11, from Cardiff; Jac Williams from Penarth

Last year the Cartwrights from Penarth, the eight-strong Phillipses from Cowbridge and the Griffithses from Ceredigion battled with the restrictions of living in 1927 and their daily fight to scrape a meagre living became top television viewing.

The three families even returned to sample a 1927 Christmas, and after leaving the Coal House, said the experience had changed their approach to modern day life.

But the families will be required to live under blackout regulations by night and carry out war work by day while learning to become self sufficient and dig their own vegetables.

The Griffiths family from Gwaun-cae-Gurwen in the Swansea Valley will recreate wartime conditions, accompanied by the Tranter-Davies family from Merthyr Tydfil and the Paiseys from Cardiff.

They all came through a selection day for short-listed families in June when they were tested at an army camp near Abergavenny.

They applied to take part for varying reasons - from escaping the hectic 21st Century for a simplified way of living, to learning to appreciate how fortunate they are today, to discovering more about their roots and how their mothers, fathers and grandparents lived during World War II.

The first series took the families back to 1927's deprivations

One of those taking part, Mandy Griffiths, has a closer connection with the reality of war, as her husband is on active service with the armed forces at the moment.

Coal House at War will also involve young men taking part as Bevin Boys who were called up to fight only to be conscripted to work underground in the mines.

There were also be child evacuees and a variety of other locals doing their real jobs and hobbies but transported back six decades,

Series producer Rachel Morgan said the families had come a long way since the selection process.

"They've been psychologically vetted, visited at home by the team and questioned at length about their commitment to discovering their own history and the history of the coalfields at war," she said.

Coal House at War will be broadcast on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from Monday, 13 October, on BBC One Wales.