National Trust: Our Dream Farm with Matt Baker - Season 1

Matt Baker helps the National Trust find a new tenant for the vacant Wallington Estate farm in Northumberland and its 340 acres of grassland, woodland and wetland. Matt follows the process as seven applicants for the 10-year lease spend three weeks demonstrating they have what it takes to be chosen for the position. In this first episode, Matt arrives at the estate to meet the seven applicants. It's lambing season, so the hopefuls get straight to work.

One pair of hopefuls become the first to spend a night in the farmhouse, with the responsibility of looking after the animals. As the temperature drops, the outside water pipes freeze, forcing them to fill buckets from the farmhouse for the livestock to drink. The National Trust set the hopefuls a task to prepare for the arrival of beavers into a 60-acre enclosure on the farm.

The applicants come to the end of their first week on the farm. Giles and Sally prepare to host the first round of business meetings at the Wallington Estate's grand house, where two hopefuls are selected to pitch their vision for the farm. The applicants all head to Hexham Farmers' Market to learn about marketing and selling produce direct from the farm to the public, engage with customers and work alongside fellow farmers.

Following the first elimination, six applicants now remain in the process, all hoping to secure the farm tenancy. With the ewes lambing, they need to be looked after at all hours. Matt introduces the next task - hosting a farm visit for a group of schoolchildren. Giles and Sally want to see the children learning about farming, conservation and food production, and of course, the children must have fun too.

The wannabe tenants are tested on how they would fit into the local rural community at a livestock auction mart, where they must buy cattle for a buyer who cannot be there. Some of them have never bought livestock before, while others are regulars - can they all meet the criteria they've been given and buy within budget?

The four remaining applicants have one more chance to impress Giles and Sally, before the National Trust pick their final three. First up, they're tasked with creating a rotational grazing system to manage livestock in a sustainable way that benefits nature restoration. After a busy night in the lambing shed, Sally and Giles observe the wannabe-tenants' livestock handling skills, as they herd cattle from the neighbouring farm to administer a health check.

The three finalists explore the wider Wallington Estate and meet other farm tenants to demonstrate how well they might fit into the local rural community. They get to work on three very different farms and learn more about what life is like as a tenant on the historic estate. Back on the farm, they work alongside the National Trust ranger team to extend an old footpath through the fields and past the beaver enclosure to help improve public access on the estate.

The remaining three hopefuls face Giles and Sally for the final time, while an event at Cambo village hall is the perfect opportunity to mix with the locals. Before that though, there's plenty of work to do on the farm including keeping the animals fed, watered and happy. Also on the agenda is gathering the ewe lambs from the rotational grazing system, so they can be protected against a parasite called liver fluke.