MORWELLHAM is the location for a new television series expected to bring visitors flocking to the area.

Edwardian Farm is a follow-up to the hugely successful Victorian Farm, in which a pair of archaeologists and an historian made their living off the land as their forbears did.

The BBC2 series screened last year attracted an audience of up to four million and its location, Acton Scott Historic Farm in Shropshire, experienced a considerable increase in visitor numbers as a result.

There are hopes that the same thing will happen at Morwellham if it re-opens as a heritage attraction.

The site went into administration last year after Devon Council Council refused to put any more taxpayers' money into the struggling venture and it was marketed for sale as a going concern. A decision is imminent on who the new owners of Morwellham will be.

Archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn and domestic historian Ruth Goodman will return to front Edwardian Farm, spending a full year delving into Britain's rural heritage.

They will make their home at Morwellham, exploring the challenges posed by the British countryside at a time of great change and tumult, a time when farming was becoming increasingly mechanised at home, and abroad the world was moving gradually towards war.

As in the first series, the action will be based primarily on the farm, but the new setting will also allow the team to explore wider aspects of the working countryside, including rivers and coasts, boat-building, mining, fishing and market gardening.

Trustee of Morwellham Quay, Robin Musgrave, said the potential impact on the whole area would be 'enormous' from this show.

He praised heritage consultant Barry Gamble who was instrumental in securing the deal with the BBC: 'Barry should get most of the credit because it was his actions that made this come about when the producers were looking for a suitable location,' he said.

'It is bound to increase the number of tourists and visitors to this area dramatically.'

A spokesman for Acton Scott said people who would not normally come to an attraction like theirs did so because they had seen it on the television.

'We did not market ourselves on the back of the series in particular —all we did was add 'as featured in the Victorian Farm' rosette on our leaflets and we attracted a whole new stream of visitors,' he said.

Edwardian Farm will be screened in 2011.