About this season
Inspired by his experiences in 'Around the World in 80 Faiths', part-time vicar Peter Owen Jones returns to credit-crunch Britain and to the realisation that modern life has become a frenzy of spending and working. He yearns for a life of simplicity and meaning - a deeper connection to both nature and people. Filmed over the course of nearly a year in his beautiful Sussex parishes, the first in a three-part series follows Peter as he tries to turn his back on consumerism.
Episodes (3)
1. Episode 1
Aired 7 May 2010 • 60 min
Anglican priest Peter Owen Jones goes back to a basic way of life, abandoning the frenzy of spending and working in the hope of deepening his connection to nature and his parishioners. Over eight months he turns his back on consumerism and enters a period of `voluntary poverty', renewing his skills as a gardener, chicken-keeper, woodcutter and dishwasher.
2. Episode 2
Aired 14 May 2010 • 60 min
Peter Owen Jones continues his search to find the answer to a more simple and meaningful life. He meets a Franciscan friar in Canterbury who shows him where he has gone wrong. Peter has become too self-sufficient and will only find the answer to a simple life if he leaves the comfort of his parishes and throws himself at the mercy of complete strangers, just as St Francis did. Peter sets off on a two-week road trip with little more than the clothes he is wearing, begging for food and accommodation as he goes.
3. Episode 3
Aired 21 May 2010 • 60 min
The run-up to Christmas increases the pressure on Peter Owen Jones as he faces mounting bills, including renewing his car insurance and MoT, which force him to rely even more on the generosity of his parishioners and the people he meets while travelling around southern England. As the festive season approaches, he finds a new way of giving back to the community and assesses his mission to live a more meaningful life. Last in the series.