Amanda Owen has revealed the "real connection" she feels with a woman who lived at Anty John's around 200 years before her own family began restoring the farmhouse.
The Yorkshire Shepherdess is set to delve deeper into the story of Mally Clarkson when Our Farm Next Door: Amanda, Clive and Kids returns for a fourth series.
Viewers who have followed the restoration will already be familiar with Mally's husband, Anthony Clarkson, the Swaledale mapmaker and diarist who became one of Anty John's best-known former residents.
Previous episodes have gradually pieced together the couple's story through historical records and Anthony's surviving diaries.
Anty John's (Image: CHANNEL 4)
Anthony had been working away from Swaledale as a schoolmaster when his life changed following the sudden death of his father in February 1818.
A surviving diary entry records Anthony receiving the "melancholy news" of his father's death, after which he returned to Swaledale and became responsible for decisions surrounding the family's farm and legacy.
The programme has also revealed more about the woman Anthony would marry.
Mally's real name was Mary, with Mally being the name by which she was known.
She had been born at nearby Close Hills but lost her parents when she was 15, before coming to work as a servant at the house.
She and Anthony subsequently married, with their story becoming another strand of Amanda's attempts to understand the people who lived and worked around Anty John's generations before the Owens.
Amanda has now revealed that Mally's story will become considerably more prominent in the forthcoming series.
Speaking at Our Farm Next Door: A Behind-the-Scenes Celebration at Everyman Northallerton on Wednesday, September 30, Amanda explained why she has become so fascinated by the couple.
She said: "I feel a real connection between us and Anthony Clarkson and Mally.
"Even though there's 200 years between us, I felt a real connection after reading his diary in the last series and find it incredible that they managed to farm this land 200 years ago without the technology and know-how we have today."
While Anthony's diaries have previously provided a route into the family's history, Amanda said the fourth series will turn greater attention towards Mally herself.
She added: "We really dig into Mally's life this series and even though she died young, she sounded an incredible person, managing to raise children and do farm work as well."
The parallels are particularly striking for Amanda, who raised nine children with former husband Clive while working at remote Ravenseat Farm in Swaledale.
Although the two families are separated by around two centuries, both faced the challenge of raising children and making a living from the same demanding Yorkshire Dales landscape.
For Amanda, the contrast in the technology available to them only makes the Clarksons' lives more remarkable.
Her research into Anthony has already become a recurring strand of Our Farm Next Door.
In the previous series, Amanda was able to delve deeper into a transcription of his diary, while she and her daughters also explored places connected with his life. Series three included a visit to the church where Anthony was married.
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That historical investigation will continue alongside the physical transformation of the house in series four.
The Anty John's restoration is entering its third year, with its plastered walls finally dry enough for painting and floorboards to be fitted.
The Owens will also tackle the considerable challenge of bringing a piped water supply across the moors and into the farmhouse for the first time.
Amanda has previously said she does not want to rush the restoration because of the history contained within its walls.
And with the new series set to uncover much more about Mally, bringing Anty John's back to life is increasingly becoming a story about the family who occupied the farmhouse 200 years ago as well as the one hoping to make it their home today.