Series from 2013
Castles, they were the ultimate homes for medieval preppers – kings and noblemen who were under constant threat from neighboring enemies.
A retired army lieutenant recruits his children to help him finish building his Doomsday Castle, a completely self-sufficient fortress of refuge for the End of Days. The most important tasks are building a drawbridge for the front door, cleaning out the bunker, where the family will be living and fortifying the remaining weaknesses inside of the bunker. The children must work together to complete their father's vision, and be prepared for the Apocalypse.
Some of the family is tested on obtaining their own sources of food for the castle while Brent Sr. and Dawn Marie build a catapult to be able to defend the castle from intruders when the end times come. Lindsey and Ashley find a sustainable food source while Brent II and Michael hunt for a meal. The entire family tests the catapult together and then feasts on their new food options.
A military expert is brought in to train the family on how to defend the Castle as it stands now. The family comes together to build a solar powered water system. However, tensions flare when communication is broken down and the family can't work together. Their military training is tested and things come to a head when a mock ambush pushes the family to their limits.
A torrential downpour gives the kids time to have some fun in the mud. What starts out as fun and games turns into the breaking point for Ashley as Lindsey and Dawn-Marie gang up on her. Tensions run high and the family splits apart as fights, sometimes physical, develop. Ashley, Michael and Brent II work on a listening post/observation post in the woods while Brent Sr. and Dawn-Marie continue work on a portcullis, an iron grating suspended in the gateway of the castle.
Brent Sr. launches a fake tear gas attack on the children to test their readiness, as well as to stress the importance of having barriers on the castle windows. Have they improved since the first ambush test? Brent Sr. sends Brent II and Ashley out to source materials to shutter the windows, while Michael and Dawn-Marie are put in charge of planting a survival garden.
Ashley is sleeping out in the family's fort in the woods when she senses an intruder and sounds the foghorn. Brent Sr. and Michael get her safely out, but for the first time, the family is facing a threat from an unknown entity --- something they expect much more of in the future. Brent Sr. tasks Michael and Dawn-Marie with developing a multi-level perimeter defense system to deter enemies from getting too close to the castle.