Have You Met the Family Behind NatGeo's 'Doomsday Castle'?

First, National Geographic hosted "Doomsday Preppers." Now, it has taken it to the next level, honing in on one family and their "Doomsday Castle."

Brent Sr. and five of his 10 children are helping finish a survival project he started in 1999 -- a castle. (Image via YouTube video screenshot)

Meet Brent Sr., the leader of the six-person family. Brent is a former Army Infantry Training Officer who is heading up the project to build an "EMP(electromagnetic pulse)-proof medieval castle in the woods of the Carolinas."

According to National Geographic, Brent is teaching five of his 10 children survival skills.

Working through familial conflicts seem to play as much of a role in the show as building the castle and learning survival skills. (Photo: National Geographic Channels/Jordan J. Mallari)

The unfinished, fortified castle that Brent Sr. is building, an idea he got during the Y2K prep craze, will be able sustain an EMP-event that could wipe out a power grid, but will also survive natural disasters like hurricanes.

"It's a real possibility. Nuclear explosions can create EMPs — if one was detonated in the high atmosphere, it could knock out power to one-fourth of the United States by destroying computers that run everything. Solar flares are also a risk for EMPs," Brent said in an interview with LiveScience.

And the question we're all wondering -- why a castle?

"I built the castle to defend against marauders and to have a place that could function without electricity," he said of the structure that he began in 1999 as a bunker.

Watch this promotional video for the show where Brent says "nothing brings a family together like Armageddon":

Here's a bit more from NatGeo's overview of the new series:

Brent, with the help of his children, is on a quest to finish his towering castle that is isolated deep in the Carolina mountains. But the apocalypse he fears might shy in comparison to the clash of characters of his five children as they try to live and work together to prepare for the worst. If doomsday comes, will this family survive to rule the mountains, or will it self-destruct before the castle is ever completed?

Watch this footage of the children talking about their prepper father, described as an "emotional fortress":

Check out LiveScience's full Q&A for more insights on the family featured in the show, which premiered Tuesday on the National Geographic Channel.

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