Escape To The Country

Not to mention the alpacas

Actually I love Escape To The Country and I wish I knew who composed the background music. I've googled it and there are lots of people asking the same question but nobody seems to know.

Some friends watch this programme in Australia, they like to look at the scenery. My heart sinks if a couple have matching jumpers or are colour coordinated. I have explained to my Oz friends that very often my whole house would have fitted into the kitchen of the house lacking the WOW factor.

DD1 in Australia loves this programme, makes her feel nostalgic. Of course we have never lived in 'a house like this' to coin a phrase. They always seem to have a vast amount of money to spend.

There was a house in DS' s village recently which was interesting
Also seen one on Grand Designs in the next village

If we ever wear anything matching (by accident not design) I always say "we're very Howard and Hilda today". (Ever decreasing circles)

We do know someone with alpacas!

Someone else we know nearby went on 'May the Best House Win'. She won, but I know she lied about her age.

I think Alistair Appleton is excellent in this programme. He's the only presenter I can stand to watch actually. He has just the right amount of slightly amused scepticism (and he is quite nice to look at too!).

It's all contrived and edited of course. They pretend they've seen three properties but frequently mention the week they've spent looking at houses. I think some people go on it just for their moment of fame on TV.

I always loved Howard and Hilda.

Matching jumpers! I used to enjoy that programme.

And Alistair Appleton is very easy on the eye, very clever too.

I find him very condescending - give me Jules any day!

I like Jules (looks good on a horse) Alistair is a good pianist - not that that's got anything to do with house hunting.

Today's episode had us laughing at the man who wanted a house to fit his dream of owning a ride on lawn mower - or garden tractor as he preferred to call it.

as a rural dweller - did not so much 'escape to the country' as I returned having grown up on a farm during the fifties - now that was basic - no electricity or main water until I was a teenager as well as walking a mile to school and back. I watch 'ettc' to laugh at the would-be country dwellers who all want the livestock and veggie patch option - there are rabbits and weeds that you have to fight for the veggies, the livestock gets old and you have to do something with it - and what is it with the 'keeping chickens'
we had chickens at home - yes you get eggs but they have to be looked after and shut up at night (foxes) and when they are old and stopped laying will they wring their necks
and then there is the large dining kitchen with the ubiquitous 'island unit' and 'the range'.
and the chap today who would not consider any house if the lawn was not enough for him to use his ride-on mower (it is not a tractor)
I like 'jules' as well - he always seems to have the right kind of cynical air about the whole thing.

Comments that irritate the life out of me on this programme are 'it's a bit small' (meaning the kitchen can only fit a large farmhouse table, has an Aga and conventional cooker AND sports an attached utility room), must have enough ground for paddocks and a 'ménage', (but 4 acres just isn't big enough!) Not suitable for the dogs(?!) and one of the most puzzling I heard - 'Not enough work tops big enough to roll out my pastry!' How big were her pies for heavens sake! Oh, and give me Alistair any day.

just to add - a few weeks ago I saw a program where they visited a house I had actually viewed (twice) and would not have recognised it as they glossed over the downsides and seemed to make all the rooms look much bigger than they actually were - wide angle cameras maybe? 0

I always like the fact that they all want a "Character Cottage" in the country and then spend the whole programme moaning about the low ceilings and tiny windows. I also enjoy their elaborate plans for entertaining when you can see that they will have alienated the entire village within a week
I watched one couple enthusing about a modern house which was upwards of £700,000. They loved the beautiful rooms! As far as I could see the rooms were very plain square boxes, badly finished and painted in insipid colours. Not an iota of originality anywhere, but I suppose that's what they liked.

One of my friends was on it once. I didn't know she was going to be on, turned on the telly quite by chance and there she was. It was quite a
She said the people doing the programme didn't listen to a word she and her husband said about what they wanted, and none of the properties that were found for them were remotely suitable.

How do they choose the houses? Do they go to local estate agents or do sellers apply to the show? Please excuse if it is obvious during the programme, DH likes to watch it and just calls me if there is a house in the locality on the show so I only watch fragments

That doesn't surprise me, Jane, Very often the participants ask for total peace and quiet and are shown a house so close to a main road you would never sit outside. They have parents who want a self contained annexe so are shown a shack at the top of a very steep garden. They want a nice view so they're taken to the back of beyond. They don't have any children and quite clearly don't want any so they are shown a house next door to a primary school.

I so agree with you Mollie, I have lived in the country all my life and have never had rose tinted specs on. Country living is great but is often harsh and hard work but they always want to go to the country pub and have long walks in the country. They don't seem to realise that the cleaning of their houses surrounded by land inhabited by animals will take lots of time. As will the shopping when the nearest shops are miles away. The time left for the pub and walks will be very short !
I watch it for a laugh at their naivety!

If it is anything like "Songs of Praise" they have no say in anything.

Many years ago, our parish church was on that. The hymns were chosen by the programmers, they bussed in all kinds of people who had no connection with the church and the interviews were with complete strangers, some from completely different denominations or even faiths. Everyone was told to come with something to put on at half-time so that it would look like two different services, and could be shown as two separate programmes, and before the service started there was a warm-up talk by someone telling questionable jokes.

DH and I watch these house buying shows with total disbelief. The key thing we usually want to know is where did the get the money. Not all, but many of the participants seem to be complete airheads and relatively young, so we cannot fathom how they have acquired over half a million quid to spend on a house. Usually it has to be in the country but near a motorway or station so that they can continue to work in 'the city' occasionally, but we are never told what their job is. Perhaps they have won the lottery or disposed of several wealthy relatives .

I would like to see a companion show called Get Rich Quick which shows us ordinary 'hard-working-families' how to accrue such wealth without having any obvious qualifications, brains, talents or goodlooks

But don't you too want a kitchen that is not only the "hub of the house" but the "heart of the home" and has a range (as they can't say AGA) ? Add in to that the 3 1/2 hour commute back to the job which is paying for it (usuually for both parties) and then reconsider "we want to be able to spend more time together"!!!
BTW I am a total addict, as you can guess!

Last week they had someone with SIX dogs??? Every room they went in had to accommodate the dogs. They wanted a garden so the dogs could 'run'.

You've got to laugh but I love it.

Elegran! You've spoiled it for me now!!!

Next time you watch it, look at the congregation and try to guess who belongs there and who is a stranger (as well as who is officially a member of the congregation but has not been there for years)

Yes Granny23, DH watches in the sittingroom while i am in the conservatory, every so often I hear £795, 000 or some ridiculous figure and call 'HOW much?'

It's the same with the houses they pick in Wanted down Under, priced too high, totally unsuitable and nothing like they asked for

Although I must say, Elegran, that DS was in Songs of Praise when he was very young and it was very enjoyable. It was filmed in a big London church, with choirs including his and the London Community Gospel Choir with Bazil Meade, hosted by Sally Magnusson. Great fun (for all us Mums anyway). Oh Happy Day!