On BBC now - Celebrity Escape to the Country

MayBee70

I like anything that involves looking round peoples houses! I’ll check it out. The best celebrity type things are Mastermind and University Challenge ( the latter Christmas one being a bit of a celebrity one) because they have a few questions that I can actually answer.

This is exactly what I said to a friend the other day!! 😂😂

Ohmother

Sick of ‘celebrity’ episodes of well loved programmes. Ruins it for me.

Yes, and what qualifies anybody to be a 'celebrity' these days? Being a background extra in a couple of episodes of Eastenders?

They are great these celebrity programmes - I never have the vaguest clue who they are! - so I don't watch them.

Occasionally I do watch Who do You Think You Are? as it is someone I know of and whose life interests me.

Thank you Allira. I loved Kaye, Karen & Scotland

There was one programme the other day (not a celebrity one) which was supposedly set near here. They kept showing shots of a nearby village which is in the area the couple had chosen and had coffee with them there, saying how lovely it is.
However, none of the properties were really near there at all and none of the properties looked at all suitable for their future needs.

At the end it was announced they had bought a property in an entirely different part of the country.

I think the ones I like the most, are where the prospective purchaser/s have a fairly limited budget and the programme excels themselves in finding them something exceptional. I'm less interested in those who have say over a million. I particularly remember one such couple, they were coming back from somewhere or other and had a large budget, maybe 1.5 million. One property in the offing was some souless place that resembled the inside of a golf clubhouse.

MayBee70

Thanks. Watched the Linford Christie one and catchup is now showing the earlier series. Really enjoying it. I don’t usually like the non celebrity ones as I can never understand, as a Billy no mates, how much entertaining people say they do.

'We're moving 250 miles to Scotland or Cornwall, but need a sitting room or dining room for entertaining.' A friend assured me when they moved to somewhere they'd been on holiday, that friends come and stay only once - so they moved back from whence they came.

Franbern

When ETTC first started I used to really enjoy it. Totally different format back then.
Firstly, far more normal people with normal amounts of money for moving home. Then the presented would select four houses which they would 'view' on line in their own homes, selecting two of them to visit.

I really cannot get my head around the vast sums of money that people reckon they can afford in this programme now, and the constant demand for acres of land by people who are coming up to retirement age.

Always get told about the pub in the nearest village, but never about the bus and/or train services or even how crowded the roads get in rush hour.

Silly elderly people thinking properties with loads of steps both going to and in them, are wonderful!!!! never 'future planning'. Kitchens so large you would need a Segway to use them being written off as 'not big enough'!!!!

Very few of those on this programme seem to go ahead to purchase any they are shown. Think the programme seems to be more for Estate Agents being able to show off some off their more expensive and hard to shift properties.

Oh Franbern, I totally agree about ETTC. Recently a retiree fell in love with a house with a short 3 tier garden, the end of which had fabulous views because it was higher than the roof!

Regarding the celeb editions of any programme, we see people in the media and form an opinion. Seeing them on a quiz show or Strictly, we get a little more insight into whether our previous opinion had any validity. It's a form of people watching, I suppose.

Watching the Kay Adams one which is great fun and the houses are lovely.I found the houses in the Linford Christie episode a bit soulless.

Felon? Featured!

Skydancer

*Think the programme seems to be more for Estate Agents being able to show off some off their more expensive and hard to shift properties.*
Funny you should say that, Franbern but you are right. We know a couple whose house was featured- it had been on the market for 3 years with no interest.
Also 2 other houses were featured in our area, both in places no local would choose so, again, difficult to sell. The programme has to be in cahoots with estate agents who try to push these properties.

Some friends of ours had their home felon the programme, it had just gone on the market and was a beautiful old Mill house in a small village. The buyers seemed to like it, as it fitted the wish list. The buyers made no offers on any of the houses shown above in the programme
They in reality bought a very small cottage in the same area that had none of the wish list attributes and cost a lot less.
I think some people inflate their budgets so they get to look around nice houses and stay in a hotel at the programme’s expense.

My great aunt (who died 50 + years ago) lived in a lovely little house as a tenant when working as a servant in the “big house” next door..

The property came onto the market recently so I arranged a viewing. I couldn’t resist. The agent showed me around the now much modernised and now grade 2 listed detached tiny one bed house.

It was beautiful and was hugely emotional to experience it once again.

Thanks. Watched the Linford Christie one and catchup is now showing the earlier series. Really enjoying it. I don’t usually like the non celebrity ones as I can never understand, as a Billy no mates, how much entertaining people say they do.

I've not seen the celebrities version, but I've got no wish to see them.
It's just the properties, for me.

I love looking at houses and have a dreadful RightMove habit.

I do like a bit of house porn😁So ETTC is ideal for me, celebrity or not.
I also like Alistair Appleton

Think the programme seems to be more for Estate Agents being able to show off some off their more expensive and hard to shift properties.
Funny you should say that, Franbern but you are right. We know a couple whose house was featured- it had been on the market for 3 years with no interest.
Also 2 other houses were featured in our area, both in places no local would choose so, again, difficult to sell. The programme has to be in cahoots with estate agents who try to push these properties.

The couples who turn their noses up at a beautiful palatial kitchen/living room I could fit my whole house in and say it's too small really bug me 🙄

No, I never watch any "Celebrity" programmes at all, I've often not heard of the person involved and they're often not very interesting.
I love most of the property programmes, but don't enjoy the ones with vast budgets as much, mainly because the extra money often seems to go on things that we wouldn't want such as ultra fancy bathrooms, double height rooms and more bathrooms than bedrooms. The idea of living anywhere very remote without decent transport links is not for me either.
I particularly enjoy some of the "Love it or List it" episodes as the changes made can absolutely transform a house - though I'm not always convinced that some of the costs given are absolutely honest.

sassenach512

They used to tell you if the couple's offer was accepted and they got the house, now they leave you guessing, it's frustrating

I'm guessing that it wasn't accepted, or that the purchase didn't eventually go through.

I do like watching Escape to the Country because I’m interested in houses generaly but the amount people have to spend on them is obscene!
It’s not realistic, some people have no idea how the other half live?!!

I agree...pointless not knowing if they are successful or not on any of the houses

Me too..I am not into this 'celeb culture'

I prefer to watch ordinary people for things like this. I would like to see ordinary people review holidays too, especially those who wouldn't have the money to do it themselves. It would be far more refreshing than watching a celebrity (even those I like) who can easily afford to pay for those things themselves.

I'm actually pleased to say I haven't heard of most celebrities. I couldn't care less about any of them. I hadn't heard of Taylor Swift until her name was mentioned about 100 times a day on news bulletins for some reason which I can't remember. Old and proud to be grumpy.