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Returning: Grand Designs

Kevin McCloud returns with new episodes and the longest running project the show has ever followed.

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Ever-popular Kevin McCloud returns to ABC1 with new episodes of Grand Designs.

It begins with a derelict mill cottage in Northumberland, the longest running project the show has ever followed.

These episodes aired in the UK in September.

Kevin McCloud meets Stefan Lepkowski and his partner Ania Schabowska as they take on the restoration and rebuilding of an old watermill in the stunning Northumberland countryside.

Trying to do as much of the work as possible himself while running his marketing business, Stefan tries to restore the old Georgian cottage, rebuild the original watermill and join the two with a contemporary zinc and glass building.

Stefan is passionate about this project and refuses to compromise on quality and craftsmanship, and within months realises that his budget and schedule are way too ambitious. His budget is too small and his schedule is too short.

As the building slowly materialises, Kevin questions the heavy architecture of the building linking the watermill and the cottage, likening it to something designed by a tank engineer.

As the British recession deepens, the banks refuse to lend Stefan money he was relying on to finish the build and the project runs from two years into almost five years. In the meantime, he and Ania get married, spend their honeymoon camping on site, and have two children!

7:30pm Sunday January 15 ABC1.

11 Responses

  2. Grand Designs is one of my favourite programmes. As for the I can afford Foxtel flag wavers, read your pay tv column. When pay has an uptake of 80% you may have an argument.

  3. there are now so many UK shows that only previously aired on foxtel but now on free to air that it is getting harder to work out what is an australian premiere and what is new to that channel but already seen on another.

  4. If you follow this blog in a reader all stories (FTA, Subscription, News) appear in the same feed and the links take you to the post page. With respect, although there is a “You Are Here” section at the top of the page it doesn’t specifically announce the post is part of a “Free To Air column”. Unless “Programming” is meant to indicate Free To Air(?)

    1. Yes given Pay TV has Subscription TV programming, the Programming vertical has Free to Air. I will frequently note “has already aired on Pay TV” in such stories although I didn’t on this occasion. Thanks.

  6. My thoughts exactly George.

    Maybe with these headlines it should have in brackets –

    NAUS – (New to Australia, not shown on any channel previously)

    NFTA – (New to free to air TV, previously shown on pay TV)

    NPAY – (New to pay TV, previously shown on free to air)

    My wife and I normally only watch Pay TV except for some sport and specific programming so if a series which had been on free to air and was now coming to pay (and is noteworthy) adding these 4 letters would be great.

  7. Kevin’s Grand Design is the latest series , Kevin’s own housing estate design & build .Amazingly honest tale of his failure to achieve his own Grand Design , well they got built & occupied despite the GFC & problems .Worth seeing via Channel 4 Catch Up .

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