Beeny there... done that
HAVE you been as anxious as I’ve been about property developer Sarah Beeny, attempting to start a new life in the country? I guessed as much. You and I will be equally relieved, then, by the return tonight of the rather aptly named SARAH BEENY’S NEW LIFE IN THE COUNTRY (C4, 8pm), as it assures us that she and her family are still on course with this ambitious project of theirs.
You remember the objective, I take it? Oh, all right, in that case I’d better recap.
Sarah and her husband Graham, along with their four boys, have upped sticks and moved to Somerset from London, having bought a rather rundown old farm with a big chunk of land attached. And central to their plans has been to build the home of their dreams.
It’s been a big gamble, we’re reminded more than once.They’ve had their setbacks. But just like the rest of us whenever we’re forced to face one of life’s daunting challenges, they’ve taken a collective deep breath, summoned up their inner reserves of fortitude, and then boldly, bravely, got themselves a six-part TV series out of it.And then another.
As we catch up with them at the start of this second one, this dream house of theirs looks almost finished to me. But there’s a snag. From the outside it looks splendid, but peer inside and the only “dream” that springs to mind is the one you get whenever you sneak to the fridge and eat a pound of Stilton just before bedtime.
Time to roll up their sleeves, then, and work their magic on that interior.
I’ll keep you posted as to how they get on. Unless I forget.
Elsewhere tonight, presenters Giles Coren and Monica Galetti are in Iceland, kicking off a new series of
AMAZING HOTELS: LIFE BEYONDTHE LOBBY
(BBC2, 8pm).
As its name suggests, the ION Adventure Hotel isn’t really aimed at those who just want to lounge around, sup champagne and chew on fermented shark.
No, it’s for those keen to see what Iceland’s great outdoors has to offer, other than frostbite.
It has plenty, of course. But how far do they like to take this “adventure” of theirs?
Well, apparently a lot of them have been hiking lately to a nearby volcano that’s started erupting. And while you can’t entirely blame them (it’s an opportunity that rarely comes your way when you holiday at, say, Butlin’s in Skegness), it seems that some tourists have been a wee bit lax when it comes to preparing for such rocky terrain.
“We’ve had about 30 broken legs,” reveals a chap from the local search and rescue team. “We’ve had about 15 broken arms.
“And a lot of people like to hit the ground with their faces…”