DIY SOS: Grenfell
BBC ONE, 9.00PM
“We’re building with the community, for the community. This is the most important build we’ve ever done,” says Nick Knowles as his crack renovation team turn their hand to helping those affected by last year’s Grenfell Tower tragedy.
Two ambitious builds, shown over two episodes, are planned – a boxing club and a community centre – with the opener focusing on the former. The 50-year-old Dale Youth Boxing Club has long been a haven for potentially disaffected west London youngsters, with head trainer Mick Delaney providing focus and discipline to those who pass under his watch. With the club’s then newly refurbished premises in the Tower destroyed, the squad have nine weeks (their longest build ever) to come up with a replacement for this vital resource. The show plunges us into the challenge, as the team grapple with unfamiliar materials, the scale of the project and the pressure of time – even the Duke of Cambridge pops along to lend a hand. But it’s the children themselves who give this programme its heart, they are passionate about the club’s impact on their confidence and mental health, and are eloquent about the losses that they’ve endured. Toby Dantzic