MANY of us have had trouble trying to fix this, mend that and patch or repair whatever. Every home has its fair share of do-it-yourself disasters, botched jobs, abandoned tasks and things we never quite got round to starting. But now help is at hand.
DStv’s BBC Lifestyle is introducing a new 13-part series, DIY SOS, at 7.30pm today which should help solve many problems.
The show sees Nick Knowles taking a dedicated team of DIY experts around the UK, encouraging those who have previously failed at DIY to develop renewed confidence to finish a project of which they and their long-suffering partner, neighbour or parent can be proud.
“Among those featured in this series are a family who have spent three years camping in their lounge while trying to do up their bedroom, and a single mother whose DIY attempts are so dodgy that the family has had to move out,” says a DStv spokesman.
Sticking with DStv, note that the third season of QUEEN OF SHOPS is scheduled to start on BBC Lifestyle at 9.25pm on Monday.
Retail guru Mary Portas is back for another seven-part series – and she is just in time. As the British High Street reels from the public’s love affair with the major supermarkets, the nation’s independent retailers need her help more than ever.
“Stalwart indies such as greengrocers and bakers are disappearing in their hundreds, but not all is lost. Times may be tougher than ever, but Mary believes that small shopkeepers willing and able to adapt can still thrive,” says the spokesman.
In this new season, Portas helps a couple turn around the fortune of their village shop, and battles to save a Kingston homeware shop with shockingly bad 1970s stock and hippie owners who are seemingly from another planet.
Portas also takes on a struggling London bakery in a battle that ends in tears when she encounters one of the most feisty shopkeepers yet.
BBC Lifestyle is also welcoming a third series of the fun COME DINE WITH ME on Monday, at 6.30pm, which will be seen in this time slot every weekday thereafter.
The popular cookery show revolves around amateur chefs who attempt to wow each other with their culinary and hospitality skills in a bid to win a cash prize.
The format is simple: each chef takes it in turn to host a dinner party and the guests score the host on their way home. Throughout, Come Dine With Me’s acerbic narrator never fails to make the most of the participants’ fumbles and foibles.
“In this series, we meet wannabe chefs from all over the UK. In Macclesfield we visit Dave, Veronica, Simon and Tina’s homes as we watch them go all-out to scoop the top prize with their yummy recipes.
“And in Milton Keynes, Mark Francke, a huge fan of the 1970s, hopes to prove his hosting skills are second-to-none with his retro style, food and gadgets.
“Of course, with personality clashes at almost every dinner party, it’s often not just the champagne corks that go with a bang as insults are traded, homes are snooped around, and the flowing wine loosens the diners’ tongues…”
Finally, note that BBC Lifestyle introduces a new six-episode series, MAD ABOUT THE HOUSE, at 7.30pm next Tuesday. The programme settles domestic arguments about interior design once and for all by giving a couple, whose home is desperately in need of attention, a big case of cash.
But there’s a catch. Only one of them will be allowed to mastermind the make-over – the man of the house. His wife or girlfriend will be moved out for two weeks while he and his mates move in to carry out the transformation.
While he’s working away at home, his partner is taken to a secret warehouse which is transformed into a replica of her home.
This life-size doll’s house provides her with the chance to show what she would really want her home to look like. She has just one week to decorate her dream space.
Why? Well, just a day before her man is due to reveal all his handwork at home, we take him to see his partner’s finished doll’s house – her perfect vision of their dream house.
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