Channel 4
Phil Spencer and Kirstie Allsopp in Location, Location, Location
Why we love property shows
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roperty shows have long been an essential part of many broadcasters’ schedules. They’re ubiquitous in both daytime and peak time and have made celebrities of presenters such as the seriously posh Kirstie Allsopp and her charming Location, Location, Location co-host, Phil Spencer. But what is the secret of their success and how do they endure while other factual fare is more ephemeral? Is it our guilty pleasure in seeing beyond other people’s front doors, the relationship between the programme presenters, our obsession with property prices – or something loftier, such as an interest in the rich variety of British architecture? According to an RTS webinar, it’s probably a mix of all these factors plus something less tangible to do with escapism.
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Series that hook into viewers’ obsession with their homes are here to stay, says an expert RTS panel Allsopp, who first co-hosted Location, Location, Location back in 2000, pinpointed the “human stories” that exist at the centre of her show, which aims to find dream homes for house hunters with the minimum of heartache. “We invest so much in where we live and how we live. We use our homes to say something about ourselves. We’re fascinated by people’s stories. There’s an intrinsic nosiness that we all have.” So what about the R factor? That’s R for her relationship with Phil Spencer – described as “one of the great TV relationships” by her fellow panellist
Nick Knowles, the presenter, producer and writer whose credits include BBC One’s DIY SOS. What did she think? “Someone once said about Phil and I that we’re very different personalities but very similar characters. I am genuinely fond of Phil. We are a unit.… But I do find it strange that people think it’s all about our relationship. I’ve acknowledged that’s true, but I think it’s important that Phil and I don’t think it’s about us. “If we became too obsessed with that, it would wreck everything. It has to be about your relationship with those people who you’re helping to find a home.” Extraordinarily, Location, Location, Location is 34 series old and has undergone at least one big revamp. DIY SOS has knocked up 30 series. Strictly speaking, it’s a different kind of show to Location, Location, Location. As Knowles suggested, the roots of DIY SOS lie in a more innocent, less
