Building the Dream
Synopsis
13 couples attempt to build a house supposedly worth over £500,000 in the village of Whitham Friary in near Frome in Somerset. Couples are eliminated on a Survivor style vote until the viewers eliminate from three (although they hilariously asked them to vote anyway) couples to two and finally the winner.
Whilst on the show the couples lived on a campsite and took part in village life. The show was on weekdaily, Big Brother style, at various points in the afternoon.
Inventor
May or may not have been based on the US show House of Dreams, hosted by Cheers star George Wendt.
Champions
Darren Kilner and Stacey Reynolds. As has been reported in the press since, their experience in the village was not a happy one and they soon moved back to Skegness. As of November 2007, the house had been on the market for over a year and the asking price slashed from £600,000 to £450,000. The house was finally sold for a comparatively modest £235,000 that month, just before it was due to go up for auction. In financial terms, this still makes it the most valuable object ever given away as a prize on a UK game show up to that time, though it may have since been overtaken by the house awarded on the 2011 show Love Thy Neighbour.
