Series 1

Season 1 · 2022 · 20 episodes

Intrepid Brits restore empty and unloved settlements heading steadily for collapse, as they breathe new life into remote villages, hamlets, borgos and cortijos abroad

1Episode 1Kent landscape gardeners Paul and Yip explore their bargain settlement in Normandy, while Yorkshire couple Francesca and Carl complete the purchase of an Italian hilltop hamlet
2Episode 2In Italy, Francesca and Carl welcome the first guests of the season to their hamlet-turned-holiday complex, and two brave Brits attempt to rescue a row of cottages from decades of overgrowth
3Episode 3An unexpected delivery causes chaos at a medieval village in France. Meanwhile, Francesca and Carl, the owners of a hilltop hamlet in Italy, get started on a brand-new project.
4Episode 4Francesca and Carl race against time to reopen their Italian hamlet for business. Meanwhile, a British-run restored medieval village suffers some damage after a big party, and the owners of a derelict French settlement come to terms with the need to demolish some of its buildings.
5Episode 5Anneli, the manager of a restored medieval village in France, suffers a tricky time setting up the last wedding party of the season. Meanwhile, the owners of a French hamlet celebrate their first restored building. Cameras also follow the work of Marcial, a passionate estate agent who spends his life hunting derelict villages in Galicia.
6Episode 6Ted and Lesa embrace tent living while renovating their French village. Penny hopes to sell her Italian borgo for a million euros. Mick and Julie's hamlet has a gruesome secret.
7Episode 7The owners of a French hamlet visit two mysterious stone towers on the edge of their land, and a couple host the descendants of a farmer who once lived in their village.
8Episode 8Owners of a village in Limousin are in roof repair despair. Steve and Julie wrestle a water pipe at their cave village in Spain. And the owner of an Italian borgo clinches a deal.
9Episode 9Owners of a French village host the local council at their restaurant. A couple spend their first Christmas in their hamlet. The first guests arrive at a cave village in Andalucía.
10Episode 10The owners of a hamlet in France battle with a wonky chimney, a couple in Limousin bring down a wall and crack a pipe, and in Andalucía, a cave village has to close temporarily.
11Episode 11A couple from Norwich try to solve the mystery of why there are shoes in their bread oven. An Eastbourne family are moving to an abandoned village in Portugal.
12Episode 12The owners of a hamlet in France welcome guests to a 50th birthday party, and a couple discover the water's cut off at their village in Portugal. One owner spends Christmas alone.
13Episode 13The owners of a hamlet in the Limousin install a £10,000 septic tank, and a couple move ahead with plans for a sustainable lifestyle by buying hens. Plus, the progress of two estate agents who have spent 30 years rejuvenating a village in Portugal.
14Episode 14The owners of a village in France officially open after two years of renovations. Cameras catch up with the man who rescued an abandoned hamlet in Spain who could now lose half of what he bought. Meanwhile, in Portugal, a couple start an animal sanctuary in their village.
15Episode 15A couple from Norwich get married at their hamlet in the Limousin. Meanwhile, in the Dordogne region, two estate agents reveal plans to renovate a stunning chateau. And in Portugal, a couple from Eastbourne try to pick themselves up after a wild fire rips through their village.
16Episode 16A family from Manchester transform a hamlet in France. Meanwhile, a young couple fall in love with an earthquake-damaged Italian borgo, and a couple of B&B owners in the Pyrenees buy a ramshackle holiday village built by the Catholic church in the 1930s
17Episode 17In France, work is under way to repair the old church at a purpose-built ramshackle Catholic holiday village in France, and the owners of a hamlet wake up to find it has flooded. In Italy, the owners of an earthquake-damaged borgo find out that caring for their property is not as easy as they thought
18Episode 18The owners of a ramshackle holiday village advertise for volunteers to complete their renovations and there are worrying power failures at a village in the French countryside
19Episode 19A family from Manchester juggles renovations and running a holiday complex in France. A couple from Kent prepare to take ownership of a village in Portugal, and the owners of a bed and breakfast in southern France tackle the exterior of their enormous new home
20Episode 20A derelict building in a French village gets a new lease of life. Meanwhile, in Portugal, a couple dip their toes into their first season as holiday hosts, and in southern France, a very special event takes place in a refurbished chapel

Episodes