Grassington: Village life in the reality TV spotlight

Grassington, one of the tourist magnets of the Yorkshire Dales, is poised to become the host for the next big reality television series on Channel 4, the home of Big Brother.

Executives from the reality show makers spent several days in the village last weekend to assess its suitability and to take soundings from local people. The idea of the show is to select outside contestants who will move in to Grassington for several weeks and be filmed tackling unfamiliar jobs such as wall-building and lambing. The cameras will scrutinise their day-to-day lives as they try to adapt to rural ways and integrate with the residents of a small, close-knit community.

A panel of Grassington residents will decide who they do, or do not want to move in for good. One contestant couple will be ejected after each weekly episode. The last remaining couple will be the winners and their prize will be a house where they will become permanent residents.

Caroline Stewart, a researcher for Studio Lambert, the production company making the show for Channel 4, came up from London from Sunday to Tuesday. She was followed by Jamie Isaacs, the company's creative director, who met John Benson, the chairman of the parish council and others. Jamie Isaacs is the driving force behind primetime television shows including That'll Teach 'Em, Brat Camp, The Choir and World's Strictest Parents.

John Benson said: "I only know the skeleton of what they are planning, it's called a productive documentary. They are looking for a location. Caroline Stewart came up interviewing various people and I assisted her in that.

"I introduced her to a good cross section including the vicar, a farmer, a street cleaner and postman and an artist. The aim is for it to be not harsh towards the village, beneficial not outrageous. It will be a constructive documentary, not like Big Brother."

The show does not yet have a title. Filming will start in August for six weeks to make eight one-hour episodes which will be screened next year. It could be a big opportunity to put Grassington on the map, an eight-week-long showcase for this jewel in the picturesque heart of the National Park where tourism is seen as increasingly important to its economic health.

The biggest village in Upper Wharfedale, it is centred centred around a pretty cobbled square flanked by family owned shops, cafs, pubs and the Grassington House Hotel. The average house price here is just under 310,000.

At the moment the village is preparing to celebrate its annual summer festival's 30th birthday next month. John Benson, Grassington born and bred, is as well placed as any to judge the local mood for hosting a reality TV show as well. A shopkeeper (Grassington Craft Shop), he is also a farmer and head of the chamber of trade.

"I tend to be used as an information point," he says. "I have offered my services as a lynchpin. I had a meeting with Jamie Isaacs for a couple of hours. A dozen of us were asking questions, trying to allay any fears.

"The idea that a house is up for grabs by the winning contestant, who will be committed to living here. It's a life-changing thing. We have been assured the contestants are suitable and the village will have a panel to decide who they want for

a neighbour."

Sue Woodcock, whose home at Mire House is on the hill overlooking Grassington, was also visited by the programmer makers. "I had a lady to see me to do the preliminary interviews," she says. "I showed her round and explained what I did and she went 'ooh and aah' over a baby goat.

"The idea is to get the contestants involved in local life and see if they can do certain things. She asked me could they come up and give me a hand and for me to tell them how farming worked, how stone walls were built and lambing happened and so on. I'm happy to show people the farm. If it's good for Grassington and good for tourism, which everyone is screaming for because

there's no money about, I'd go for it."

Two other villages approached by the programme makers have already rejected the idea. The parish council at Kettlethorpe in Lincolnshire voted against the proposal last December. Aberdour in Scotland was also identified by Studio Lambert as an ideal village location. Like Grassington, it's another pretty tourist magnet, this time on the north shore of the Firth of Forth with a medieval castle and views of Edinburgh to the south.

Here the locals were assured by Studio Lambert that the contestants who won the prize of a local house would not sell it on and would commit to living there for 12-15 years.

But some locals feared a Big Brother-style format and that the need to inject drama into everyday situations could give viewers the wrong picture of village life.

John Burrell, secretary of Aberdour community council said: "A lady in the village had put us forward as a candidate all by herself. The programme makers came in December and withdrew on Friday, April 9.

"The official reason was because they couldn't find a suitable property to buy in the village. On the community council we were trying to remain neutral but the village was definitely split, probably more against than for. The big disappointment was when they first came in December they said they were going to make a documentary.

"When they came back in March it had become a

game show. That was perceived as a deception, whether it was or not.

"They agreed we could have public meetings about it and following that –and still trying to remain neutral – we decided to ballot the whole village. It was such a big thing. The ballot sheets were produced but on the Friday they withdrew before the papers had been distributed."

CW 8/5/10