- For a full list of buildings featured, see List of Restoration candidates.
Restoration is a set of BBC television series on architecture, beginning in 2003. The host of all 3 series is Griff Rhys Jones, whilst investigating each building in the heats are the show's resident "ruin detectives", Marianne Suhr and Ptolemy Dean.
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First series
30 buildings were featured in ten regional heats, with money raised from the telephone vote being added to the prize fund. Viewers chose which of a selection of the United Kingdom's most important, but neglected, buildings should be awarded a Heritage Lottery Grant of £3m. The winning building was the turkish bath section of the Victoria Baths in Manchester; however the restoration work has not yet begun as of September 2005. The 2003 live Grand Final was co-hosted by Kate Humble.
Second series
A second series, featuring 21 buildings in 7 regional heats, appeared on BBC Two in the summer of 2004. The winner was the Old Grammar School and Saracen's Head in Kings Norton, Birmingham. Both buildings closed to the public in July 2006 for archeological investigation, restoration work began in February 2007, and both buildings are expected to reopen in Spring 2008. The 2004 live Grand Final was co-hosted by Natasha Kaplinsky.
Spin offs
- Shown in tandem with the series
- Restored to Glory, BBC Four [1]
- Restoration Nation, BBC Four
- Restoration: You Make It Happen, Community Channel
Updates
On 4 September 2005, Rhys Jones presented a programme, updating viewers as to the progress made by the featured buildings, or otherwise.
Third series
A third series of nine programmes, presented by Griff Rhys Jones, began on BBC Two in August 2006. Entitled Restoration Village, the series focused on buildings in smaller settlements, using the same format and voting as before, featuring 21 buildings in 7 regional heats. Updates about previously featured buildings were also included. The winner of Restoration Village was Chedham's Yard, an early nineteenth century blacksmith's yard.
The Perfect Village
The Perfect Village was a companion series of architectural travelogues presented by Ptolemy Dean, and shown on BBC Four in 2006. The show chose twelve villages from all around the United Kingdom as illustrations of village life. In the final show Heighington in County Durham was chosen as the UK's "perfect village".
- Show 1. Introduction
- Show 2. Dedham and Alderley Edge (Essex and the North West)
- Show 3. Bourton-on-the-Water and Ardglass (The West and Northern Ireland)
- Show 4. Rogart and Tonyrefail (Scotland and South Wales)
- Show 5. Heighington and Milton Abbas (the North and the South West)
- Shpw 6. Polperro and Wye (the South West and the South East)
- Show 7. Silver End and Poundbury (the East and the South West)
- Show 8. What makes the perfect village?
Responses
The Channel 4 programme, Demolition, broadcast in December 2005, was an "answer" to Restoration; instead of voting for a building to be saved, viewers were asked to vote on which eyesore should be demolished.
Music
- The main theme music was composed by Nick Franglen, who forms one half of ambient music duo Lemon Jelly. It has been criticised for its similarity to a recurrent theme in Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds. The Lemon Jelly track "In The Bath" was used as background music within the programmes.
See also
List of Restoration candidates
