The Great British Interior Design Challenge (BBC2): TV review

INSIDE TRACK: Tom Dyckhoff, centre, with judges Sophie Robinson and Daniel Hopwood.

The Great British Interior Design Challenge BBC2

"IN Britain," notes architecture and design critic Tom Dyckhoff, "we have an amazing array of places we call home." Especially since the cutbacks 50 per cent of public sector workers now live in the woods.

"But," adds Dyckhoff, "when it comes to interior design, we don't always make the most of the rooms we live in."

True. I've been saying for a while we should convert the front room into a replica of the bridge of the Starship Enterprise.

BBC2's new show seeks to find the finest amateur interior designers in the land. It's the latest example of putting the words 'Great' and 'British' in front of a domestic chore, this time decorating, previously baking and sewing, in an attempt to make it sexy. The Great British Bath Wipe Round starts next week.

Last night's contestants were charged with stamping their mark on three art deco homes in Kent. "Built in the 1930s," noted Dyckhoff, "to those who owned them they must have seemed like the glamorous otherworldly homes they'd seen on the silver screen." People in Wolverhampton feel the same when they watch Apocalypse Now.

They included 26-year-old illustrator Amy. "I grew up by the beach," she revealed, "and that really inspired my work." Thankfully, she wasn't from Sellafield.

"My style," she said, "is coastal vintage with a light modern twist." Think fishing village with a McDonald's.

The contenders were given 1,000 and just 48 hours to impress the judges. Award-winning architect Daniel Hopwood and interior designer Sophie Robinson.

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The Great British Interior Design Challenge (BBC2): TV review