All language subtitles for Escape to the Chateau S01E04.576p..WEB-DL.AAC2.0.x264-CMYK.English

Every year, 10,000 Brits
cross the Channel

to start a new life in France.

Dick Strawbridge and his partner,
Angel, are planning to join them.

Merci.

Merci, Messieurs Dames.

But while some might dream of
a place by the Med,

a Parisian apartment,

or perhaps a small country cottage,
Dick and Angel are dreaming bigger.

Much bigger.
This is truly beautiful.

This is the story of one family's
extraordinary adventure.

Turning an abandoned French chateau
into a dream home...

..in time for the ultimate
fairy-tale wedding.

Over the next year,
designer Angel and engineer Dick

will discover
the chateau's secrets...

I've never been in here.
It's all old Victorian clothes,

there's tonnes of them.

..try to live like the locals...

The last time I studied French
was 39 years ago.

..and work day and night
to restore its rooms

to their 19th-century glory.

This place is amazing.

It's so incredibly important
to bring it back to life.

The size of the task is enormous.

This is DIY, craft
and construction...

That's a singing Frenchman
on the roof, he's whistling.

..on the grandest of scales.

Dick and Angel are searching for
the perfect French lifestyle.

Garden tomatoes, we can make a nice
summer soup with some of that.

They yearn for a simple life
in the French countryside.

They look like they've made
their own bread over there.

The whole idea of
going to live in France,

it just allows you to have
all the things you dream of.

Decent wine, decent food,
a really nice place to live.

Merci. Au revoir.

Standard of life, family life,

fairy tale, living the dream.

No, we are, we're actually
in search of living the dream.

Dick and Angel imagined buying
a small country cottage.

But with French property prices
much cheaper than England,

they discovered
their £300,000 budget

could buy them something
much grander.

There are over 40,000 chateaux
in France -

tower-topped fairy-tale mansions

dating from the ninth
to the 19th century.

Mysterious and romantic,
these icons of French architecture

are synonymous with
the country's noble past

and its bloody revolution.

They dominate the French landscape
from the Loire to the Alps,

the Dordogne to Brittany.

And although many cost millions,

if you're prepared to put
the work in,

some can be picked up for
as little as £150,000.

We're just thinking, hold on,

for the price of a one-bedroom flat
in the East End of London

we can actually have a chateau
and ten acres.

We can't believe our luck.

For the past four years
Dick and Angel

have been searching for a chateau
from Calais to the Pyrenees.

There we go. Former army colonel
and engineer Dick

wants a chateau to do up.

We've got the castle loo.

It's in working order, yeah?

And as he's a keen chef,
enough land to grow his own crops.

I'm not sure about these palm trees,
if I'm going to like them.

Angel adores
the glamour of the past.

This is the stuff
that just gets me going.

Yeah. She wants a fairy-tale castle

where she can run a business
hosting vintage weddings.

I don't like fancy things,
I like old things.

It's why I'm with Dick.

They're prepared to put their
life savings into buying a chateau

and bringing it back to life.

What do you think of this?

I think it might be
a bit overpriced.

But they just can't seem to agree on
the right one.

We sort of like have this fantasy,
don't we, of this perfect kitchen,

and this doesn't do it.

But, no, no,
but if we think about it,

this doesn't start off
being perfect.

Dick's incredibly alpha male, erm...

..and I boss him around.

It isn't the French kitchen
that we had in our mind.

But it's almost like,
could this be the pantry?

She's a very successful
businesswoman.

She likes getting her own way.

I'm a retired army colonel.

It's a little bit of this, you know?

So far they've been back and forth
to France six times..

..and they're still searching.

Today, they are driving to the town
of Martigne-sur-Mayenne,

about 180 miles south-west of Paris.

With them are the children,

two-year-old Arthur
and six-month-old Dorothy,

as well as Angel's mum, Jenny,
and dad, Steve.

This is a family adventure.

Fromagerie to the left.

Right. What's a fromagerie?

Cheese. Cheese-making.

The chateau they're about to see
is new to the market.

At £250,000,
it's within their budget.

This could be the entranceway here.

This... Yes!

Wow. Oh, look at that.

Well, I think
you should put an offer in now.

THEY LAUGH

First impressions
are ridiculously positive.

Angel wants to make an offer.

We haven't even seen anything yet.

This is truly beautiful.

The Chateau de la Motte Husson
was built in the 1860s

as a grand gesture of love
from a lord to his lady.

UPLIFTING STRINGS MUSIC

It's built on the foundations
of a 15th-century fort...

..and comes complete with
its own moat.

I love it. I love it.

I love it more.

But having said that,
we haven't looked inside yet.

Common sense, let's just think
for a little bit here.

We have to look first.
That's a walled garden.

That's a walled garden.

The chateau has 12 acres of land,
hundreds of trees...

..seven outbuildings...

..and a space for farming animals
and growing crops.

You see all the wires
going up the side?

That's where there's been plants in
the past grown against the walls.

It's years and years of work to turn
it into something phenomenal.

Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

Right, this is the orangery.

It's bigger than my house.

Outside is impressive,
but they've yet to see

what's behind the front door.

The man with the key
is estate agent Francois.

Come on, come on, come on,
Grandma and Grandad.

This is nice.
This is not too shabby!

The chateau is on five floors
and has an astonishing 45 rooms.

Each floor is 160 square metres.

Within its four walls you could fit
nine new British homes.

We've only just put it on the market

and we see that we have many visits
that are going to happen,

so I would be surprised
if it stayed long on the market.

It's been owned by the same family
since it was built 150 years ago.

Wow. One quarter has been changed
quite recently because of the storm.

Yeah? And the rest is original.

The grand entrance hall
would once have welcomed guests

to lavish banquets and parties.

Hold on.

No way! The dumbwaiter.

Yes. Darling...

..we are in business.

Be careful, darling, on the stairs.

The servants would
have prepared the foods

downstairs in the sous-sol -
the basement.

With the bell.

FRANCOIS RINGS BELL

A-ha, service!

This was once a kitchen
with six rooms

for different types
of food preparation.

Next door is the wine cellar,
with space for 5,000 bottles.

Well, obviously we love it,
because we live in a kitchen.

That's for the servants
to actually tell us

what's happening, look.

I need you in the dining room.

ANGEL LAUGHS

The chateau's faded interiors
boast a mix of styles

from across the ages,

telling the story of each generation
that's lived here.

Obviously it's tired.

There's water been in,
but this is...

It's pretty incredible.

The 45-room chateau
and its extensive grounds

are listed at £250,000.

That's 345,000 euros.

It's the top end of their budget.

But after less than an hour...

..they're falling under its spell.

I'm trying to be sensible.

This is a huge house.

It's got the orangery,
it's got the walled garden,

it's got all these things going for
it, but we're talking a lot of money

to get it back to
where it should be.

It is so doable,
and it is so beautiful.

Erm...it's almost too good.

This is included? The walled gardens
and those buildings are included?

Part of it, I'll show you.
Part of it.

OK.

A developer has already put an offer
in for the walled garden.

He wants to build two new homes
right in the middle of the grounds.

He has the potential purchaser
for half, for one of these houses,

for 50,000 euros.

What do you think?

We need to have the walled garden
in it.

What is the best they will take for
that if we put an offer in now

and push very quickly?
We're cash buyers.

We're only just cash buyers...

I know. Not having the walled garden
is just a no-go for us.

We need the stables.
Yes, you need the whole place.

Yeah, I think for it to work for us,
we do.

So keeping in mind that we want to
buy it and we're cash buyers,

what will he take for the entirety?

If you say, I offer 390 today,
for the whole lot... Yeah.

..then I stop the visits,

give you an option and we sign
a compromise in the next two weeks.

Dick!

I missed the conversation.
What did you say, darling?

Have you bought the place? If we
offer 390, he'll stop the visits

and we'll get going.
Thank you very much indeed.

Congratulations, eh?

After years of searching,
their dream chateau is finally

within their grasp.
She's found the one she wants!

We are in trouble! But to secure
the house and walled garden

they'll have to spend 280
of their £300,000 budget...

..leaving next to nothing
for renovation.

Look at the sewage,
look at the electrics in here.

If you actually look at
the lead paint,

it basically says "don't buy me".

For 40 years, Chateau de la Motte
has stood empty.

Its 45 rooms and 12 acres of land

in the heart of
the French countryside

abandoned and neglected.

But all that is about to change.

Do you want me to wrap this?

Do we want it in the kitchen?
That's what I'm saying.

400 miles away in Essex,

Dick Strawbridge and his partner,
Angel,

are packing up their rented
two-bed flat.

Do you know what that is?
It's to, um...

It's a tongue press.

And getting ready for the biggest
move of their lives.

We have paid the deposit.

And in two weeks' time,
just under, we will own a chateau.

All that stands between them
and getting the keys

is signing the contract
and handing over the money.

Every hour is spent trying to work
out details of the move.

We want electricity.

We want water.
We want the telephone.

We want broadband. We've got a list
of things we want and need to do,

but we're not allowed to do any
of that

until we actually own the property.

The purchase price is £280,000,

which leaves them just 20 grand
for repairs.

And they are going to need
every penny.

Right, OK.
They've got an ambitious plan.

Get enough work done to move
their family in,

just three weeks
after they get the keys.

Money spent on a flat that we don't
want to be in because we've got our

chateau is money that's wasted.

So by the end of January, we have to
have moved out of here.

This is our dining room,
sitting room, kitchen,

and it's about a third of
the chateau.

We're cosy here, we are all set up,

and were going into January

in a chateau without water,
electricity,

or sewage or heating.

They are pretty fundamental.

There will be a way around it.

My head is spinning.

We've got so much to organise

and I've got a family to look after.

Our main time of getting everything
done is when the kids are in bed.

I think Dick's head's a little
bit... Is sore.

Mum and Dad are going to be living
in the grand salon to start with.

We have to have the heating in place
before they can move into that.

Yeah, yeah.
That puts real pressure on.

This wall is coming down.

We have to put a new wall up there
to make it the right size.

Before we move in? Yeah.

It's got to be warm enough.

The kids have got to have a bath
at night.

We have to have so many things
sorted out.

That's as far as we need to go.

This works. It's still quite a lot.

It's starting to get a little bit
scary.

With all these things going on,

if you try and carry them all
in your head, it will explode.

Dick and Angel are moving to France.

They're just hours away from
owning a chateau.

They're driving through the night

to the village
of Martigne-sur-Mayenne.

They're about to spend their life
savings on a property

that has a survey listing
450 faults.

We have to be actually functioning
when we get in here.

The whole of this document says,
"Do not buy the chateau".

It says it's all our risk,
anything that happens.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I know.

BABY WAILS
Dorothy, it's enough to scare me,
sweetheart, never mind you.

I know. It is,
it's really quite worrying. But...

He's going to say, "sold as seen".

You're all right with that,
aren't you? Yeah.

Even though we've got 200 pages of
reasons not to buy it? I know.

They're meeting with the vendors
and a local notaire

to sign the Acte de Vente.

Now, for Dick and Angel,
there's no going back.

Turn, turn, turn, turn.
It's a bit stiff.

Out and up a little.

Wow! In you go, darling.

We're in!

Coming to life.

Look how beautiful that is.

Everything is gorgeous.

Finally, the chateau is theirs.

Right. We've got to...
Right, let's get to work.

Owning a fairy tale chateau
sounds like a dream.

But the French are turning their
backs on them

because they can cost more
to renovate than to buy.

There's been an electrical fire
here.

Dick and Angel's chateau
is crumbling,

freezing cold,

and there are thousands of
dead flies.

Asbestos and asbestos, asbestos...

But they can't say
they weren't warned.

200-plus pages of reasons
not to buy a house.

Look at the sewage, look at
the electrics in here.

If you actually look at
the lead paint,

if you look at every single aspect
in here,

um...it basically says,
"Don't buy me".

Engineer Dick is convinced he's got
what it takes

to take on a project of this size.

But Angel has other priorities.

When I walk into a room, I know that
Dick's thinking,

"OK, well, the radiators are
going to go there

"and the plumbing is going there".

And I'm thinking, "Oh, there's
going to be a giraffe there,

"maybe a stuffed fox there".

I'm thinking that everything is
a mound of shelves

and we just sit here with our books.

But how high?

Up to the ceiling,
and we have a ladder.

Right, OK. This may not happen
in phase one.

You say that about everything.

We need a plug here
for Christmas tree lights.

Yeah. I'm still not worried about
Christmas trees at this stage.

I understand Angela's vision

and she's the one that's going
to make this place beautiful,

but we've got to get the dog work
done first.

I'm going to just stand by the door

and visualise which way it should
be. OK.

And I'm just going to do
as I'm told.

The castle was rebuilt in 1864
on the site of an ancient fort.

It took six years to construct,
requiring hundreds of workers.

We have to learn how the chateau
wants to be used.

To install central heating,
new electrics and plumbing,

Dick will have to hire experts.

But being an engineer, he plans
to do much of the renovation work
himself.

The first problem
is right on his doorstep.

HE CHUCKLES

There's a nine-foot drop to nothing.

Beneath the doorstep, Dick's
discovering building techniques

that go back to
the ancient Egyptians.

Under here, it's the most amazing
construction

because we've got insulation
which is mud and straw.

The organic insulation is found
between every floor in the chateau.

Packed together between the
solid oak beams,

they dampen noise and
keep the heat in.

But beneath the doorstep, at least,

the beams and the cobs
are crumbling away.

All of the support for this
is rotten,

so what I have to do is to put
something solid onto this beam,

push up and then support
this whole area.

Because that means you can step on
the front doorstep coming in.

It's a lot easier with power tools.

No electricity.

To make a base, Dick is screwing
this plywood

into the only solid part of
the beam.

But to pack this gap,

he's going foraging.

The chateau's seven outbuildings
once would have provided

the seigneur du manoir -
the lord of the manor,

everything he needed.

From stables for his horses

to storerooms for his grain.

Dick's starting his search
in the old laundry.

I've never been in here.

That's a big thing for washing in.

Oh, yes!

Wow!

See this dingly-dangly bit?

Whenever the wheelbarrow is full,
it takes the weight.

I love it!

This...this is the piggery.

It's all fallen down, all the slates
have been sort of trashed here,

but I can use this

for packing out

under the tiles of the front door.

Renovating the chateau isn't just
about making it habitable.

Angel has a passion for vintage

and is desperate to restore
its faded glamour.

What comes first?

What do you do first?

I want to have it all pretty
just, like, straightaway.

From its oak and chestnut
parquet flooring...

..to its wallpaper, hand-painted
by Parisian artists.

Everything is a spectacle
of opulence.

This place is amazing.
Like, full of so much detail.

One of the first things, you see,
little lions' heads.

Cast in iron,
86 handcrafted lion heads

adorn the double-revolution
staircase.

The lion motif is also at the heart
of the family crest.

But in the attic are more personal
reminders

of the chateau's 150-year history.

Where do you start, eh?

Ooo! Oh-ho!

Hello! These are all Victorian
clothes. There's tonnes of them!

That has somebody's initial on!
How lovely!

This room is like something your
grandad would have,

where he doesn't want to chuck
anything away.

Do you know what,
I've bought magazines like this

that cost me a fortune!

Oh, my God, is it a whole collection
of 1950s Marie-Claire's?

It's so incredibly important

to pull as much out of the chateau
that we can

because it brings it back to life.

We're going to clean all these up
and get them in use.

Until the next time.

After three hours, Dick has nearly
finished fixing the doorstep.

I know the wood underneath it
is sound,

so all I want to do is fit these
on top of it now

in a way that will last.

These handmade cement and marble
tiles originate from Catalonia

and were the height of fashion
in the 19th century.

A grand way to welcome your guests.

HE LAUGHS

Done.

The two towers that flank the
chateau are known as pepper shakers.

In the one next to the dining room,
they make a useful discovery.

This is good!
It's practically a bathroom!

It's going to need a good,
good scrub, then we can actually...

Oh! Ooo!

HE LAUGHS
Oh!

That's very, very unpleasant.

SHE GAGS
Right.

SHE COUGHS

The only water here comes from a tap
in the basement.

I'm doing this very slowly
because I don't want the water

to fill up all the pipes in the
house in case it's leaking up
on the first floor.

It's a lovely little loo.

According to the survey, the toilet
empties somewhere into the moat.

WHISPERS: OK. Where's it gone to?

WHISPERS: It's gone from here.

I half expect to look out and see
fish jumping up.

The moat is almost the same size as
six Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Finding a small waste pipe
won't be easy.

Drain-tracing dye. Mm-hm.

It traces where the drain goes.

I have no idea how deep this goes.

Angela, just keep flushing it.

Uh-oh. That gets deep very quickly.

Note to self, don't step backwards.

Nothing's happening?
Nothing at all, darling.

I should be seeing a red bloom

where our flushing water
has come out here somewhere.

There is no red dye there.

Hello, gorgeous. No, nothing at all.

Um...I'm sure if it was my chateau
and I'd built it,

I'd probably have the pipe going
quite a long way out.

In the summer, when it's warm, I'll
be in there in my swimming cossie,

searching for the pipe
where the poop goes.

Make yourself comfy. Back we go.

With a handful of tasks
ticked off the list,

soon the major work will begin.

Installing a heating system
on a grand scale.

Just as winter
really starts to bite.

Dick Strawbridge and his family

have bought a derelict
19th-century French chateau -

in the depths of winter.

It's so cold even their moat
has frozen over.

It's -4 outside.

It's not very warm inside.

BABY CRIES

The family are renting a cottage
down the road.

In eight days' time, when their
possessions arrive from England,

they are due to move into
the chateau.

There's no heating or hot water.

But at least something is working.

I have now got one socket
in the whole chateau.

But, whoa!

We have electricity!

Originally, the 45-room chateau
was heated by 16 fireplaces.

Keeping them stoked and lit

was a full-time job
for one of the servants.

Hot water coming out here.

Buying an off-the-peg heating system
was not an option for Dick.

So, he's designed his own.

Using just two of the fireplaces
and a stove in the basement,

water will be heated and sent up to
a thermal store in the attic.

It all comes down from the thermal
store, for baths, for showers,

for sinks, for the kitchens.

And, as well as that,
the heat in the thermal store

provides the hot water
to run around our radiators.

Costing £18,000,
this is the most expensive part

of the project so far.

The difficult thing here is
the scale of the job.

The chateau is huge.
You could fit four houses inside it.

Work begins tomorrow, when heating
engineers arrive from England.

But, despite the sub-zero
temperatures,

Dick has another job
he's determined to do.

The chateau's 59 windows

and its ten-foot-high front door
are made from

oak from its own forest.

They've been lovingly handcrafted,

and most are covered with toxic
lead paint.

Which needs to be removed.

By hand.

It's a big old door.

Dick begins by covering the door
with paint stripper.

This is not some sort of mad cookery
experiment, or anything like that.

I'm going to cover it with
cling film so it stays on,

just doesn't dry out, because

dry lead paint is a problem.

My first time doing this, so it's
not a surprise I'm learning.

I don't think I can really
afford to

start scrubbing that off
for another two hours,

which basically means
seven o'clock, in the dark,

I'll get my scouring pan on it.

I'm going to enjoy the sunset.

What's coming off here
is all the lead, and it's all wet,

it's going into my bucket.

I've got to say, it's a bit chilly.

This is what happens when you buy
a chateau in January.

It's gone midnight.

Dick decides to spend his first
night alone in the chateau.

This is really quite deluxe camping,
you know?

Camping in a chateau.

Somewhere I've got a pair
of slippers.

We've done all this, sort of,
being out, being roughy-toughy,

I like my home comforts.

The dining room windows
have no glass,

and tonight is forecast to be
especially cold.

Wow!

Wow.

This is beautiful.

This is all very beautiful,

and I'm making the most of it,
because it is lovely.

Lee and Kyle are driving down
through the snow

to get here to work. Um...

Let's hope they get here.

I thought we were getting
more geared up.

Father and son team Lee and Kyle

have plumbed hundreds of homes
back in London.

But they've never done one
on this scale.

You need mates when you're doing
this sort of thing.

Mates who are plumbers,
electricians,

that understand what's going on.

With only seven days till the
family are due to move in,

they've got their work cut out.

Effectively, you're repiping
this house from top to bottom.

I think they're crazy,
because it's very real.

The deadlines are really meant.

An astonishing 600 metres of coil
pipe will carry hot and cold water

around the chateau.

We need about another two,
three metres.

Running from the attic to the
wood burners on the first floor,

and a stove in the basement that
Dick was given for free.

This is an aerated gas boiler.

It generates hot water.

So, if the thermal store gets cold,

this will kick in and the gas will
actually give us a boiler working

to heat our water.

This is the start.

We're getting closer to heat.

Towering over the chateau
are its six chimneys.

For a 19th-century
French aristocrat,

tall chimneys were a sign of wealth.

These bear the signature
of the family that built them.

Engineer Pascal has come to
line them with at this steel tubing.

Les trois cheminees? Le cuisine.

He is the first French worker
Dick has hired.

HE SPEAKS FRENCH

OK? Merci, Monsieur.

The last time I studied French
was 39 years ago.

Dans le salon, et dans le...

Uh... Uh...

I remember
some of the French words,

but there's a lot of them I just
can't remember anything at all.

So I tend to do a bit of Franglais
speaking, French with English in it.

Nous avons un grand...

Um... Store?

"Thermal store", en anglais.

Mais c'est... Chaud? Un chauffe eau?

Chauffe eau? Un chauffe eau.

Un chauffe eau - a-ha!

OK. We're going to have
a chauffe eau.

Pascal must feed this steel tubing
up three of Dick's chimneys.

Each one is 85 feet high
and up to six feet wide.

No probleme. No probleme.

No problem!

Vous parlez anglais? Ah, merde!

Adore! Adore English! Stupide!

I just assumed there's going to be
some sort of a cherry picker,

or a lift going up there.
Or lots of scaffolding.

Je sors, mon echelle, sur le toit.

Oui?

Oui? Oui!

Pascal's going on the roof.

It is a bit scary. Because I don't
think anybody's been up on that roof

for a very long time.

He's gone out the window.
He's got his special harness on.

He's going to attach himself.

If he falls,
it stops him hitting the ground.

He says he knows what he's doing.

I think that's what he said.
He is French.

Just stands on our roof,
quite happily.

Has he got a... He is harnessed on.

You see that rope? There's a rope
here that he's holding on to.

Yeah, yeah. That's him tied off.

He's actually dropping a rope down.

And his friend,

Sylvain, he's down there
and he's feeding up the chimney.

That's why he's lifting it up,
there. Right.

DISTANT WHISTLING

That's singing Frenchman on my roof.
He's whistling. He looks great.

He's the Roger Whittaker
of the French world.

In just two days, Dick and Angel
hope to move their family

into this 19th-century chateau.

In the middle of winter, they're
racing to install a heating system.

And the last part has just
turned up.

The radiators have arrived, yeah.

Erm, what colour did you
think they were?

OK, white. I thought they were
black, but they're white.

OK, just making sure we've got the
right ones.

The first batch of radiators will
heat just five

of the chateau's 45 rooms.

But that will be enough for the
family to leave their rented cottage

and move in.

Their possessions are already
en route from England.

The chateau walls are built
from solid stone,

some from the fort
that once stood here.

In places,
they're over three feet thick.

So far, Dick's avoided running pipes
through them.

The system means all the pipes can
go up and over.

Done for a very good reason.

These walls are thick.

Going through the walls is going
to be a major nightmare.

You see, that's what we need,
isn't it? Come on.

To install the radiators,
Dick's bought in some serious kit.

I came to France and I bought the
biggest drill they had

in the equipment store.

Nobody can hold this drill,
it's far too powerful.

If this works,
it'll make our life easy.

If it doesn't work...

..Kyle will be working very hard
making holes in these walls.

That'll hold itself, won't it? Yeah.

OK.

What do you think?

The cavity is filled with rubble.

Loose rocks and stone,
tightly packed together.

On every attempt,
they jam the drill.

Are you positive?

So we're supposed to continue trying
with this for a bit longer?

I'm going to call a stop on this.
And the reason I'm going to call

a stop is because actually we've got
too much to do in too little time.

Because, you know, best will
in the world, the wall won.

Dick's £1,500 state-of-the-art drill

has bitten the dust.

The clock's ticking, the removals
are coming, there's no heat.

So, all in all, erm...

..yeah.

Meanwhile, Angel has returned
at the chateau.

She wants the place to be spotless

for when the furniture
arrives tomorrow.

I love a bit of cleaning,
I really do.

It's, like, the only job that gives
you instant satisfaction.

But she's having to work around
Lee and Kyle...

..who are now trying
to chisel through the walls.

By hand.

We're trying to just use the old way
of chiselling it out.

We'll get there, but it'll just
take a lot longer.

You want to tidy up,
ready for things to come in.

They're trying to go through a hole
in the wall upstairs,

because we've got about
three holes to make in walls.

That's nearly impossible, so...

..yeah.

I know, I... So, it's...

I just was going to do
some cleaning.

Yeah, yeah, but what are you going
to clean? That was the question.

That's why I'm asking you.

Look, I just... If we're going to
live in here...

I've just, you know, I haven't been
here loads, obviously,

looking after the kids. I'm just
here, helping to do some cleaning,

ready for us.

Angel is much more isolated
than I am.

Arthur and Dorothy
are a full-time job,

and if you add that to the amount
that she sees we have to get done,

you know, it's hard.

For four years, Dick and Angel
have dreamt of a perfect life

in their own French chateau.

But they're about to move in

to a building site.

Most of their savings are now spent.

And they've barely scratched the
surface of this enormous renovation.

There are easier ways of moving
and going somewhere new to live.

Changing country, changing culture
and changing the way you live,

that's difficult.

We're actually
doing that into a ruin.

I think he's an absolute nut job,
I think he's crazy.

And he should just hold back
a little bit more.

But I understand they're under time
constraints, so needs must.

But moving in,
I wouldn't be doing it.

Well, we're doing 18-hour days.

We're not messing around here,

because there's so much to get done
to get us in and get us comfortable.

This is the hardest
time of year to work.

Short daylight hours.

That's really killing us,

because when you're working in
the dark, it slows you down.

We'll get there. It's just...

You've got to stay positive.

That's not looking too bad.

Next time...

The family move in,
to discover they're not alone.

Absolutely petrified.

City girl Angel
gets used to country life...

Do you think a chicken knows
that it can't swim?

Yes, of course it does! Really?

..and, as the renovations continue,

Dick has a repair job on
an epic scale.

59 windows.

This is not even funny.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media