‘Just have a go!'

Intrepid renovators Dick and Angel Strawbridge on how their series can help us realise our DIY dreamsÉ

- Caren Clark

Over the past four years, practical presenter Dick Strawbridge and his vintage-loving wife Angel have unleashed their creativity to renovate and redecorate a run-down French chateau.

We’ve followed the couple, and their children, Arthur, seven, and six-year-old Dorothy, every step of the way as they transformed their 45-room property into a majestic wedding venue and a holiday home in C4’s life-affirming hit series Escape to the Chateau.

Now, in new lockdown-inspired spin-off, Escape to the Chateau: Make Do and Mend, Dick and Angel will share their top tips for families looking for imaginative ways to solve DIY dilemmas using what they have to hand.

Here, in an exclusive interview, Dick, 60, and Angel, 42, tell TV Times what we can expect from the four-parter…

What was the thinking behind making the show?

DICK: We receive so many emails asking how we do certain things in Escape to the Chateau and the numbers went up in lockdown because people suddenly had time to do things. We said, ‘Why don’t we help?’

ANGEL: It’s all about using what you’ve got around the house. If we can do it, then everyone else can with the right mindset! We’ve had immense satisfaction watching other people do the work!

Is this series about helping people realise what they’re capable of, as well as teaching them new skills?