This More4 version of the first ever episode contains previously unseen footage. Dick Strawbridge and Angel Adoree buy a fairy-tale French chateau to bring back to life.
This More4 version contains previously unseen footage. Dick, Angel and the family move into their crumbling chateau with flies everywhere.
In this More4 version with additional footage, Dick and Angel prepare to marry in just a few weeks. But room after room still needs restoring.
Dick and Angel are due to marry in just a few weeks, expecting 200 guests. But room after room still needs to be restored, decorated and furnished, and the moat still needs fixing.
It's the first ever paid event at the chateau and Dick tries to make a pig-roaster out of an oil-tank. Angel creates a Versailles-inspired downstairs loo. And it's their son's first day at school.
Keen to expand the business, Dick and Angel Strawbridge consider moat fishing, woodland foraging and installing a lift. Will the chateau survive such a monumental conversion?
As winter descends on the chateau and Christmas looms, Dick and Angel Strawbridge rush to complete a huge to-do list before the arrival of the family from England.
The couple get cracking on the 20 rooms that still need fixing. Angel buys a clapped-out van. And what have the tree surgeons done to the lime trees?
Dick buys a tractor, with plans to tame the walled garden. Angel designs a boudoir with black walls and mirrors. The couple explore truffle farming. And there's a wedding proposal in the dining room.
As the wedding season comes to the chateau, Dick and Angel's lives are about to get a whole lot busier. Then there's the barn, the van and the lime trees, as tensions start to rise.
Dick and Angel continue their adventures in a dilapidated French chateau, facing a busy summer of weddings and foodie events, while finally fixing the garden and stables.
It's harvest time and Dick wants to make jam and turn pears into booze. Angel has big plans for a floating geodesic dome over the moat. Plus - a special birthday treat for Dick.
As Dick and Angel prepare for winter, they attend a food festival in Rouen, where they hope to find inspiration over what to do with their fresh fruit and vegetables. Angel adds the finishing touches to the floating geodesic dome in time for a family sleepover, while Dick gets to work fixing the crumbling stucco.
Dick and Angel expand the project by setting up a luxury campsite on the chateau grounds, but they only have six weeks to complete it before the first guests arrive - and the weather is not on their side, with constant rain turning the planned site into a muddy field. They also have to contend with a visit from Dick's family at Easter.
Angel transforms the attic into a studio and storage space for her vintage treasures and takes Dorothy on a trip to Paris, while Dick has his own plans for repurposing some ancient tools he finds in the outbuildings. The couple throws a surprise birthday celebration for Angel's mother, where Dick's purpose-built open-fire popcorn maker is put to the test.
Angel redesigns the rooms in one of the chateau's turrets with a fruits and flowers motif - but an unexpected surprise lurks behind her creations. Outside, Dick is putting together a parkour fitness trail in the 12 acres of grounds, but hits upon an unexpected obstacle buried deep underground.
The temperatures soar as Dick and Angel face the busiest period of the year, as the school holidays coincide with peak wedding season. Dick comes up with an ingenious solution to stop wedding cakes from melting in the heat, but it involves piercing the chateau's walls. The moat is transformed into a boating lake, giving visitors a chance to cool down, and the family takes to the water in a home-made punt.
Before winter sets in, Dick ploughs the wild flower meadow and joins with Angel in bringing the dilapidated coach house back to life, in a bid to create "Café Grandma".
It's harvest time at the chateau. But there's still time for family wheelbarrow races, to give the basement a swish makeover, and to convert the old piggery into a chicken coop.
Dick and Angel are preparing for a magical Christmas at the château, with festive treats for family and friends, including Dick's walnut wine and a super-sized Christmas tree.
Dick Strawbridge and Angel Adoree enter their fifth year of living in France. With more weddings and events booked in than ever, the couple prepare for their busiest year yet. In order to feed a total of 1,500 guests, Dick and Angel begin renovating the back of the basement, creating a brand new, state-of-the-art events kitchen with a half-ton oven. Engineer Dick faces a complicated plumbing issue. Angel has a kitchen design challenge. And there's a magical birthday party for young Dorothy.
It's springtime at the chateau, and with the wedding season just a few weeks away, completing phase two of the basement project is becoming an urgent priority for Dick Strawbridge and Angel Adoree. To cater for all their summer guests, a much-needed utility and laundry room is about to be plumbed in. Angel comes up with a unique way of preserving the 150-year-old wallpaper, while Dick wrestles with a rake while working on the meadow.
The start of the wedding season sees Dick Strawbridge and Angel Adoree at their busiest, with events booked all through the summer, but there is still time to make improvements. Angel has her sights set on transforming the gravelled area at the front of the chateau into a thing of beauty and the whole family take a trip to Monet's stunning house and garden, where a plan for the chateau's very own water lily patch is hatched.
Dick and Angel are warming up for one of the year's biggest events - Angel's parents' 50th wedding anniversary, which involves inviting more than 100 people to a huge party. There's a bespoke menu to plan and prepare, so Dick has called in the cavalry, with his son James arriving from Cornwall. Together with some help from Arthur, the Strawbridge boys have their work cut out as they create dishes they hope will strike a chord with everyone.
There never seems to be much down-time at that sumptuous French château for owners Dick and Angel Strawbridge. Even as the summer ends after their busiest ever season and the last wedding of the year is nearly over, there’s still a lot to do. While most people would put up their feet and have a Pernod, Dick and Angel welcome an armada of vintage Citroëns that call in at the castle for a rest and breakfast during a fund-raising charity tour of France. And the family, including youngsters Arthur and Dorothy, work on their latest project, doing up a 1980s Asquith bus.
As the beginning of autumn arrives, Dick Strawbridge passes on his conker skills to the family, before the serious business resumes and the next phase of the renovation begins. Dick and his wife Angel Adoree get to work converting the old tack room into a grand entrance way. Angel knocks down walls and upcycles an old glass door, while Dick lays a new concrete floor.
As autumn arrives at the chateau, Dick and Angel start a new project, turning a 35-foot eight-tonne riverboat into luxury guest accommodation, with bespoke fabrics and decking.
After another busy year, Dick and Angel prepare for Christmas with an exquisite festive menu; some beautiful Christmas crafts; friends, family, and some special guests.
This special series revisits the epic transformation of a 45-room French chateau from a ruin into a sumptuous family home. How did Dick overcome the enormous technical and engineering challenges?
This episode celebrates Dick Strawbridge and wife Angel's creativity, with exquisitely designed rooms, stunning bathroom suites, and inspirational design tips.
A look back at how the Strawbridge family fell in love with French rural life - their children surrounded by nature and Dick turning the walled garden into a plot of plenty.
