Scotland’s Home of the Year, BBC One, Monday
four stars
Can it really be seven years since SHOTY began? Now as firm a part of Scotland’s landscape as cancelled ferries and disappointing politicians, the interior design show is back for another outing, culminating in a grand final this summer.
That’s assuming Trump-fuelled Armageddon doesn’t claim us first, of course. Even then, we can probably expect an end-of-the-world special with Anna Campbell-Jones taking viewers through the best Farrow & Ball colours for a nuclear bunker.
We were in the mysterious East, land of high house prices and teeny gardens. First on the judges’ list for 2026 was an Art Deco delight in Craiglockhart that certainly had the S-factor. “The symmetry!” cried Banjo. “Everything is perfectly lined up. Classic Basil Spence.”
Wearing a smug grin, which doesn’t come easy to an Aussie, he turned to fellow judges Anna and Danny Campbell. “Yeah, I know my architects.” Sounded like fighting talk.
Danny liked the “chunky big chimneys”, while Anna cooed over the minty green guttering. Half the show had ticked by, and they had not yet made it inside. When they eventually did, every room was a model of good taste and planning. As Banjo said, even the extractor fan in the kitchen looked like a piece of art.
Back outside to check out the modern extension, Anna’s eyes spied a water feature with stepping stones. Naturally, she had to try it. The production company must have been having kittens. Betty Grable’s legs cost a million dollars to insure; Ronaldo’s $144 million. What price Anna’s pins? Mercifully, she made it across safely.
Time was the Art Deco Villa would have trotted straight into the final, but the competition gets tougher every year. Viewers and judges expect so much more.
At Homegrown Hoose, a converted bungalow in Mortonhall, it was love at first sight for all three judges. Danny was impressed by the cantilevered extension, Anna confessed to “severe herbaceous border envy”, and Banjo loved that the place wasn’t “cookie-cutter”.
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The Schoolhouse in Fordell, Fife, had the tough job of following that. The residents had tried their best, laying on cowboy hats for the judges to try on, bells to ping and ring (Anna again), and shaggy cushions in an eye-catching yellow. “How many Muppets had to die to make these?” asked Banjo. Luckily for him, the owners were not around to answer.
Trouble was brewing in the otherwise perfectly lovely kitchen. Danny, an architect by trade, had clocked that three windows were not aligned with the apex of the roof. “But they’ve lined up the Belfast sink, so I’ll allow it,” he concluded. Phew.
He was in such a giddy mood that he tried a joke about the leopard print stair carpet: “The fastest runners in the animal kingdom.” God love him.
Worse than Danny’s dad jokes was to come when the trio, inspired by those cowboy hats, tried a spot of impromptu line dancing. Now this, not the unaligned windows, was a reason to shield one’s eyes.
Next week it’s the Highlands and Islands. Pack your dancing shoes, Anna.
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