A Place in the Sun

I have seen this program on and off over the years but only recently watched it on a daily basis. The end credits are interesting. The latest series is chronologically all over the place, starting in summer 2022 but then going back and forward in no particular order. Also, what are casting researchers? Are they the people who sift through the applicants to find the best house-hunters and weeding out the freeloaders? I like the program but have some misgivings.

The format has become somewhat formulaic. The properties shown start off a bit mundane but then gradually improve through the show until the presenter almost invariably says words to the effect that he's pulled out all the stops to find the dream property and the house-hunters say that he's save the best till last. This is all getting a bit tedious. Another thing that irks is near the end when the presenter is talking to the seller's agent and he or she is looking glum and despondent and then comes the big reveal that the offer has succeeded. Why do they do this? Buying property is a serious business but these people treat it as some sort of game show. On the other hand, perhaps the deal has already been done and this is just dramatic license for the viewers' consumption. Whatever the case, it should stop. All of which begs the question - exactly how real is Reality TV?

Quite how this show has lasted for so long will be a mystery to television historians for decades to come. I've often tuned in to the show over the years hoping that it would eventually evolve into informative and entertaining television only to be disappointed.

The main presenter (Amanda Lamb) is sorely lacking in charisma and seems to do little else than walk people up to houses and then condescendingly pretend to be friendly with them over awkward chats. Some of the supplementary presenters in the longer shows took a stab at making things interesting but they were usually defeated by the need to stretch the shows out to their near 60 minute duration.

The biggest problem is that the property hunters chosen were frequently quite uninteresting. The properties they were shown were too conservatively chosen. Quite why we should be interested in seeing a 3 year old villa in Marbella is beyond me.

Lastly the programme too often displayed a petty minded Little England snobbery at foreigners and their quaint ways. Some of the property hunters did seem genuinely interested in living abroad but the vast majority seemed quite undesirable neighbours.

Stay in Cleethorpes!

I've watched about 200 of these shows over the last 7 years and, from this moment on, will never watch it again. They show people who say they have a certain budget to spend on properties. They are shown properties within their budgets and meet nearly, if not all, of their requirements. The properties are really lovely and many times the people say they love them. The kicker is when they put in an offer it's so ridiculously low that 99% of the time no one ever actually purchases! It seems to me a setup from the very start. I've seen only 4 purchases out of 200+ programs watched. After awhile I kept watching just to see if my suspicions are right...either "British" people are too arrogant or this entire thing is nothing but staged to get viewers. It seems more a setup although England is, admittedly, full of some very arrogant people. The "cheeky offers" are just laughable and they get denied every time...except once. So, to me, this show is 100% a waste of time. If you watch it for any reason at all, the properties and views are absolutely wonderful. You will get some great ideas for yourself. Otherwise, it's not worth watching.

I love this show. Just about everyone dreams of owning a place in the sun and this show allows us to do just that. For the people on the show it provides them with 5 properties to challenge what they think they want as most people look for houses overseas like they would in the UK, which isn't helpful and for those watching it gives us a chance to comment and have opinions on each of the properties. Excellent show.

Me and my husband watch this regularly. It's really nice to see the different properties in different places and what you can get from low to very high budgets. I don't really care if it's fake or if it's just advertising, the places and homes are real and if you're interested in any of them you can contact them online. Ok it's not for everyone, but no one is making you watch it. The only annoying thing are some of the potential buyers who have unreal expectations of what they can get for their money. Rule of thumb, you can get a heck of a lot more for your money than here and with loads of sunshine thrown in.