Britain's Finest Stately Homes (five)

CASHING in on public opinion polls is second nature these days to TV producers. It seems a programme can't be made without the general public being asked for their opinion first so some bizarre top ten can be complied.

Of course this guarantees an audience - we all like to feel important and viewers are always keen to see how their vote has affected the outcome but there is something lazy about the whole process.

What is wrong with brave programme makers making good shows that present other people's opinions for us to ponder and discuss among ourselves? Why do we have to have a direct input just to ensure we tune in?

The result of these increasingly frequent opinion polls is hundreds of programmes that require our say from Holiday Call the Shots and Stars In Their Eyes to Big Brother and I'm a Celebrity - Get Me Out Of Here!

But for once a top ten programme achieved the rare feat of being informative, fun and beautiful to look at - and we still had all had the chance to give our views.

Britain's Finest Stately Homes is one of a new series of four programmes looking at British heritage which in future weeks will consider the best monuments, gardens and castles.

Readers of the Radio Times and Five viewers were asked to vote on a short-list drawn up by so-called experts although I always thought Loyd Grossman was into cooking not architecture.

What followed was a breathtaking history lesson as we were taken on a guided tour of some of the most stunning properties in the country.

Reconstructions of important historical events were interspersed with experts giving their opinions and explanations about how and why each home was built and survived the centuries.

For some viewers this will have been just another estate agents programme but for those of us who will never walk down a silver-plated staircase it was a chance to have a good nose around the top ten homes enjoyed by the upper crust.

The magnificent Chatsworth House took the top spot and it was easy to see why it had captured the imaginations of so many people but it was also nice to see our own Castle Howard featuring in the top three.

The makers of Britain's Finest could so easily have gone down the usual dumbed-down top ten route and given us a stream of C-list celebrities telling us their oh-so-funny stories about exploits in their palatial homes.

But instead they practically ignored the fact there had been a vote and instead made a grown-up TV programme concentrating on the amazing subject which spoke for itself.

Published: 01/06/2003