Neighbourhood watch
RT's Laura Rutkowski visits the set of Graham Norton's new ITV reality series
Justin Slee
- Laura Rutkowski
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“Welcome to The Neighbourhood!” says Graham Norton, the host of ITV’s new reality series, as he meets RT on the set in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. It’s cosy, with six quaint houses painted pink, yellow, green, blue, orange and purple, a café called Room with a Brew, the local pub The Uppin Arms, a notice board of events, and stunning flowers lining the streets.
RT's Laura Rutkowski on set of The Neighbourhood. Justin Slee
But the seemingly picturesque community is located on the rather sinisterly named Keepyourenemies Close. There’s a CCTV sign that reads, “Warning: this area is under constant judgment.” And those due to move into these homes — six real households (each with three to five members), including university students, multigenerational and blended families — are going to be filmed 24 hours a day, in every room, by over 200 cameras.
They will also go up against each other in challenges across 12 episodes in the hopes of walking away with £250,000. “This isn’t just about keeping up with the Joneses, it’s about beating them as well,” Norton explains.
Graham Norton on set of his new reality show The Neighbourhood. Justin Slee
Development executive Ed Daggett says the idea for the tasks is “taking things that are typical of neighbourhood life and super-sizing them into big games”.
These involve a seven-metre-high washing line; a take on curtain twitching, where everyone must memorise what happens outside their window at night; and a gnome invasion game that I got the chance to play, where you have to find a specific gnome after being given a clue (there will be 2,500 gnomes of varying sizes). If you pick a “nasty” gnome, it has implications for your neighbours.
Two houses on The Neighbourhood set. Justin Slee
If households do well during the games, they’re safe in the neighbourhood. If they don’t, they’re at risk of being voted out — with their neighbours planting a “For Sale” sign in front of their home during “the removals”. There are also difficult real-life decisions to make, like whose party to go to when two are being hosted at the same time.
“We want people watching the show to say, ‘They’re just like us, they’re just like the people who live over the road,’” says Daggett.
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The Neighbourhood is coming soon to ITV1
Authors
Laura Rutkowski
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