Kevin There’s this show on Dabl that comes on in the afternoons that I’m just cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs over. In case you’re just joining us, or in case you didn’t know, Dabl’s a network TV channel that launched in 2019, and came to our local broadcast market soon thereafter. Dabl’s similar to the DIY Network, only with reruns of shows we haven’t thought or cared about since like 2005.
But in all seriousness, I love this channel. Now that I’ve found the sweet spot to get the reception for it, I’ve been watching it more often these days. I don’t like the direction Comet’s gone in, so that’s now on the weekend list.
There was a promotional booth at the fair, and they mentioned that Dabl was a new network channel coming to our market the following year. This was before the pandemic, now almost 2 years ago in the summer of 2019. I even picked up some freebies advertising the CBS fall lineup for that year, haha.
One of my favorite shows on Dabl is Escape to the Country. I’d never heard of this show until Dabl came along, and now I’m wondering what tf else I’ve missed out on. From what I’ve read, this show has been a thing over in the UK since 2002, so I guess that makes me super late to the party.
So what else is new?
Anyways, Escape to the Country starts out by giving us these great views of the English countryside. Obviously it’s different from the country here in my neck of the woods, but I just love the way it makes us feel like we’re there ourselves. It makes me wanna add in a trip to the countryside if I ever have the chance to travel to the UK someday. At the same time, I find that show kinda peaceful and calming in a way.
We get to follow someone who’s house hunting, and it feels like we’re joining them. They’re either unhappy with where they’re living at the start of the show, or they like it well enough, but would like to move on to something more at the end of the day.
As someone who’s house hunting, I can definitely relate to this.
The contenders on the show meet with the host (or presenter, as they’re referred to across the pond), talk about what they’d like in a house and what their budget is. The host then comes up with three houses in their preferred area, and a wild card, or mystery house. However, some seasons only have them touring three houses altogether, with the third being the mystery house. Whichever the format it follows, the contenders are then supposed to guess how much the asking price is for these places after they get a tour. Sometimes they’re close, and other times, well, not so much.
We then get a tour of the countryside where the contenders hope to live. The host shows us the place, and we get to see the local industries. We also get history lessons and fun facts about the area, which reminds me of Rick Steves’ Europe in a way.
After the house tours, we don’t really get to see whether the contenders choose any of the houses or not, but regardless of what they choose for their next home, I hope it’s one they love. The houses shown in the episodes I’ve seen so far have been so cool. I mean, the history and the architecture of them are so unique, and quite frankly, nothing like what we’ve got here in my neck of the woods.
My favorite episode was the one in the screenshot I took from Dabl’s live stream, of the Yorkshire Air Museum. That’s one place I’d love to visit, and tbh, I wouldn’t mind living there, either, haha. I could visit that museum any time I wanted, and take all my visitors on a trip there with me.
Obviously I couldn’t do that these days, what with the pandemic going on. But when we’re out of the woods in that respect, that would be on my plans if I lived there.
It’s the same way I feel about a house I had seen by the armory and an old military base in a different part of town from where we’re living, and where we’ll be staying due to accessibility reasons.
Over to you, readers. Do you like Escape to the Country? Seen any of its’ spin-offs? Sound off below, and let’s talk!
