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Restoration
- a major ´óÏó´«Ã½ TWO event
Starts
Friday 8 August, 9.00pm on ´óÏó´«Ã½ TWO
Press
pack available
Across
the UK thousands of historic buildings are in danger of being lost
to the nation forever.
Griff
Rhys Jones, comedian and passionate conservationist, presents Restoration
– a landmark series that gives viewers the chance to rescue
from ruin one of 30 significant buildings across the UK.
Each
of the 30 buildings has its own 'celebrity advocate' – such
as Rory Bremner, Richard E Grant and Ulrika Jonsson – who
will urge viewers to vote for their chosen building to be restored
to its former glory.
"I've
been involved in the Hackney Empire for about three or four years,
and we've just finished raising money so I knew how difficult it
was to restore buildings, but I also knew how fascinating it was,"
says Griff Rhys Jones.
"I've
always been fascinated by the buildings at risk list and so quite
selfishly I thought, what a fantastic opportunity to go and have
a look at them."
Starting
in August, 10 one-hour programmes will each be devoted to a geographical
area of the UK, revealing the crumbling architectural treasures
we could lose forever.
Drawing
on the expertise of heritage bodies across the UK, each episode
will focus on an in-depth profile of three properties in that region.
All
styles and periods are featured, from cottages and castles to factories
and chapels, dating from the earliest times to the 20th century.
Two
experts – conservation architect, Ptolemy Dean and historic
buildings surveyor Marianne Suhr – explore every corner of
these buildings, unearthing their hidden secrets and bringing back
to life the romance of their past.
Restoration
also draws on the memories and knowledge of local residents, owners
and conservation groups who love and value these buildings and are
fighting to preserve them for future generations.
At
the end of each programme, viewers are asked to cast their vote
for the building they want to be saved.
Griff
announces the winner of each programme from the battlements of Britain's
most visited historic building – the Tower of London, a place
where many a subject has awaited their fate.
The
series climaxes with a magnificent live event at the Tower of London
where a nationwide vote will decide which building will be restored.
To
accompany the series there will also be interactive TV services,
a major website, a specially produced directory of over 250 heritage
events, a magazine, book and a raft of additional programming on
national and local television, including a 10-part series on ´óÏó´«Ã½
FOUR called Restoration Secrets.
Restoration
has been produced in consultation with English Heritage, Historic
Scotland, CADW (Welsh Historic Monuments) and The Department of
the Environment and Heritage, Northern Ireland.
Many
societies such as Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings,
SAVE (Save Britain's Heritage) and Architectural Heritage Fund and
the Heritage Lottery Fund have provided further advice.
The
finale of the series is timed to coincide with the National Heritage
Open Days and weekends which take place every year across the UK
during September.
Jane
Root, Controller of ´óÏó´«Ã½ TWO said: "On average, every day in
the UK one historic building or monument is lost or destroyed. Yet
we know that there is a real appetite for Britain's heritage –
on a typical weekend more people visit historic buildings and monuments
than go to football matches.
"Our
challenge as programme-makers was to harness this interest in our
heritage and enable viewers to make their mark on history by saving
one of these astonishing buildings.
"In
Restoration we have created a huge event that will go beyond the
TV screen and into communities across the UK this summer with a
whole raft of activities in local areas leading up to the Heritage
Open Days across the country."
Nikki
Cheetham, Managing Director of Endemol UK Productions, added: "These
buildings are all in danger of becoming part of forgotten Britain
and disappearing from our landscape forever. Their loss would be
an irreversible erosion of our heritage.
"With
Restoration we hope to reawaken interest in each one of these national
gems and help create a real future for them."
Restoration
is produced by Endemol UK Productions for ´óÏó´«Ã½ Scotland and the executive
producer is Andrea Miller, Head of Factual Programmes at ´óÏó´«Ã½ Scotland.
The
series will transmit on ´óÏó´«Ã½ TWO in a peak-time slot from August.
Notes
to Editors
Run-up
to finale
In
the week preceding the run-up to the live finale at the Tower of
London on ´óÏó´«Ã½ TWO there will be an additional three short programmes.
These
will refresh viewers' memories of the 10 shortlisted buildings before
the final vote for restoration.
The
final vote does not include previous votes cast in the first 10
programmes.
Website
and Interactive
Online
viewers will be able to access virtual tours of all the Viewer Vote
buildings and keep up with the latest information on which buildings
are currently in the running for the live finale.
Cross-linked
to all the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s regional websites and any associated heritage charities,
will provide a high-profile portal through to Restoration news from
across the country.
Restoration
will be fully supported across both the Web at
and Interactive Television on ´óÏó´«Ã½i, where extra footage and a chance
to vote will be accessible by pressing the red button.
Pressing
the red button before, during or after the Restoration programmes
on ´óÏó´«Ã½ TWO will allow the viewers to enjoy specially edited video
reminders of all properties currently nominated.
The
Restoration Fund
The
winning building will be restored from funds raised through The
Restoration Fund, a ´óÏó´«Ã½ Appeal awaiting registration as a charity.
Donations
Donations
can be made by calling: 0871 200 5050.
Postal
donations to: The Restoration Fund, PO Box 7000, Manchester M60
3HE.
(Cheques
should be made payable to The Restoration Fund)
In
addition funding will be sought through:
•
Telephone voting
•
Sponsorship
•
Grants from heritage organisations
Telephone
voting
Viewers
can vote during transmission by calling 0901 077 77 77.
A minimum
of 17.9p from every phone vote (calls charged at 30p) will go towards
the restoration of the winning building.
Heritage
Open Days
Restoration
has joined forces with the organisers of the Open Days in promoting
the events and encouraging viewers to get involved in their communities
and enjoy their local history and architecture.
Held
annually throughout the month of September, Heritage Open Days celebrate
the UK's architecture and culture by allowing access to properties
that are not normally open to public view.
As
well as free entry to these attractions and others that usually
charge a fee, Heritage Open Days include local guided tours, town
walks, plays, art festivals and children's activities.
Heritage
Open Days is part of the Europe-wide initiative European Heritage
Days, which takes place across 47 countries.
Full
details of Heritage Open Days, including a full list of participating
properties, are available from the website - .
•
For information on Doors Open Days in Scotland, please visit .
•
For information on European Heritage Days in Wales, please visit
.
•
For information on European Heritage Days in Northern Ireland, please
visit .
•
For information on London Open House, please visit .
The
´óÏó´«Ã½ is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
´óÏó´«Ã½
Information Line
08700
100 150 (open from 21 July)
Throughout
August and September, leading into the Heritage Open Days in September,
hundreds of heritage and conservation bodies throughout the UK are
running events where people can find out more about heritage and
restoration initiatives in their areas.
For
further information about events and 'go further' courses, telephone
the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Restoration helpline on 08700 100 150, or visit the website
at .
Book
A book
published by Headline to coincide with the Restoration series –
Restoration by Philip Wilkinson – takes a closer look at the
buildings featured in the series with unique photography and will
be available from Monday 4 August.
Restoration
magazine
´óÏó´«Ã½
Worldwide is publishing a special Restoration magazine that will
be available with the September issues of ´óÏó´«Ã½ Homes & Antiques
and ´óÏó´«Ã½ History magazines.
Press
pack
The
Restoration press pack is available here, as a
complete pack and in sections, in . You may require Adobe Acrobat Software to read PDF files
which can be obtained .
Full
Restoration press pack (3.39 MB)
Interview
with Griff Rhys Jones (132 KB)
Biographies
of buildings and their celebrity advocates (1.06
MB)
Component
parts below
•
Scotland (714
KB)
•
South
West (415 KB)
•
North
East and Yorkshire (336 KB)
•
North
West (241 KB)
•
Midlands
(471 KB)
•
Wales
(116 KB)
•
East
(813 KB)
•
South
East (262 KB)
•
Northern
Ireland (198 KB)
Restoration
Secrets on ´óÏó´«Ã½ FOUR (110 KB)
Heritage
facts and figures (47 KB)
Biographies
of presenters and experts (123 KB)
´óÏó´«Ã½
Scotland - Factual Programmes (64 KB)
Endemol
UK Production (63 KB)
Previous
releases
Restoration
- saving Britain's heritage (19.03.03)
´óÏó´«Ã½
TWO viewers vote to save our national heritage (09.07.02)
For
the latest releases on ´óÏó´«Ã½ TWO's Restoration as the voting progresses
go to the Factual
& Arts TV index
All the
´óÏó´«Ã½'s digital services are now available on ,
the new free-to-view digital terrestrial television service, as well
as on satellite and cable.
Freeview
offers the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s eight television channels, interactive services
from ´óÏó´«Ã½i, as well as 11 ´óÏó´«Ã½ radio networks.
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