Homes Under the Hammer

Homes Under the Hammer
Homes Under the Hammer title card
Genre	Factual
Created by	Melanie Eriksen
Written by	Various
Directed by	Various
Presented by	Lucy Alexander (2003–2018) Martin Roberts (2003–) Dion Dublin (2015–) Martel Maxwell (2017–) Jasmine Birtles (guest, 2005) Marc Woodward (guest, 2005)
Composers	Michael Burdett Richard Cottle
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	21
No. of episodes	1208 (as of 1 February 2018)
Production
Running time	30–60 minutes
Original release
Network	BBC One
Release	5 May 2003 (2003-05-05) – present

Homes Under the Hammer is a British factual renovation and auction television series that originally screened on BBC One as part of the BBC's morning schedule. The series has been running since May 2003, and is currently presented by Martin Roberts (2003–), Dion Dublin (2015–), and Martel Maxwell (2017–). Lucy Alexander, the series’ original presenter, departed the series in 2016, though new episodes featuring Alexander will broadcast intermittently until 2018. The series is the BBC's most successful show in the 10 am slot, regularly attaining a 30% market share for new episodes, which equates to approximately 1.5 million viewers per episode.

Presenters

Since the first series in 2003 Lucy Alexander and Martin Roberts presented the show, though guest presenters Jasmine Birtles and Marc Woodward also presented a handful of episodes during series three, due to the limited availability of the regular presenters. Retired footballer Dion Dublin joined Alexander and Roberts in 2015 at the beginning of the nineteenth series.

On 1 July 2016, the BBC announced that Alexander had stepped down from her role on Homes Under the Hammer, though Alexander later clarified that she would continue to appear on the series for "at least another few years", owing to the manner in which the series is filmed. On 30 March 2017, BBC Scotland's Martel Maxwell was revealed as the new host replacing Alexander during the 21st series of the show and it was announced she would appear on screen from June.

Format

The name of the show is a slight misnomer, as commercial and industrial property also feature on the programme in addition to residential lots. Each episode of the show follows several properties bought at auction that often require refurbishment, which may be residential, commercial or simply plots of land. A presenter and local estate agent give their opinion of the property, followed by the actual auction and sale price. The buyers discuss potential improvements to the purchased property, with an estimated budget. Following this format for each property, the show returns to show the refurbishments carried out. Another estate agent gives an updated value of the property following the work.

Music

During the stages of viewing the property, or whilst interviewing the buyer, music is normally played which is related to the property, or person buying. London-based composers Michael Burdett and Richard Cottle created the theme tune, stings and musical beds for Homes Under the Hammer.

Transmissions

Series	Start date	End date	Episodes
1	5 May 2003	13 June 2003	30
2	3 November 2003	9 April 2004	50
3	3 January 2005	March 2005	40
4	October 2005	December 2005
5	June 2006	July 2006	30
6	8 January 2007	16 February 2007	20
7	30 April 2007	29 June 2007	30
8	17 September 2007	23 November 2007	20
9	7 January 2008	22 February 2008
10	25 February 2008	20 June 2008	30
11	30 June 2008	12 September 2008	20
12	24 November 2008	2 February 2009	30
13	9 February 2009	1 March 2010	85
14	12 April 2010	4 February 2011	80
15	7 March 2011	2 March 2012	100
16	9 April 2012	13 February 2013	80
17	11 March 2013	31 March 2014
18	15 April 2014	30 March 2015	81
19	13 April 2015	29 March 2016	80
20	12 April 2016	23 March 2017
21	4 April 2017	22 March 2018	81
22	17 April 2018	March 2019	TBC

External links

• Homes Under the Hammer at BBC Online
• Homes Under the Hammer at IMDb