A popular BBC programme showcasing what are described as the best houses in Northern Ireland has been cancelled, according to sources.
Reports that ‘House of the Year’, presented by the interior designer Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, will not return to screens comes after confirmation of the axing of other locally produced shows, including Give My Head Peace and The Blame Game.
The broadcaster has announced in recent weeks the cutting of numerous programmes across television and radio as it tackles “severe financial pressures”. It announced earlier this year the cutting of close to 2.000 jobs, almost 10% of the workforce.
The last series of the ‘House of the Year’, revived in 2024 after several years off air, was broadcast in January and February of this year. The judges were architect Jane Larmour, interior designer James Fairley and business owner Patricia McGinnis.
Major cuts ongoing at BBC, including locally (Liam McBurney/PA)
When asked whether the show would be returning, a BBC spokesman said: “We have significant savings to make over the next period.”
The spokesperson added: “This will affect many different aspects of the BBC’s work in Northern Ireland. We are still working through the detail of what our savings requirements will involve.
“Our aim will be to protect the value, benefits and distinctiveness of the service that we provide and its sustainability into the future.”
In an interview with The Irish News ahead of the broadcast of the series in January and February, the London-based Mr Llewelyn-Bowen described the revived programme as tapping into an audience beyond the borders of Northern Ireland.
“When we did the show before it was something that was very much about Northern Ireland, it was for Northern Ireland and it was only watched in Northern Ireland,” he said.
“Now it goes straight to iPlayer and what’s lovely is that it’s now part of this whole thing that actually everybody is getting obsessed by. It’s done so well.
“And I think that’s because home has always been a very special thing over here, there’s always been a lot of emotion attached to it and I think that resonates and touches people from everywhere.”
Olivia Nash and Tim McGarry in Give My Head Peace
The winner of the 2025/26 house of the year was The Gallery off the Malone Road in south Belfast. It was built at the end of the garden of the owners’ former property.
The owner told the BBC: “This house is a love story, Belfast’s own Taj Mahal. It’s a gift to my darling wife….as an expression of my love for her.
“Some say our house is more like an art gallery than a home; a criticism or a compliment perhaps!
“It is a wonderful space adorned with art that resonates with the sound of music. Walking round the house when the sun comes up is bliss. There is something comforting and spiritual about it, like being cocooned in a new skin.”
The Blame Game cast, (from left) Colin Murphy, Tim McGarry, Jake O’Kane and Neil Delamere (Picture by Trevor Lucy)
It emerged this week that Give My Head Peace, the long-running sitcom starring the Hole in the Wall Gang, and panel show The Blame Game, were not returning to screens. Both featured Tim McGarry.
Mr McGarry, who plays ‘Da’ in Give My Head Peace, told The Irish News the sitcom was “cheap as chips” to produce, and that stars feel surprise at how the cancellation has been handled. Those involved learned of the axing of the show by email.