Call me a hopeless optimist but, on the train heading to the Television and Radio Industries Club Awards last week, I felt so excited that I was rehearsing our team’s acceptance speech in my head.
Looking back, it was perhaps naive of me to video a message for Homes Under The Hammer’s regular daily viewers, telling them to cross their fingers.
I’m biased but I know how much people love the show. It’s a unique combination: the chance for viewers to poke around other people’s houses, sample the excitement of the auction room and pick up tips on how to make money from property.
This time, I really had high hopes of winning, though I realised competition was tough. The other contenders in our Daytime category were two excellent TV shows: BBC One’s Escape To The Country and Channel 4’s A Place In The Sun — and Ken Bruce’s daytime radio show.
A few hours later and guess what? Congratulations to Ken — I revere his sheer broadcasting brilliance. But I felt personally disappointed and also gutted on behalf of the whole team who work so hard to bring the programme to air.
Homes Under The Hammer presenters Dion Dublin, Martel Maxwell and Martin Roberts
Martin has been a presenter on Homes Under The Hammer for nearly 21 years and has worked on over 1,500 episodes and visited around 2,000 properties
I’ve been one of the show’s presenters from the beginning and, in the space of nearly 21 years, I have worked on over 1,500 episodes and visited around 2,000 properties.
But not only have we never received an award, it’s rare for us even to get nominated.
Despite getting audience figures in the millions on BBC One every single weekday and many more on BBC iPlayer, I’m trying not to take this personally — but after more than two decades of success, don’t we at least merit an award for sheer longevity?
Looking back at the TV schedules at the time of our first ever broadcast, in Nov- ember 2003, BBC One was still showing Neighbours.
So, what do I put the show’s continued appeal and longevity down to… apart, of course, from its chirpy and knowledgeable presenters?
Homes Under The Hammer has a simple structure: for every show we pick out several properties up for auction, always in need of refurbishment or complete redevelopment.
The buyers discuss their ideas and their budget with me or one of the other presenters and, when the work is done, we return with an estate agent to discover how much more the place is worth.
I think a lot of people love the idea of taking a wreck and doing it up. Homes Under The Hammer offers inspiration and genuine advice.
It features relatable purchasers. Sometimes they are overly optimistic, with catastrophically inadequate budgets. We wish them well, but fear the worst. Other times, we marvel at their ingenuity, design flair and thriftiness.
Auction properties by their very nature are often interesting and varied — from old churches to toilet blocks, two-up two-down terraces to country mansions. We have featured every imaginable sort of building over the years.
Homes Under The Hammer has a simple structure: for every show properties are picked out that are up for auction, in need of refurbishment or complete redevelopment
In addition to all that, there’s the marvellous incidental music — sometimes with a tenuous link, other times hilariously appropriate to the images on screen.
You might recognise a clip without knowing quite why it’s there. ‘What’s that song?’ you ponder over your chocolate Hobnob. Then you realise it’s the instrumental part of Going Underground by The Jam… accompanying pictures of drainage pipes.
Many ordinary folk, not professional property developers, have gained the confidence to head to the auction rooms after watching the show. They are armed, of course, with the Hammer’s golden rules: always read the legal pack, always visit the property beforehand and always stick to your budget.
Most of all, Homes Under The Hammer is like a pair of comfy slippers. In a world of uncertainty, it’s warmly familiar, eternally upbeat and fun to watch. Many people I meet, of all ages and from all walks of life, admit it’s their ‘guilty pleasure’.
I do have one trophy on my desk, from the National Television Awards [NTA]. But I have to confess, it’s not quite what it seems.
TV DIY expert Tommy Walsh and Traitors star Amanda Lovett in a celebrity special version of the show last year
In 2016, I took part in I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here. That was the year Scarlett Moffatt was crowned Queen Of The Jungle, and the show won an NTA for Best Entertainment Programme.
I was chuffed to bits to be part of a winning squad and slightly miffed when I realised there was only one trophy… which Ant and Dec took home to add to their collection. I called the organisers and asked if I could have a replica, since I was on the winning team.
Apparently that’s an unusual request — in fact, no one had ever asked before. But they were very helpful and agreed to pop one in the post … for £900.
So, what was I to do? I coughed up the £900 and it now has pride of place on my mantelpiece.
The truth is that Homes Under The Hammer has some things that mean a lot more than any trophy: dedicated and loyal fans.
I’m glad to say that, along with millions of viewers, the show has attracted some fairly stellar celebrity support.
Sir Paul McCartney enjoys watching it during his morning workout at the gym, I’m told. And Meryl Streep, last time she was on Graham Norton’s chat show, declared it her favourite show.
Daytime TV can be a reliable comfort during tough times. It’s my job to put a bit of a sparkle and laugh and shine on someone’s day, and I love it. And we often inspire others to take the leap and change their lives for the better.
I know it works because people often stop me and tell me so. And sometimes it’s not in circumstances you might expect.
The best memory, the one that makes me choke up every time, concerns a young woman called Felicity, who was a big fan of the show.
About ten years ago, I got an email from a man who told me his 19-year-old sister was in a coma following a hit-and-run car accident. He asked me if I would record a message for her.
Naturally, I sent a video straight away, chatting to camera, telling Felicity how much everyone wanted her to get better and cracking a couple of daft jokes.
Two weeks later, her brother called, bubbling with excitement. Felicity was awake. They’d played my video for her, over and over — and at the exact moment when I laughed at one of my own jokes, Felicity smiled and opened her eyes.
Of course, there could have been many other reasons why Felicity regained consciousness but, if so, it was a very happy coincidence.
I’ve met her since and it was an incredibly emotional occasion. There’ll never be an award that can top that feeling. But one would still be nice.
One day maybe.
Martin Roberts’s children’s book, Sadsville, written in support of the NSPCC, helps seven to ten-year-olds understand their emotions better and how to get help. Go to sadsville.co.uk
