The Big Build - Sunderland DIY SOS

We all have plans when we retire, don't we?

Pay your dues all your life, then you can spend time

with the one you love, doing the things you always dreamed of.

Unfortunately it doesn't always pan out that way.

How much did they give you?

Well, she's going to die, isn't she? I didn't marry June to watch her die.

I married June because she's June.

When she was first in hospital, she was really bad.

She was wishing that she would die.

We're here to help a woman who was struck down with a rare condition,

who's left sleeping in their small kitchen with no washing facilities.

Everyone should be able to use the bathroom in privacy.

She hasn't had that for four years.

You worked all your life and you get to this point

and you deserve a bit of help, you deserve a break.

It's difficult for a man like yourself to accept help, I imagine.

I think the answer is clear and that's where we come in,

to turn things around for June and her devoted and loving husband John.

We have with us all the usual suspects of course

but it's going to need the whole community to come together

if we're going to pull this off in just nine days. Are you up for it?

THEY CHEER

This is DIY SOS The Big Build!

Meet John and June Finlay.

They live in Houghton-le-Spring just outside of Sunderland

in this two-bedroom, 1960s, semidetached house.

They moved in here after they married

and haven't lived anywhere else.

They raised their daughter Heather here.

It's a home that gave them so much happiness.

Never argued. Never a wrong word in 35 years.

After working down the mines from the age of 14,

John was looking forward to spending his retirement with June,

except life took a devastating turn for the worse.

Four years ago, John and June had just come back from a summer holiday

when June was struck down suddenly with a terrible rare disease.

She's now left as a prisoner in her home.

Just before October she came back from Majorca fit and well.

She started to feel a little bit tired

and after that she deteriorated.

By January she couldn't speak, walk, use her hands and was incontinent.

They couldn't diagnose what it was and they diagnosed pneumonia.

I think the pneumonia has gone from her lungs onto her brain

because it was diagnosed after a brain biopsy

as inflammation of the brain which is now called CLIPPERS.

CLIPPERS is an inflammatory central nervous system disorder.

It's a very rare condition the doctors are still researching.

It means June's left trapped in her own home,

living on an old hospital bed in her tiny kitchen

and with nowhere to go to the toilet.

You know, it's really hard. Mum gets really frustrated.

When she was first in hospital,

she was really bad and she was wishing that she would die.

That was the worst day because, you know, it was so horrible

to see your mum lying there wishing that that would happen.

One, two, three.

John, however, would not accept that this was the end for his wife.

He wasn't having any of it.

Despite being 69, he's thrown himself into the role

of full-time physio and carer,

spending all day attending to June's every need.

And if sleeping downstairs wasn't bad enough,

she now has to go to the toilet on a commode in the middle of the living room.

A separate toilet is the ideal situation to go to the toilet.

In the middle of the room, it's not nice.

Dignity-wise for June, it's out of the window.

-Are you very frustrated, June?

-Yes.

And I...

Who cleans in here?

Like to clear up and polish, wouldn't you?

-And get me bottles of beer out of the fridge?

-Yes.

And taking the tops off!

Doctors said June would never walk, talk or use her hands again

but thanks to John's hard work, June is making slow progress.

He takes her to the local swimming baths twice a week for some hydrotherapy.

He also gives her a proper shower there,

something she can't have at home.

His sheer determination to get June better again is simply amazing.

Somebody in June's life has got to say, "You're in with a chance."

And she's getting better.

Improvements are there but they're very, very slow. But it's not a race.

Dad just keeps pressing on all the time.

If it wasn't for Dad, she wouldn't be here.

This devoted husband is desperately trying to do everything for his wife

but needs our help so she can stop living in these terrible conditions.

Right, the boys are on their way

and we've got some people in early to help out.

I like what you've done to the place!

To be fair, our lot have been in and already started because we need to make a start

and they've semi-destroyed your house already to give us a head start.

To be fair, you've been living pretty much in this room we're in now, haven't you?

That's not an easy way to live. How long has that been going on for?

-About three and a half or four years now.

-Yes.

Apart from all the difficulties that you're facing,

the dignity issue is a big deal, isn't it?

Imagine now, you want to go to the toilet.

In the middle of the room and you've got company.

-It's not very nice, is it?

-No.

See, June's a lady.

Well, she's a lady, a proper lady, and it's not right.

This is why I want this.

If anything happens to me, they'll banish her into a home.

But if I get the bedroom sorted out

and washing facilities sorted out, June can stop here with carers.

That's it. Simples.

But you deserve a break.

You worked all your life and you get to this point... You know.

You deserve a bit of help. You deserve a break.

It is difficult for a man like yourself to accept help, I imagine.

You know, it's actually very easy to get people to support

a hard-working, proud man like John.

Over 70 of the local trades have turned up to make this house right again for June

and they're itching to get started.

I'm pleased on this occasion that we're working for an older couple.

Too many people go all their lives working hard and get sod all back at the end of it.

He said to me just now before we came out,

"My worry is I'm going to keel over and die

"and she'll go into a home and everyone will forget about her."

If he can get the house sorted he said, "I know if anything happens to me, she'll be safe

"and my daughter can look after her and carers can help."

It's a big thing we're doing today and it will make a massive difference to a family

who have worked hard all their lives and deserve it.

That's enough talk. Let's get on with it.

We're going to double the footprint of the whole ground floor

and decorate upstairs and as usual have just nine days

before we give it back to June and John done.

This is it. This is what it's all about.

This is our one-storey extension to wrap around the building.

A little bit of trussed roof there.

They do both ends and then a cut roof in the middle. It's fantastic.

Should be millimetre perfect.

Of course, we need it to look nice

and guess who's back to handle all the design? Yes, it's Oliver Heath.

In the past me and the boys haven't seen eye to eye with Oliver.

-Just keep out of there.

-I don't want these to get damaged outside.

Everybody has problems. Keep out of the room. Everybody means everybody!

I must admit, it did get tense for a while

but I'm going to be more civil this time, I promise.

I thought we would chat about your overall plan.

There's an enormous amount of design work going on here

but what underpins all of this work is the design concept for this building, which is biophilia.

-Biophilia means nature loving.

-OK.

It's all about connecting the house and people in it with nature.

-There's not much nature out there, to be honest.

-Look at it now, it's carnage.

What we're going to do... There are three key parts to biophilia.

-Tell us all three of them.

-OK.

Firstly it's about looking out onto nature and light windows

and natural light is obviously good for vitamin D and good for your circadian rhythm,

-so it helps regulate sleep patterns.

-What?

Circadian rhythm, your daily rhythmic cycles

that help to level out your sleep

-and your hormone imbalances and stuff like that.

-OK.

-The second part of biophilia...

-We're only at the first part?

That was the first part.

The second part is having somewhere to back into. So come in here.

The second part is having safe spaces to back into.

This lounge is really important for us to create that safe space.

We're going to take out this chimney breast

and have an L-shaped sofa in here.

This is the space where you huddle up in the winter and you can back up into here.

Lastly it's about natural materials, textures and patterns.

Would it be fair, to sum it up, to say we're going to have windows,

a lounge and some nice patterns inside?

No, that is completely destroying the whole biophilic design concept.

You're reducing it and you're losing out on the poetry.

We've only got an hour on the programme and I'm slightly worried!

You're losing the poetry and the beauty of the fact...

This is an ordinary house but we can still create a design concept that is fundamentally better

and healthier and happier for them and that's what I want to do.

I think I lost the will to live in the middle of that.

The point is June and John desperately need more space.

Oliver's design means the garage will have to make way

for a massive extension going down the whole side of the house.

This will create a study at the front, a wet room in the middle,

and finally a downstairs bedroom for June at the rear.

We'll be ripping out the old kitchen to create a new kitchen-dining area

for the whole family to enjoy together.

The whole ground floor, including the newly-designed garden,

will all be on one level

and all the door openings widened for easy wheelchair access.

Upstairs we're keeping the original layout

but that doesn't mean it's going to be left alone.

We will be renovating the two bedrooms

and family bathroom to create fresh, comfortable spaces.

It might be a little house but it's a huge extension

and there's a lot to do.

And there is no time for standing around.

Have you heard about Oliver's plan for this? Biophilia.

-What does that mean?

-It's easy, isn't it? It's the love of nature.

-Blatantly.

-Well bio is both ways, isn't it?

No, that's bi. Bio means nature.

And philia means love, so love of nature.

THEY SNIGGER

He's gone, hasn't he?

Bi means both ways! Quite right, Bill, but not in this instance.

-Biofuel? So biofuel goes both ways, does it?

-I thought...

You thought that was horizontal and that was vertical.

Someone told me vertical is when you're dead.

That's horizontal. Horizontal.

And he's in charge of electrics. Frightening, isn't it?

It's all going on. There's a timber frame buzzing in.

We've got a bit of a problem with space because we've got to get a timber frame in.

Got to get the plate down, this here,

which is what all the timber frame is going to stand on.

We've got to get scaffold up so we can actually work on it to first-floor height.

All of that at the back, all that rubble, needs to come out,

which is why we have so many people trying to get it out.

It's one of those things really. This is DIY SOS Big Build all over.

A million different trades all working on top of each other.

You don't see this very often.

Scaffolding going up in amongst people doing gardening.

There's something else you don't see that often,

a designer getting his hands dirty.

On the first day of any build, this is where you will generally see me,

filling a skip properly. It's a real bugbear of mine.

Look, there's a barrel in there completely empty.

It's the expense. You're paying all this money for a skip.

-They're really expensive these days. £150 a go?

-320.

Is that what they do now? 320? And all this space.

You're looking at probably 20 quid's worth of space.

Knowlesy opening up holes in the skip. He's hole mad, that boy.

Look at him filling the little holes.

One brick at a time. Not having that. There's a hole in there.

Watch, this is how you do it. Get in there. That's it.

Shove it in nice and tight.

It's like Blue Peter. He's got a very wide spread of knowledge, Mr Knowles.

Mostly rubbish.

There's quite a bit of space in this skip.

Just about enough room for an Irishman.

Usually you don't see the kitchen fitter here on day one of the build

but because of super-quick turnaround,

he has been given a risky task to measure up the glass splashback

before it's even been plastered.

-Morning, Paul.

-Morning.

-He looks a worried man.

-Paul came here yesterday.

-Just a bit stressed.

-He's got a glass back splash to put on this wall.

-Splashback.

-What did I say?

-Back splash. Shall we try that again?

That's when you have a wee, isn't it? You get back splash.

-You put in the...

-Splashback.

-Splashback.

Glass splashback on the wall and you've got to be exact.

Within millimetres.

Normally this would get done once the kitchen has been installed

but with the timescale we have to measure up for the splashback

before the kitchen goes in and before you plaster it.

So wherever these sockets are now, they can't move. That's it.

Whatever I tell you we're putting on the walls,

-it can't be any bigger, any thinner, that's it.

-To the millimetre.

Well, best of luck, Paul. With all the will in the world...

It's not going to work.

Yeah, positivity, Bill!

You know, DIY SOS is all about precision building.

I'd better get cracking then. Get a move on.

And I have every confidence in the man.

Now to get that extra space in the living room,

we have to take the chimney down but that has opened up a can of worms.

-How bad is it?

-That's pretty bad.

That's the neighbour's fireplace coming through there.

The chimney hasn't been lined and there's a gap there.

We haven't seen this before when we've taken a chimney out.

This was the chimney that came into this side.

Unfortunately you might notice the second chimney next to it

which doesn't come into this room at all. It goes into next door.

That's next door's chimney, which is a bit of an issue.

-How bad is that hole?

-That hole is that bad. Four fingers.

I'd better check next door that they haven't got a fire connected in there.

Let's peer through their window and see what's going on next door.

Hello. How are you?

-We've made a weird discovery. Knocked out the chimney next door...

-Right.

-..to find your chimney. We found your chimney flue.

-Yes, it's a metal one.

-No, there's no sleeve in it.

-That's been there years.

-You know what I mean?

-We'll get your fire lined,

so we'll get a proper liner put in for you.

It won't disturb anything in the room.

All it is, inside you get a liner in. It makes yours safe as well.

It means you've got no leaking into next door as well.

It's very good of you. You're taking it very well, given that we've just uncovered it.

We're happy to get it done for John and June. Absolutely.

They're amazing, aren't they? John is just an unstoppable force, isn't he?

He has dedicated his life to her, hasn't he?

He's been really brilliant. A brick, an absolute brick.

A lot of the doctors said, "Oh, no, she'll never be able to do this, never be able to do that."

-He's got her doing it.

-He's got her doing a lot of things

that they just would have given up on. The hospital just gave up on her.

By the time we finish, they'll have more room and freedom to move around.

It does mean we're going to make a lot of noise for the next few days.

-We don't mind.

-Really?

-No.

Lovely people.

-Shame they had to come into contact with the likes of us, isn't it?

-It is true.

All over the site, people are getting up to all kinds of things.

Smashing, digging, plastering and welding.

Welding? What's happening here?

MUSIC: "What A Feeling" by Irene Cara

Who's behind the mask?

It's Oliver! I was hoping for Flashdance.

-All right?

-Why are you welding concrete reinforcement?

-Why?

Because I got this helmet and I thought I really needed to use it in some way

that's going to be useful to the house.

It makes you look like a Power Ranger.

-That's a beautiful thing that you've made there.

-It so is, isn't it?

This is so like you to come in and go,

"Right, this is my opinion of what you've made,

"although it's half finished and we haven't seen the whole lot."

-So you're somewhat dissing it.

-No, we're not dissing it.

No, don't think for a moment that we're dissing it.

-Were taking an interest, Oliver.

-We are. A lot of people wouldn't.

This is a green wall that's going to sit outside June's room.

Imagine in the morning, you wake up and you have lovely plants outside and there's dew on the leaves

and spider webs on things and the sunlight comes through

and bounces off into the window. You can have these magical moments.

From June's room she can lie in bed and see this vision of plants

and dew drops and sunlight sparkling off. I think it will be beautiful.

What's it like inside your head? It must be weird, like a kaleidoscope.

It's lovely. I'd welcome you in but you might mess it up a bit.

What sort of medication do you think he's on?

They don't like to give you an easy time, do they?

It's going to be beautiful though. Trust me. I'm a designer.

We can all live in hope, I suppose.

June's illness has affected the whole family.

Daughter Heather was so worried about her parents

that she moved back home and is now living in her childhood bedroom.

When I had my flat I could do what I wanted.

You know, my social life, my friends around,

just doing what I wanted when I wanted. Just have my own space.

I mean, I'm 28.

Living at home with your parents is a bit naff for a 28-year-old.

A bit sad. But hey-ho. It's what you have to do, isn't it?

We wanted to try to give something back to Heather

for the sacrifice she's made - an adult bedroom she can relax in.

Hopefully this will go some way to making her life more bearable.

You've moved back into the house now and sacrificed part of your life to help out.

Yeah. Well, I came home one day

and I found Dad slumped at the bottom of the stairs sweating.

Mum had fallen. He picked her up himself. He was shattered.

I said, "That's it, I'm coming home. I cannot leave you like this."

Anything could happen. So I gave the flat up.

I had a lovely flat but at the end of the day,

my mum and dad are much more important than that.

You seem very worried about your dad. Why is that?

He seems such a strong character.

Yeah, I mean Dad just does everything. He holds everybody together.

He's had a heart attack previously so I really worry about his health.

I just think if anything happened to Dad, what would happen to me and my mum?

He's gone from being a husband to a carer as well, hasn't he?

-And there isn't anything he doesn't do for her.

-No. It's his wife.

He just does it, no questions asked. Never questioned it.

-Always just got on with it.

-He never falters?

-Never ever.

It's all about Mum. Everything is to make sure my mum's all right.

He's not bothered about himself. He doesn't care.

June's condition is pushing John to his absolute limit

and with his history of heart attacks it's even more crucial we fix this house.

Back on site, the timber frame extension is going up all around us.

It's so fast.

These modern methods of construction are brilliant.

Without them, we'd never be able to complete this build in just nine days.

To give us a fighting chance of completing this build on time,

these kind builders came in a few days earlier to lay the foundations

so we don't waste any time getting the house rebuilt.

You seem very motivated. Times aren't easy and you aren't earning anything.

You could be somewhere else.

The way we look at it is a week and a half of our time is costing us nothing but it's priceless to them,

what they're going to get at the end of it.

Her quality of life, that's what it's all about.

I'd hate it to happen to my mother or anyone in my family.

So we're more than pleased to help.

Have you been surprised by what you've seen today?

The work done today is unbelievable. Everybody's just chipped in.

It's been good.

Yep, it truly is, but it's thanks to all these amazing trades

that we can even attempt something so ambitious.

It's been a very productive day.

There's tonnes of earth taken out, brand-new fencing put in the garden,

a new opening has appeared here because this is part of the extension.

Pan round and look at that. This extension is enormous.

It runs all the way down the side of the building.

In the kitchen we've taken out another big opening

because we need to get in and out of that section

and we've put in electrics and plumbing.

As you move further down the building, upstairs has all been ripped out, too.

Here in what's the living room area, the chimney has gone.

Electrics and plumbing all in here too.

Back outside again and you can meet me in the new front porch.

See the size of it. It's vast. And we've got a roof on.

All we need is decent weather tomorrow.

And we're in luck. The weather is good and spirits are high.

-Morning!

-Morning, Oliver. Morning, Chris. Morning, Jules.

After knocking through into the new extension yesterday,

something needs to keep the house standing so the steels have to go in.

Slide it up. Up and over. All right.

Also the exterior walls need to go up and it's a massive job

so it's a bit of luck that we have ten bricklayers on site today.

Everyone is working hard to break the back of this build.

Well, nearly everyone. Actually, not Billy.

I used to be a stand-in for the Mexicans

when they used to do all the filming round Elstree Studios.

-I used to jump on a horse and that was me.

-Galloping proper flat-out?

-Oh, yeah.

-Really?

-The only reason why I'm not a jockey is just...too built.

You're the right height but the wrong weight.

Yeah, you could put it that way. Yeah.

-Any extra work they needed someone to ride a horse, it was me.

-Really?

You think you know someone, eh?

Billy on a horse? That I have to see. He's full of surprises, that man. None of them good.

Upstairs the plasterers have started work as the whole house needs to be re-plastered.

We never get a lot of chat out of plasterers, do we?

Because they concentrate. They're somewhere else.

I bet you that man is not thinking about what he's doing.

I bet he's thinking about what he's having for his tea tonight,

what he's going to say to the missus when he gets home,

what he's going to say to his mates about being on DIY SOS.

He's not thinking about what he's doing. Very repetitious.

But you're quiet because you're thinking of other things.

-In a way it's a form of meditation and therapy.

-Yes.

-That's why I'm so calm.

-Is that right?

Ha-ha! Let's test the theory.

What are you thinking about while you're plastering?

-Um...

-What were you thinking?

My wife because it's my ten-year anniversary on Friday

and I'm going to be here. That's what I was thinking.

-You're going to be here for the 10th anniversary?

-Absolutely. I'm here on Friday, yes.

-No!

-We can't do that. What's her name?

-Leanne.

-What?

-Leanne.

-Leanne. And how lovely is Leanne?

-Really lovely.

-Is she?

-Yes.

-Still in love and everything?

-Yes.

-Is she the most beautiful, wonderful wife in the world?

-Most definitely.

-I think you got away with it.

-Cheers!

Commitment is of course key for any successful marriage

and John is a testament to that.

I caught up with him at the site of the pit he used to work at for a bit of a chat.

With a man and a woman, there's like a veil that we never step through.

How a woman does her hair, her make-up.

-You've had to go through that to look after June in a way that blokes just don't really do.

-No.

You do things that you would never ever think about doing,

like the toilet, because you've got to do it.

She can't do it herself at the moment. You know June's ambition?

One of her biggest ambitions? It's daft. It's to wipe her own backside.

-You know?

-To be able to use the loo on her own?

-That's basic, isn't it?

But it's not basic if you haven't got it.

It must be very hard for you mentally, John. How do you keep going at it?

If I was to give in, right, June's going to die, isn't she?

That's not the game. I didn't marry June to watch her die.

I married June because she's June.

I saw June when she was young, vibrant, we grew up together.

I've seen her decline down. She couldn't speak, she couldn't do...

People were right once. She couldn't do these things but now I see that she can do them.

So I'm looking for that extra yard, extra two yards, maybe extra mile.

-I think June will get there.

-Will she walk again?

-Yes. I've seen her walk.

-Will she be able to talk again?

-Yep.

I don't think I've ever seen

-a more honest representation of two people being in love.

-Aye.

You know, you're a tough Geordie fellow

but there's no doubt there's an amazing love story going on here.

See, I met June when I was about 35 and we've been a couple ever since

who have had holidays, family. It's been like a team.

I've had 30 years of absolute brilliant marriage.

Four years bad. What's to say I'm not going to get another 20 years good?

OK, three days in and the plasterers are speeding ahead.

In fact, all the trades are.

I always like to muck in where I can

but some people think I should stand back these days and just supervise.

-Two lines, surely?

-There's only one bloke at the end.

-That's not working. There's only one bloke at the end.

-Come on, lads.

-We need to go quicker. Get the man on the camera!

-Hold on.

What are you doing?

THEY JEER!

-He's broke a nail!

-He's snapped the chain.

I'm not going to pretend that didn't hurt. That really hurts.

Oh, come on!

That really hurts.

Actually, my finger was more serious than first thought

and I decided I should go to hospital to check it out.

I thought I would just slip away quietly so as not to affect morale.

THEY HUM A CIRCUS SONG

No worries, then. Yeah.

-You heard about Knowlesy?

-What happened?

-He's took all the enamel off one of his nails.

-Oh, dear.

-He's gone to hospital?

-Well, he's probably gone to a nail bar.

-Of course, he's one of them guitar players.

-Yeah, he is.

And it's a great show because he stands on his little podium

and flicks his nails and stuff.

-On the up side he's not interfering here, is he?

-No.

Good chance to get the job finished then.

See, that's what I love about the boys.

They care so much and they're so supportive.

-I miss him a bit, mind, don't you?

-Who?

-Can't remember.

-Not really.

Charming. Does no-one care? I thought we were all mates.

That's showbiz. Here today, chip wrapping tomorrow.

We're at the halfway stage now, and it's chaos,

but organised chaos,

I think. By the way, my finger is still very hurty.

I'm going to come back and mention it just a little bit later.

Inside, things are coming along nicely.

The brickies are blocking up the chimney,

as we've now repaired next door's, by putting in a new flue.

I'm glad that's all sorted. Very nice people.

Billy and his marvellous team are busy rewiring the whole house

and the first stage of the plumbing is almost done.

Not a drop spilt. Eh?! HE LAUGHS

That's a happy plumber.

Extension walls are nearly finished and, once the roof has been tiled,

we will have a watertight exterior and that can't happen fast enough

as we all know the British weather can turn at any minute.

Look at the vans on the street. We've had a proper turnout today.

All the way up round the corner and in the street running down that way.

Loads of them. We've got 45 on-site.

We nearly had, um, 57 at one point.

But I had to send a load of them away,

cos we couldn't actually get everybody in the house itself.

Any chance of an apology now?

What for?

-What's wrong with it?

-Well, it's broken.

After all of you giving me gyp yesterday, saying,

"Stick a plaster on it,"

-I went to hospital last night.

-No, we meant stick a plaster on it.

-Oh, I see.

-Yeah!

-Stop talking about it?

-Yeah, stop talking about it!

If you think I'll stop talking about it now I know it's broken...

-So it's broken?

-Want to see the X-ray?

There's the end of my squashed bone. Like a cauliflower, innit?

Can you see it?

Look, squashed.

HE YAWNS: I know.

Marvellous, innit?

Inside, the extension is really taking shape and the roof lights

are really letting the light flood into this new space.

Maybe there is something to Oliver's bio-thingy after all.

Well, it's all about connecting people's lives with nature

and, you know, views out onto gardens, that's one of it.

Having little safe spaces to retreat back into, like the shed,

you know, letting light flood into houses.

It's obviously really important. Natural light. Vitamin D!

People have been proven to get better more quickly

-with less medication, so less stress!

-'They've all gone.

-'They've gone, Oliver.'

-Got that?

-'Give it up!'

-Right.

-'There's no-one there.'

-I think they've got that.

'No, there's no-one there, look! There's no-one there!'

It's not due to a lack of interest in his concept,

everyone is just very busy. Well, you know... Ha-ha!

Anyway, the internal walls are going up.

This here is our proper doorframes, which are going in.

These will be plasterboarded off and closed in.

And then, our door'll slide in and out of this,

so, basically, um, June will have proper room in her wheelchair.

It means she can come forward in the wheelchair,

turn sideways and slide the door open.

'Ooh, tea's up!'

If she got to here in the wheelchair, and she was on her own,

and tried to open the door...

'Yeah, all right, Mark, we all know about doors and how they work!

-'Anybody for a cup of tea?'

-..or like that.

Since June's illness, the Finlays rarely get to go out together.

Horses have always been a big part of the family's lives.

And I hear Billy is no stranger to a horse.

You can tell where this is going.

There you go, Billy. That one's about your size.

Hi, June. Take my hat off to a lady.

-Mwah! Hi, John.

-Hiya.

-How you feeling? All right?

I like the cowboy outfit. LAUGHTER

-Well, you go off and get ready.

-Well, this one's 18 hands.

-What do you reckon?

-Look at that!

-He's got lovely brown eyes!

LAUGHTER

-Well, you go and get him ready.

-Right.

-Then we'll see what he can do.

-Brilliant. Come on, then.

-OK.

I've got your gear.

You've got the gear, but I've got no idea.

'Hold on, Billy, you were giving it large recently saying

'that you used to ride horses up at Elstree Studios.'

Very difficult question for a father to answer,

but to summarise Heather up as a daughter, how would you, um...?

Well, she's no bother. She's a nice kid. She helps me out with June.

-Er, I've told her not to go too far, not to spoil her life.

-Yes.

-But, er, if I wanted a hand...

-She's there?

-She's there.

-Yeah.

-And that's the way it's worked.

-Brilliant.

But a lot of people have thought she could possibly do more.

-But what more can she do? She's 28 year old.

-Yeah.

-She's got a life to live.

-Yeah.

Stick with her mum and dad in the house?

-That's no use, is it?

-No.

BILL: We've got a choice of horses?

-Yeah, we've got a few to choose from.

-Lovely.

-I can hear him. Shall we have a look?

-Yeah.

BILL CHATTERS, THEY LAUGH

-Where's he gone?!

-LAUGHTER

You've shrunk! You look little! You look really dinky!

What are you trying to say? I think that looks good. Dapper, darling!

LAUGHTER

Ooh, I'll go out like this tonight, then, won't we? Go out tonight.

Get yourself a monocle, you could go out with Chris Eubanks!

What do I look like, June?

You look awful!

LAUGHTER

One, two, three...

LAUGHTER

I'm there!

You're a natural(!)

Is it all coming back, Bill?

Is that the horse or me? HE SNIFFS

Oh, here, it's me! LAUGHTER

It's you!

He's stirred me!

OK, don't laugh! You'd think we were having fun!

MUSIC: Theme from "Black Beauty"

Look at him go, look.

-Can't see many stunts out there.

-No! He's...

-I thought he was going to do, "Wee-ee!"

-He's looking a bit tense.

LAUGHTER, BILL GROANS

Go on, son!

I've been telling him to stop...

HE GASPS

I've got to take some pictures of that!

LAUGHTER CONTINUES

His... His body's not doing what his legs are!

Oh, dear!

'Oh, you all right there, Billy?

'I don't think you'll be walking right for days!'

LAUGHTER

'And we've got just three days before we hand this house

'back to June and John and things haven't started well.

'And to add insult to injury, Mark has decided to sing about it.'

# We've had a delay and what can I say?

# Oh, la-la-la, la! Let's just pray!

# That the floor dries before tomorrow morning... #

He's not right, is he? It's a delay we could do without,

but there's plenty to be getting on with.

Chris has still to finish plastering the extension.

My boys. Look, they're in, on it!

We have the brand-new kitchen going in today.

That might sound like good news, but with everything still having

to go through the house to get to the garden, it could slow us down.

Coming through, lads.

But luckily, Alan Carr has dropped in to give us a hand.

You can't walk up to someone and call him Alan Carr.

Upstairs, though, things are coming along very nicely

and the decorating is well under way.

What's this called? What colour's this?

-Ice Storm 2.

-Who?!

Looks like battleship grey to me, but that's Oliver for you.

Look, there's properly good stuff in there that could've been used.

-Like what?

-Well, all kinds of stuff.

-I can't actually look.

-Where's that step ladder we made for you?

-That special step ladder?

-Well...

-I think Chris went off to get it or something.

-Here you are, look.

I took the initiative, so you'll never forget it, never lose it,

you've always got yourself a set of steps.

-And they double up, and then...

-Give it a go. So put it down.

All right, you've just taken it off, put it down and then step up.

-That's just brilliant, man!

-Right, you can join in now.

Join in the conversation. Never feel left out again.

I can do those higher jobs. Get the magazines off the shelf.

-Beautiful.

-Lads, thanks.

-Well, that's all his work.

-Thanks, mate.

Here we go, let's sit you up on it. Here we go.

There you go. Off you go. Any time you need a ladder, there you go.

All right. See you later.

Look at that. # Heigh-ho! #

-# Heigh-ho! Heigh-ho... #

-Off to work we go, look.

# ..off to work we go DWARFS WHISTLE

# Heigh-ho! Heigh-ho! Heigh-ho! Heigh-ho! Heigh-ho!

# All seven in a row

# You positively can't go wrong with a heigh, heigh-ho. #

Just two days left and we can see light at the end of that long tunnel

and on the horizon and there's good news about the wet room.

Yeah, we're in today. The floor's gone off.

-And we're having a wet room party today, aren't we?

-Yeah.

So we've just bordered it and now we're going to skim it.

It's going well today.

I don't want anyone to hear, but it's gone quite well.

The scaffolders have arrived and we're going to take scaffolding down

and the carpet fitters are here

and we're going to be putting some carpet down upstairs.

Um...

The decorating's going well.

The kitchen's fitted.

And we'll be putting an oak floor down later on as well.

Looking pretty good.

But I don't want to tell anybody.

I want to keep them all in suspense.

He's a proper nutter, isn't he?

And this is the last bit of plastering.

Then that's it. There is no more. Complete-oh!

Well, I think this room is going to be almost the main room

of the house, isn't it? Cos that's the main thing he was saying,

-that he's struggling with, is the wet room.

-That's right.

I think this room alone is going to make a massive difference.

'Absolutely right, Jules.

'And one couple who knows exactly what a difference it will

'make to June is best friend Kathleen and husband Colin.'

So what do you make of the fact that the house will be changed?

To the extent she'll be able to move around, use all the downstairs,

she'll have a bedroom and bathroom and all kinds of things,

just access to everywhere, the garden and everything.

It will make life easier for John, being her principal carer.

Obviously, it's going to be easier for him, but the main thing is...

..June's going to have some dignity back.

Everyone should be able to use... the bathroom...in privacy.

Everyone should be able to shut the bedroom door

and just have some peace.

She hasn't had that for four years.

-Mm-hm.

-Every personal moment is done in the kitchen.

Everything happens in the kitchen, where she sleeps, she washes,

which is the place where all the cooking's done, the laundry's done,

everything goes on in the kitchen, doesn't it?

Well, tomorrow, June will have access to the whole downstairs

and the garden. We're now on the home straight.

It's amazing how much has been done in just eight days.

In the kitchen, it's the moment of truth for Paul the kitchen fitter,

with his back splash, or splashback, or whatever.

Will it fit?

Er... I'm actually shaking at the moment.

LAUGHTER

It's going to look great, if it comes off, isn't it?

Yeah, it's just the fact that, if it didn't work, what, you know...

-What are we going to do?

-Yeah, that's it.

If it doesn't work, I can't cut new ones

-and bring them back this afternoon.

-There's just no time.

-Um, so...

-Yeah, so it's a one shot.

-DRILLING >

-Well, they have just stuck that panel on.

-Yeah.

-So, I think there's a, you know...

-Thank you.

Ooh, you have actually just got a wet hand!

-No, no, it's fine.

-Is it all right?

-It's good.

Come over here and give this man a hug. It's all right, it's fine.

-See, I told you!

-Aw, gosh! HE LAUGHS

'Oliver's vision is slowly coming together.

'But why isn't he inside helping?'

What are you doing, Oliver?

-Biophilia. You remember? You know what I said?

-Yeah.

-There are three tenets to it, OK?

-No, let's not...

-One of them...

-Not again!

-No, it's all... I've got to be consistent.

-One of them is about materials, texture and pattern.

-Right.

-Yeah?

OK, so you've got a lovely bit of wood

and what you're going to do is burn it to bring out the grain?

-Yes?

-Burn it and wire brush it, so the softwood gets burnt away

and you get left with all the sort of textural grain.

-Brilliant.

-So it's a tactile table, so, at the moment, it's all smooth,

-but we're going to just make it...

-You don't think a hand blowtorch?

Maybe going over the top with a small tactical nuclear weapon?

-# I am the god of hellfire! #

-Just give it a go, shall we?

# And I bring you...

-# Fire! #

-Ooh!

-HE LAUGHS:

-That was bad timing.

-# ..I'll take you to burn! #

I won't do that again in a hurry.

BLOWTORCH HISSES, HE MOUTHS

Hold! Whoa! Whoa!

It's OK.

-Nothing to see here.

-Nothing to see here!

Under no circumstances attempt this at home. We...

Well, we should be using trained professionals, but we've got Oliver

-and we can afford to lose him.

-Hey! I'm a trained fire eater!

-Are you? Open your mouth!

-Tell you what, open your mouth.

-No!

-LAUGHTER

-Breather, then! I'll breathe fire!

-Get on with it.

-Let's see it done!

# Fire!

# Take you to burn!

# Fire! #

-He's gone too far now.

-Oh, now he's gone too far!

-Oh, yeah!

-No, that's... No, that's lovely the way you...

-Yeah, good!

-Hang on, bring him up there.

Look at the lovely way he's brought the grain out in that. Look at that.

-LAUGHTER

-Charcoal! Charcoal effect!

-What have you done to that?

-What's that like?

I said I'll set it on fire and I'm setting it on fire. Now stand back!

It's like a burnt railway sleeper!

-That's what we've got to do to the whole lot!

-Like that?

-Stand back!

'What is it with Oliver and fire? One minute he's welding things,

'the next he's burning tables! Has he got a thing about fire?

'Or is it that he likes wearing masks?

'Mmm!

'Either way, I'm not sure the boys are that impressed.

'Maybe that's because there is still an awful lot to do inside.

'But then, there's an awful lot of people doing it,

'so we should be all right, I think.

'Look at that, the building site's going to be beautiful too.'

Just nine days ago, we arrived at a family home

that was simply no longer fit for purpose.

We found a loving wife and mother who was a prisoner in her own home.

Unable to get upstairs, she was stuck living in their tiny kitchen

on an old hospital bed.

You know, it's really hard.

Cos Mum gets really frustrated.

With no access to any washing facilities,

her husband John even had to take her

to the local swimming baths just to have a shower.

Not only that, but every time June needed to go to the toilet,

it was in the middle of the living room.

Not nice.

Dignity wise, for June, is out of the window.

It was a house they felt trapped in.

-See, June's a lady, she's a proper lady.

-Yeah.

And it's not right.

Little did they realise,

an army of local trades were ready to help,

and amazingly, in just over one week,

we have completely transformed this house...

..into a home that John and June can once again enjoy.

The kitchen no longer doubles as June's bedroom

and is now a bright and airy space

with Oliver's biophilia theme running throughout.

It's twice the size and comes complete with a dining table

that the whole family can sit around.

This table was scorched to within an inch of its life,

but I take my hat off to Oliver, it kind of works.

The kitchen will now be the heart of family life,

for them all to enjoy.

For four years, John and June struggled with no washing

or toilet facilities downstairs.

Now, they have a beautiful and practical wet room

where June can finally shower in her own home,

go to the toilet in private and regain her dignity.

June has finally got her own bedroom downstairs at the back of the house.

It is a stunning area that reflects her love of plants

and has masses of natural light flooding in from all angles.

The garden has been transformed into a beautifully decked area

that is low-maintenance and will allow June to get back outside.

Oliver's green wall will be just the right thing

to help June to rediscover her love of gardening.

The living room has been completely redesigned -

we've taking out the old fireplace and reconfigured the space.

With a sofa tucked into the corner,

it makes the whole room more inviting and spacious.

It's a place where they can comfortably sit together

as a family.

Leading off the living room, we've created a wonderful study area.

See how the nature theme continues throughout?

Now, if that doesn't bring the outside in, I don't know what does.

We've widened all the doorways

to make the whole of the downstairs wheelchair-friendly,

so June can become more independent

and no longer will be stuck in one room.

Heather's room hadn't changed since she was a teenager

and no longer works for a 28-year-old woman.

Now, well, it's a room that any grown-up would love.

It has a contemporary, comfortable feel

and, of course, we couldn't forget her love of horses.

John's bedroom was unloved and cluttered.

We've transformed it into a simple and unfussy room.

Somewhere he can retire to for some well-deserved rest

after a long day caring for the woman he loves.

This house is now a beautiful and functional home,

which will help John and June face the challenges ahead

on the long road to recovery.

-Welcome to your new home.

-Yeah.

-Wow.

-Oh, hey, June!

-Yeah!

This is like...

It's lovely.

-Beautiful living room area.

-Oh, this is absolutely unbelievable.

-Unbelievable.

-Yeah.

So, plenty of room for the family all to be together round here.

-That's good.

-Yes, brilliant.

-Isn't it?

The next bit, I think is really important,

because the next bit is the room that you've always kind of come

-to hate, really, because you've been sort of locked in the kitchen.

-Yeah.

And we wanted to make it bright and new,

so that you can forget all that's happened in there in the past

and start again in a real, family space, yes?

-OK, so have a wander through.

-Yeah.

-Wow, your bed's gone, June.

-Yeah.

-This is absolutely superb.

-Isn't it? It's lovely.

There's a new kitchen for you, so you can start cooking and give me a rest.

-Look at that. Absolutely superb.

-Isn't it?

-This is...

Nah.

Absolutely...

-I mean, it's pretty.

-Aye.

-It's pretty, but the more important...

-It's functional.

It's functional. It'll do everything you need it to do.

This is... This is the first time we've had a table for four years.

Come and have a look, because what we did was we took an old table

and we cut the underside away,

-so that you'll find that you can get your legs under here.

-Yeah.

Come round, let me just make sure that's all going to work.

-Yeah.

-Do you like it?

-Yes, I do.

-It's a lovely texture, isn't it?

-Isn't it?

This is called biophilia,

-and Oliver's gone on about it all week.

-Lovely.

You bring the outside in, you create comfortable spaces to be in,

and then you have texture.

So I'm really pleased that when you came in, you started feeling,

-cos it feels different, this table, doesn't it?

-Mm-hm.

It's to make you feel more in touch with nature,

and it's supposed to be relaxing and calming,

and, at the same time, you know, inspiring.

-This is unbelievable, June, eh?

-Isn't it?

-You like it?

-Yeah.

-Good.

-Well, let's see how we've done on the wet room, shall we?

-Yeah.

-Ready?

-Hey, June!

-Hey!

This is...

It's what?

-Gorgeous.

-Isn't it? Absolutely un...

You know, I just can't...

Seeing this, I just can't believe what you've done.

So, look, a couple of things.

There is a chair here that you can actually use for the shower.

But it also fits over the toilet,

but the toilet is an automatic system you can use yourself.

So, once you've been through a bit of training,

there's a little hand thing on the top there -

the weight activates it,

you can press different buttons and make things happen.

Basically, you get to go to the toilet on your own and...

Proper toilet for the first time in four years.

-Yeah.

-So, did we do all right in the bathroom?

-Absolutely brilliant.

-Happy with it, June?

-Mm.

Absolutely brilliant.

Let's bring you out here and we'll show you part two.

-On you go. In you go.

-Oh!

-Wow!

-Into...

-..your bedroom.

-And what's that, June?

-What?

That's your bed.

It is the most beautiful bed

and, more importantly, not only is it a beautiful bed, June,

but it's also one of those beds that moves in all directions.

-Thank you.

-Cos I know that if you're lying in the same position

it can get very uncomfortable and you can get sore and things.

This is going to make sure that doesn't happen.

Keep you moving around.

-And you're not stuck in the kitchen, June.

-No.

-And this is...

Look how beautiful it is with the sun coming in here.

What a beautiful place to lie in bed and pull the curtains back and...

I can sit out there on a nice, summer night, June,

-with a few bottles of Brown Ale...

-Yeah.

..and you can be sitting there watching us drink.

-It's going to be so...

-Throwing things at him!

Would you like to pop out into your new garden?

There you are, June, there's your new garden.

Mm-hm. Oh, it's lovely.

Once you've had a few Brown Ales,

don't forget there's a water feature in the middle.

-Yeah, I'll probably be...

-That's why we put some plants around it.

-Don't want you going straight over that.

-This is...

Beautiful area that you can actually have people come out here.

This wall over here,

this is your area to work on plants and flowers and so on and so forth.

-Absolutely...

-It's lovely!

-Absolutely brilliant, isn't it?

I couldn't have built this for you, June, I couldn't, honest.

I'd have tried, but I couldn't build it.

Yeah, but what you're doing is more important, isn't it?

I understand that the house is important

and it makes a big difference, but all we're really doing

is just giving you the tools to carry on doing the great work

that you're doing and for you to battle your way back.

And I know it's been massively frustrating,

massively frustrating over the last four years at times,

where you've got really frustrated with it.

If I can come outside with June, she's not left in the house,

I can potter in the garden and get my fresh air.

-And she can come out with us.

-Yeah.

These last couple of years, she's been left in the house

and got as far as the patio door to look out and...

-Absolutely beautiful.

-Yeah.

-I can lie there, sunbathing.

-I just can't believe it, June, can you?

-No.

-What we left and what we got, unbelievable.

-Yeah.

All this wouldn't have happened

if it wasn't for daughter Heather who wrote in asking for help.

It's lovely.

Isn't it?

-You've done well.

-Yeah.

It's perfect, isn't it? You've done well, kid.

It's beautiful. The garden.

-It's absolutely brilliant, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Absolutely brilliant.

-Oh, it's beautiful out there.

-Your new bedroom.

-Wow.

-I absolutely love the colours.

-Do you?

-I love pinks and purples.

We were determined to give you something nice, because, you know,

-you gave up your flat to come home and help out with the family.

-Yeah.

It's a big deal.

So, they've gone with a whole sort of boutiquey hotel feel,

-so it feels like you're away in a posh hotel room.

-It's really nice.

-It's gorgeous.

-Of course, we couldn't do it

-without a horse motif.

-Well, that's it.

-All the way round the top.

-Perfect. Just what I wanted. It's great.

The chair here and the chair downstairs are both made

by a local craftsman chair maker who knocked them up in about five days

and bunged them in here for us for free.

Some lovely people. You'll get to meet some of these people.

-Yeah, can't wait.

-All these people I've never met before,

and probably not meet again, to do all this for us. For what? For nowt.

Because they knew it wasn't right.

Cos they knew it wasn't right the way that things had gone for you

and for June and wanted to make a difference.

This is what she needs, she needs somebody...

to take care of her.

You said you were worried before we came that

-if anything happened to you...

-I'm not worried now. No.

A brand-new start now.

This is a brand-new start, and I cannot really guarantee,

but we'll have a little wager.

Come back in a year's time...

she'll be... She'll be walking.

Do you know what? If you say so.

I believe you.

I had a bet on with the cameraman that I wouldn't cry.

-You've lost that.

-He's just won.

He's just won.

Here we go.

APPLAUSE

I'm looking round and I can't recognise anybody that I know.

You're like complete strangers, but you've done this for us.

You know, it's...

It's amazing.

Heather, you wrote to us because you were worried

-not only about your mum, but about your dad, too.

-Yeah.

What do you make of what all these people have done?

I just want to thank every single one of you.

It's unbelievable that all of these people come together to help us.

It's going to make a huge, huge difference to my mum and dad's life.

It's going to give them their lives back.

And make it home again, instead of a prison. It's just amazing.

Thank you.

APPLAUSE

When you think about it, this is actually a love story.

Not a fairy tale love story or a Hollywood love story,

this is a down-in-the-trenches love story.

John just simply would not give up on June.

When the doctor said that she wouldn't be able to speak

or move her hands, he just wasn't going to have that.

And he fought for her, even when he had to clean her

and help her use the toilet in the kitchen.

That's just not right and these people thought that just isn't right

and came to do something about it.

Now this love story has a happy ending.

Only you know somebody you can help out.

Cheers. Thanks.

You don't know what you've done, really, it's absolutely brilliant.

My personal plumber?

How you doing?

-Thank you so much.

-You're welcome.

-It's just a dream, isn't it? Isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Just a dream, isn't it?