Building egos as well as homes

I have a recurring dream in which the television program Grand Designs becomes mixed up with Midsomer Murders. A serial killer is taking out all those irritating couples in their North Face leisure wear, splattering viscera over the bare white interiors of their concrete brag boxes in the English countryside.

This uncharitable vision stems from my love-hate relationship with Grand Designs, which cleverly applies the hero's journey to home building. In a typical program Kevin McCloud, a natural television presenter, takes us through the journey of a wealthy couple who overcome adversity to complete their building. He manages to express telegenic surprise when deadlines are missed and budgets exceeded - as though this were completely unexpected - and, at the end, blesses the enterprise with an emotional, if somewhat vague, homily, such as: ''Although it is a very assertive building, it's also very subtle and sensitive'' and "this brilliant, if unfinished, building was snatched from the jaws of doom … buildings like this need heroes and heroines." The show is watched by a million Australians and its success tells us a lot about the way we live now.      Read Here