A CBBC crew led by designers Tony Broomhead, Satwinder Samra and Anthony Devine turns bedrooms, garages and gardens into bespoke play spaces: a 1960s American diner, an Australian outback shack, a working railway station complete with departures board. Each 28-minute episode starts with a child’s brief, ends with a reveal that leaves them speechless and the crew dusted in sawdust. The show cycled through presenters: Lauren Layfield and Mark Wright fronted the first two runs, Joe Tracini joined Layfield for series three and four, Meryl Fernandes replaced her from series five, and Joe Swash stepped in for the seventh and most recent run that ended in January 2023.
The format is DIY SOS with glitter paint. Builders knock through walls in three days while the child helps in the workshop, painting or hammering before being banished for the final 24-hour sprint. A 2017 Children in Need special squeezed Naomi Wilkinson, Hacker T. Dog and half the CBBC roster into one chaotic build. The series won the 2019 British Academy Children’s Award for Factual Entertainment, beating Blue Peter and Saturday Mash-Up. American viewers caught a truncated run on Discovery Family in 2017; Czech Television now airs the first two seasons. After 94 episodes the team still fields requests for Hogwarts common rooms and under-floor trampolines, proof that every child wants a door they can slam that isn’t in their parents’ house.
Production Details
CBBC / 7 Seasons / 94 Episodes / 2015 - Present
Main Cast
Joe Tracini as Presenter
Lauren Layfield as Co-presenter
Meryl Fernandes as Co-presenter
Mark Wright as Presenter
Joe Swash as Presenter
