Mel Giedroyc hosts this brand-new show, as nine of the country’s most talented craftspeople compete to be crowned Britain’s best woodworker. Wood isn’t just good – it’s magnificent, and in skilful hands it can be transformed into the most spectacular of objects. This series celebrates the beauty of the raw material and the skills of those who are good at working with it. Each week, the woodworkers compete against each other in the noisiest and most ambitious of workshops, nestled in the ancient woodland of Wales’ Glanusk Estate, where they face a big build that supersizes the skills they’ve honed at home and a surprise challenge that tests their core skills.
The woodworkers fight hammer and nail, building wonderful works of wood in just two days that combine epic scale with fine craft work and cutting-edge design. They must joint and saw their way through to create awe-inspiring works of wood to impress the judges – award-winning architect Alex de Rijke and queen of furniture making Helen Welch – to remain in the competition. In this episode, the eight remaining woodwork enthusiasts face a very small and intricate big build challenge, as they wrestle with woodworking on a miniature and precise scale to make dolls’ houses. But these dolls’ houses are not child’s play, as the woodworkers must design and build houses that could become collectors’ pieces – the devil’s in the detail.
With just two days to build what would normally take weeks, the pressure is on. The woodworkers then face a seemingly impossible skills challenge, that pushes their joinery skills to the limit. Who will judges Alex and Helen pick to remain in the competition, and who will lay their chisel down in the workshop for the final time?
Handmade Britain’s Best Woodworker – Thursday 8pm on Channel 4
Handmade: Britain’s Best Woodworker
