The great ESCAPE!

SARAH BEENY on helping people who have left the city to make a new start in the countryside

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SARAH BEENY'S
NEW COUNTRY LIVES NEW HOL MON-FRIDAY, 5PM, C4 FACTUAL

Although many city dwellers dream of moving to the country to breathe clean air and enjoy the wide open spaces, taking the plunge can be a big step- and a scary one.

One person who knows what that's like is TV presenter and property developer Sarah Beeny. In 2019, she and her family swapped their London home for a 220-acre, semiderelict former dairy farm in Somerset.

Now Sarah's helping others adjust to rural life in C4's new daytime series Sarah Beeny's New Country Lives.

It follows former urbanites as they make a fresh start in the countryside, and whether that involves planning an ambitious renovation or setting up a business, Sarah is on hand to offer some invaluable advice.

TV Times caught up with Sarah, 51, for an exclusive interview to find out more...

What can we expect from New Country Lives?

It’s a lovely series about people who are brave enough to take a big leap, and I’m really proud of it. I think there’s a slight feeling that you move to the country when you’re about 60, and you’ve retired, then you just potter around a village, but we wanted to represent lots of options that you could try if you wanted. You could just enjoy this series as escapism because all of our contributors are lovely - or you could watch it and maybe be get inspired!

In the first episode, you meet James, who’s bought a Grade II-listed townhouse in