Escape to the Country is a British daytime television property-buying/real estate programme that has been on the air since October 14, 2002. The show was originally produced by Talkback Thames and first aired on BBC One, with repeats on BBC Two. It has gained international syndication. Production later moved to Naked West, a division of Fremantle Media. The programme is commonly referred to as "Escape" among viewers.

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Quick Facts Escape to the Country, Genre ...

Escape to the Country
Genre	Reality
Created by	Jason Wilton
Presented by	See below
Music by	John Wygens
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	24
No. of episodes	1200
Production
Executive producers	John Comerford, Emma Smith (Series Editor)
Producers	Titus Ogilvy (Series producer)
Running time	45–60 minutes
Production companies	Thames (2002–06) Talkback Thames (2006–12) Boundless Productions[1] Naked West (since 2021)[2]
Original release
Network	BBC One BBC Two
Release	14 October 2002 (2002-10-14) – present
Related
I Escaped to the Country Escape to the Continent Escape to the Perfect Town Escape from the City (Australia) Greatest Escapes to the Country

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The show consistently ranks as the top-rated program in its daytime time slot on BBC One and has a significant global social media presence.^{[citation needed]}

The format of the show revolves around potential home buyers searching for their dream homes in rural UK areas. The buyers view three or four properties for sale, including a "mystery house," in their chosen county or region. The houses they visit can include rentals, new-builds, kit-homes, market town addresses, renovation projects, or even plots of land with potential for building.

After inspecting each house, the presenter asks the buyers to guess the asking price before revealing it. Episodes also feature countryside imagery, information about the counties, towns, and villages, and interviews with local residents of various ages and backgrounds to gather their opinions about the area. At the end of each episode, the buyers are asked to choose their favourite property and discuss their plans for potentially purchasing it. Updates on their progress may be provided in subsequent episodes.

In 2021, the show underwent significant changes to reflect modern-day countryside living and address contemporary rural issues. Series Editor Emma Smith and Series Producer Titus Ogilvy spearheaded these changes, which included interstitial segments highlighting rural culture, the environment, sustainability, and the impact of climate change on the countryside. Many episodes now feature "mini escapes," where viewers submit self-filmed footage telling the story of their own escape to the country.

There are two versions of each episode produced - a shorter 45-minute version with only 3 houses shown and a longer 60-minute version. The short version usually airs on BBC One weekday afternoons (usually in the 15:00 slot) and the longer on BBC One weekdays at 10:00 or BBC Two evenings at 19:00. Repeat episodes are shown on HGTV.

Over the years, presenters have included:^[12]

A subsequent programme, I Escaped to the Country, revisits potential buyers who had appeared on the primary series. By 2024, eight series of this programme had been shown.^[15]

A related series featuring the same concept and some of the same presenters, but filmed in other countries, Escape to the Continent was made for the BBC by Boundless Productions.^[16][17] Two series were filmed and shown in 2016/17.^[18]

From 2019 the BBC showed two series of a spinoff Escape To the Perfect Town, about towns and cities instead of rural villages.^[19]

A further related series, Greatest Escapes to the Country, looking back at homes featured in the primary series was broadcast on BBC Two in 2020.^[20]

In Australia, Escape to the Country airs on Seven Network's free-to-air digital channel 7TWO, and the Lifestyle Channel on Foxtel Subscription TV.

In Canada, it is seen on CTV Life Channel as well as CBC.^[22][23] In Sweden, it airs on TV8.

In the Netherlands, Escape to the Country has been broadcast since April 2011 on SBS 6, and is available on BBC channels distributed by cable operators. It is mentioned in the novel The Detour by Dutch author Gerbrand Bakker.^[24]

In the United States, it was available on the Netflix online streaming service in 2017, but was since discontinued. As of March 2020 a limited number of episodes were available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video, in conjunction with IMDbTV. On Dabl, two episodes are broadcast weekday afternoons and rerun the same evening. (As of 29 December 2023, Dabl has changed its format and no longer broadcasts Escape to the Country.)

On 5 March 2014, two DVDs were released in Australia by Shock Entertainment. Titled Series 20 Parts 1 & 2, the two DVDs box sets had a total of 19 discs.^[25][26]