The Neighbourhood sounds like the title from another mad-cap Channel 5 four-part drama, but in this case, it’s another ITV gameshow.
Once again, they wheel out Graham Norton – late of this parish in the Wheel Of Fortune revival, who still proves that having such a beard makes you look 100 years old.
It’s a street-sized popularity contest for six households, where the winning family will take home £250K. The aim is to keep the other familes on-side, otherwise you’ll end up evicted like Big Brother, although there is the chance to win an “immunity challenge”.
As expected, there’s plenty of diversity on show, but unexpected, too many of these families have children who should’ve long moved out of the family home by now. You’re in your 20s. Get a bloody flat! After all, the Bradons’ daughter, Alicia, has money to spend on unwise botox, which could’ve gone on a deposit.
There’s black, white, gay, lesbian, fat, thin, double-barrelled names, and even the lesser-spotted goatee.
One immunity challenge is about ‘airing dirty laundry’, where you have to get some high-up laundry – risking electric shocks(!), the first to do so has to answer a question relating to a fact/confession about another household, and working out who it is. Yes, this is prime-time TV in 2026.
You wouldn’t get me up there, anyway, because I have vertigo in cases where it doesn’t look safe.
With lots of fake bonhomie, tons of padding, no spoilers to how things go, obviously, but most of the time, as they get to know each other, it’s just idiots sitting about and talking. Speaking of which, no doubt it’ll end up on the staged toss that is Gogglebox.
Thanks to our friends at ITV for the screener prior to release.
The Neighbourhood begins tonight on ITV at 9pm, then continues tomorrow and Sunday at the same time, expect that to be the situation to come for a few weeks. Once aired, each episode will be on ITVX.
It’s not yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but when it is, it will be listed on the New DVD, Blu-ray, 3D and 4K releases UK page.
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.