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Nigel's new scheme!


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Did you see him last night? So his new scheme is to rent a property, then run it as a B & B? Am I missing something here? How can he possibly hope to cover the rental he will be paying by sub-letting out rooms as a B & B, let alone make a profit?! Surley the property owner could do that for themselves - what does Nigel add to the deal?! The man is either an idiot, or a clever TV producer! And Channel 4 must have a lot of spare cash.

Malcolm

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[quote]Did you see him last night? So his new scheme is to rent a property, then run it as a B & B? Am I missing something here? How can he possibly hope to cover the rental he will be paying by sub-lett...[/quote]

  I'm confused. Did he not claim to be renting the place for 250€ a week( or was that pounds?) then stated that if he let out 3 rooms a week at £75 he would have enough money to cover all his living costs??Have I missed something here?

 

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Yes we noted that monetary anomaly too!  In addition, he will require a bedroom for himself,unless he is going to continue sleeping in his tent.   How can he possibly survive on letting two bedrooms?  The obvious answer is from this film production!  It is a cheap way to make tv entertainment.  Isn't it also very curious how the camera just happens to be in the vicinity when there is any conflict, whether it is London or France?  All very contrived, just as previously!
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The wonderful thing about Nigel is that he, like Pooter in Diary of a Nobody, seems* unaware that the joke is usually on him.

The 'romance' in the first and second series being a case in point. To every viewer it was clear that the foxy love interest liked being on camera but was not receptive to Nigel's fantasy romance - whereas the girl who came out to help him set up the restaurant. was there for him, Nigel being oblivious to this.

But hey, it is good television seeing an amiable twit trying to live the Peter Mayle dream. As with watching 'Millionaire' we viewers can shout the answers at the screen.

However the sound morals drawn from the shows

- make the effort, try to speak the language,

- renovations costs far more than you would think,

- the locals might seem stand-offish at first but if you show goodwill can become good friends and

- running a business in France for a newly arrived Brit is near impossible are useful.

Gus

*I say 'seems unaware' but being a TV producer he must have a pretty good idea of what the director is up to.
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Nigel doesn't have a New Scheme.

He has only ever had one scheme IE making amiable TV & Radio Programmes  which attract large audiences.

He could pay people to stay in his B&B and still make money, as long as they turned out to be real "characters".

His background is in local newspapers and TV, and isn't that very much the style of his programmes? All we need are are a cake baking competition and some funny shaped vegetables and he will be element.

The secret of his success  is that the people involved are always amusing and engaging, and not irritating like some others in the Living the Dream TV machine.

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That is the one thing (sorry one of a hundred things !) that made us laugh.

£25,000 was the quote, well that is about as impossible to believe as it comes unless..........the tax office are wanting to impose tax him on all his global affairs as of course he would have been seen to have been resident here due to him having a resto etc but that wouldn't half be on some extremely high earnings !!

Wonder if we will ever see how that amount breaks down ?

B&B just for Brits..dead in the water and in the Ardeche, get outa here Nigel.

Poor old Nippy seems to be being led by the nose, if the first house genuinely was a joint venture, then there is no way it can be sold surely, unless Nippy agrees.

What about the moped lad, he is now a consultant on B&B's in the Ardeche and the girl friend wanted dosh off him for Nigels intentional c o c k up....and, and, and ..... 

Whoa steady Miki, like Eastenders it is scripted and made up and unreal so why do we shout at the screen but then again, isn't that what one does at pantomimes

 

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According to the person from the tourist office he went to, she thought a B&B was needed in that area and was a good idea!  BUT would anyone want to pay about £75 a night to stay in a room on a farm?  I would want something extra, extra special for that price - like ALL of it.

He will also have quite alot of work to do on the rooms to get them up to scratch from what I could see.

It will be interesting to watch how he'll do it!

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As others have said, I am sure this whole series has been dreamed up as a way of providing cheap TV programmes showing the fench countryside.

All the characters are larger than life and picked for their TV presence, to get us all watching. Its good fun, its a laugh and not something to take seriously.

Would it make good watching to show a mundane couple living in happy retirement in France.

Enjoy it for what it is or turn it off.

Bob

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Frankly. my dear, I couldn't give a damn!!

I think the last series with the Indian restaurant was pushing it.  It's quite obvious he just wants to make money out of the programmes.  What will the next few series be about, I wonder... Nigel trying to run a goat farm? Nigel becomming a mobile hairdresser? Nigel opening a chocolate shop ....Yawn!!

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This programme is clearly contrived. It's called a docu-soap!

However, the staging of this new series has become a bit too obvious.

Consider the following:

Nigel is an actor and TV producer

Nigel's new girlfriend is an actress

Nigel's new Indian friend ,Rezo,is a minor celebrity chef. (He has a featured recipe in the Radio Times this week and has published a cook book.)

If you look at the scenery when they were scouting for a B&B it is clearly late Spring or early summer.(Much better for filming) A bit late though to be setting up a B&B for that season, when most peoples summer holiday plans are already made.

Financial commitments are kept to a minimum by very short term joint ventures with local French residents.

Isn't it funny that whenever there is a contentious mobile phone call to be taken, they are being filmed.

Sorry to spoil the illusion!

But it is just a bit of fun and that is what entertainment is all about.

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I hope for Nigel's sake he reads this forum - he's just got the ideas for three more six-week series .

In all seriousness, he's really a very clever guy. He has done 'A country Parish' and 'The Village' series for English TV at very low cost to him and evidently made good money - a former colleague of mine lived in Bentley, Hants (the village) and turned down the opportunity to be in the series, a big mistake in my view because he was just the sort of character who would have shown up well and it would have raised his professional profile.

I first came across Nigel when he was being savaged by a pig for BBC South - a scene that often turns up on the out-takes programmes because it was the only time Nigel was genuinely outshone by another performer on TV

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Just one further point these programmes are made to make money for the producers.

Most TV programmes on commercial channels nowadays are made by independent production companies.

What happens is that the production company will come up with a programme concept and pitch the idea to a TV company such as Channel 4.

If Channel 4 like the concept the independent production company are commissioned for a fee to make the programme/series.

Any of you could do the same! Come up with an idea, sell it to a production company, who if they like it will pitch it to a TV company. If succesful you will end up as joint producer!  

An example would be Celador who came up with 'Who wants to be a millionaire' . Behind Celador are just a few clever individuals, who had a great idea.  

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You have prob given out the last episode of Nigels plan here Iceni.

I actually think Stargate is far more realistic

he gets a visit from the race , so thats were they are all going !! know what happens now the worm hole they have sent their  messages down links to the star gate the race then piggy back onto this and appear in the south of france . they all stay at nigels b&b and every one lives happy ever after, so simple ta

                     Dave

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[quote]Just one further point these programmes are made to make money for the producers. Most TV programmes on commercial channels nowadays are made by independent production companies. What happens is tha...[/quote]

Another possible outcome - that happened to me - is that the production company takes your idea and sells it to a broadcaster without involving you further or even telling you.

It stung a bit at the time but I was too busy with my own business, by the time I found out, to do anything about it. The programme made it big and has been reproduced in many other countries.

Best make sure you have some sort of preliminary agreement in writing before you reveal your original idea to these pirates.

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I assume that the £25000 tax bill would be the Social Charges, and Tax on Nigel's UK Income.

Must be an interesting Capital gains Tax calculation for the sale of the house. Nigel's half would be exempt as a main residence, but Nippi's 50% charged at 16%?? Perhaps that why he doesn't want to sell?

 

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Teamedup,

 

A very good point!  Plus there’s also the book, with pictures of the house.

 

Manu’s missing a few marketing opportunities here – the descriptif doesn’t say very much, how about adding “As seen on TV” or “Free complete renovation project video”.   The buyer could even become a docusoap star in the next series ... ...

 

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