ITV seeks British expats for a TV programme

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COPY:

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am contacting you from ITV in London. We are currently in pre-production on a documentary series called ‘No Place Like Home’ which is about British expats living abroad.

The idea of the series is centered around the statistic that one in three people who leave the UK return after failing to settle on foreign soil. Often this has nothing to do with the country that have moved to but more to do with personnel circumstances. Upon making the decision to return some find they fall back in love with the country and decide to stay for good but others are surprised about how much has changed since they left and end up ruing their decision to return. The purpose of this programme is to offer people the chance to make an informed decision by flying them back to the UK to test drive its pros and cons.

Whilst on the programme people will spend a week back home as we show them some of the things they have missed about Britain whilst also highlighting the reasons why they moved in the first place. The issues we tackle once we get home are completely predicated upon what the contributors need from their week back but these often include finding properties that fit their budget, analyzing schooling options for their kids, re-uniting them with family and considering work opportunities. We hope by the end of the programme our contributors will have either developed a new appreciation for what their adopted country offers them, or been inspired to return home.

With this in mind I was wondering if you would be kind enough to forward this message to your members. With any luck some might know some British expats and will be able to forward this email onto them. Similarly if you know of any places I can contact which has a large demographic of English people I would appreciate any guidance.

Best Wishes

Lucy Mountford
Fever Media

Contact: fevertemp.three AT fevermedia.co.uk (written in SPAM safe format)

Did anyone else laugh out loud when they read that sentence?

That one made me laugh. An expat who has no capital from previous house ownership is unable to afford anything....

making really cheap and lazy television programmes, because we have absolutely no imagination and neither do our viewers.

the stabbings, the chavs, the shite beer,

I though this post would be about something completely different

What? They lose their jobs or have a row with the boss or what?

Tell them that you are a psychotic psychopath and this is what you miss most (see link below) about Britain.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/224...oss-murder.html

They were stabbed two hundred times - maybe that will get them in the UK edition of the Guiness book of records.

jesus christ BB that is frigin sick wtf is this world coming to

I'm guessing by personal circumstances they mean breaking up with the partner etc and not feeling able to stay here.

However, just as the_cat, I am laughing at the 'what they miss bit'.

Everything I miss about the UK could move here if they so wished. My family, friends etc, I do not miss anything else about the UK. When I am visiting there are some things that make me think 'better here than where I live' but nothing to make me want to move back to the UK.

@timezoner - yep, sick. One reason why some people form the UK move abroad and around 33% (according to the article) stay.

However I get the feeling that the program is aimed at people that left the UK quite a while ago, do not visit often or take an interest in the place.

Most people on this forum, regardless of how long ago they left the UK still take an interest in the place and do not need to take part in a TV program to find out that they may not like it there.

Its like going to the dentist and saying 'no injection please' just to see if it hurts when the dentist drills down to the root.

I realise that they mean personal circumstances like those but I was getting at the misspelling.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am contacting you from TT in Munich. We are currently in pre-production on a thread called ‘No country as shite as the UK’ which is about a British TV firm that has run their budgets dry.

The idea of the thread is centred around the statistic that three in three people who leave the UK realise it was a fucking great idea, and never return. Often this has nothing to do with the country that they have moved to, but more to do with escaping the UK before it goes completely down the plughole. Upon making the decision never to return some find they never bother to even visit the UK, and decide to stay for good but others are surprised about how much has changed since they left and end up celebrating their decision never to return. The purpose of this thread is to offer people the chance to make an informed decision by flying them back to the UK via Ryanair or Easyjet to Stansted to highlight just what a shower of shit it really is back home.

With this in mind I was wondering if you would be kind enough to forward this message to the 60 million muppets still left behind. With any luck some might know some British expats abroad and will consider getting a life.

Best Wishes,

Johnny not-so-English-anymore

LOL!

Only dont forward it to the 60 million muppets still left behind. Dont want them all coming over en masse and spoiling it for us.

These Expat emigrate / jetzt wandere ich aus type programmes are just cheap fodder for commercial tv companies. You have the actors, the plot, all they need to do is film. Reality tv once again.

JE
nothing about shops in your letter ??? feeling ok ??

So a quick trip around a supermarket should cover it then.

Well obviously, if they took me back, and left me for a week alone in the M&S Foodhalls I would be pretty damn delighted with the UK. I think the problems would start to crop up once I had to converse with a local, or step outside the safety of the sushi fridge.

quite frankly, even if the supermarkets there were plated with gold I wouldn't consider going back to that place. If I ever decided to emmigrate again, it certainly would not be on my list!

Fucking hell, as rick says..

DO NOT TELL THOSE LEFT BEHIND HOW MUCH OF A BETTER LIFE WE HAVE HERE.

Its bad enough when the twats come over dut´ring the holiday season - we do not want them living here full time!

Dear ITV..

Please do not listen to our friend Jonny, he does not realise how bad it is over here. Do not forward anything to the 60 million lucky ones left in the UK.

1). We have a health system that is struggling due to lack of funding.
2). Our politicians are only bothered about short term vote winning sound bites and rarely deliver on their promises.
3). The government create an environment or fear all the time
4). We have an under class of knife wielding youth and drop outs that our politicians do nothing about (see 3).
5). In some areas there are very few native English speakers.
6). We have a bad public transport service.
7). It takes ages to get a doctors appointment and you can never find a dentist.
8). There is a high crime rate.

So please, advise everyone to stay where they are.

Because of you don't, all the shit in my list will come over here and fuck it up for the rest of us

Sent em an e mail yesterday out of curiosity.Got an e mail back saying they wanted my tel.nr. they will be in touch with me. ?????

Good oh .

If you go to the BBC website nowadays, it's full of fishing expeditions that start along the lines of:

"Are you hopelessly in debt / vastly overweight / addicted to painkillers / just vastly miserable. If so, we want to hear from you about just how awful and distastrous your life is, so we can have a nice long gloat about it and make ourselves feel a lot better..."

Seems like a lot of the TT posters to me - seems that they have found their target audience.

Go go JE! A great post.

I realise that I am somewhat of a newbie, but after one year here in Germany I still struggle to find anything I miss from the UK (excluding family etc.) other than the wider assortment of crisps and savoury snacks.

ITV SERIES – NO PLACE LIKE HOME?

ARE YOU A BRIT LIVING ABROAD?

ARE YOU MISSING THE UK?

IN A DILEMMA ABOUT WHETHER TO COME HOME TO THE UK?

If the answer is YES to any of these questions then we want you!

We are making a documentary series about expats called ‘No Place Like Home?’ We are keen to hear from British families who are living abroad, but are now thinking about returning permanently to Britain.

Perhaps you miss your family and friends, or the language is a problem, or simply you yearn for a bit of British culture.

BUT...You're also concerned that you might regret leaving all the good things about living abroad if you do go back to the UK.
We are offering you the opportunity to explore the reality of coming home by flying you back to the UK to ‘test-drive’ life in Britain.
This fact-finding visit will give you the opportunity to see loved ones but also equip you with the knowledge to make an informed decision about whether to remain an expat or return to the UK for good.
If this sounds like you or someone you know, we’d love to hear from you as soon as possible.

Please contact Sarah at:

Sarah.robertson@fevermedia.co.uk

00 44 (0) 20 7428 5760

Many thanks.

Topics merged by admin

Looks like TT is already on top of it: ITV seeks British expats for a TV programme

different name though ..

Funny how British media always coyly refers to us as "expats" or "Brits living abroad".

No mention of the "m" word when it's us Brits doing it, of course .

If my life here gets so bad that I don't mind UK media types (and the public at large) having a good gloat at my expense and I find myself incapable of booking a flight from Frankfurt to London and finding my way to the airport, I'll be in touch.

10 days on and they have still not contacted me by phone like they said.Seems like a scam to me

They're probably only interested in people who display levels of literacy beyond that of an eight year old.

I just wonder how long you guys have been out of the UK?

I lived in Germany - near Munich for 25 years. Both my daughters were born there. We moved back to Cardiff just 4 years ago and now there is no way any of us would move back to Germany!!
Cardiff is a great place to live for all sorts of reasons but one of the main one for me is how friendly the people are. I have great friends in Germany but I feel that generally back here people are much friendlier and more open. And for me that makes a huge difference. It's the day to day acts of friendliness that make life more pleaseant - like someone holding a door open for you instead of letting it slam back in your - or your child's face. After just one week back in sixth form here in Cardiff my daughter clearly stated that there was no was she would ever go back to a Bavarian school as it was the first time she had been treated like a human being in school!
So - just to add a little balance to this discussion - I think the UK is a geat place to live.

This seems an odd ad to me, they make it sound like we live on the other side of the world and would jump at the opportunity for a free trip to Britain. Do they think that once we've left we never go back for a visit? A cheap Sleazy jet flight is all that keeps us away, well apart from a few other things , it's not like we're in Australia and can't afford to go back now and again.

Sounds as if they'll be looking for people who are already disgruntled with life abroad and haven't found a footing because they have unrealistic expectations and are not prepared to adjust. They'll most likely be the ones who have never learned to speak German properly and complain because everything's different/people are unfriendly/don't smile/speak a foreign language, etc., etc.

@lorelei - I think you close to the mark. They want people who they can show as having moved abroad, failed to make a new life and are maybe about to come home running, tail between legs etc.

if they really wanted a balanced view they would fly us all over to sit on one of those crappy daytime TV shows, mix us in with the out of work brits who have to time to also take part and let us all have a punch up :-)

The opposite sadly does not seem to be percieved as making good television. I guess the OP has read the threads here and believes that we're all perfect fodder for the show. Obviously she does not understand the tounge in cheek ranting. Why move back to England when I can be on the ski slopes in 45 minutes?

Its good to hear comments from new members. As many people have often stated in this forum, if you compare Munich to the UK for general friendliness then the UK will always win. Other parts of Germany are far friendlier than Munich/Bavaria, Munich is not typical of Germany.

I sent them an email, and got a reply within 2 days.

not showing off... just saying.

If I'm honest, I'd rather go back to the UK. I've been here in Hamburg since 1994, but I am unable to leave for personal reasons. My feeling is that it has got much worse here - it was ok for the first few years. There are a lot of aspects to my opinion, so I won't go into great detail, but aggression and selfishness play a great role. I would personally not go back to Worthing, where I came from. I considered Devon and Cornwall as being a place I could end up in - mainly due to my gardening hobby and the coastline. In Wales, Cardiff was mentioned, it does depend on where you go as well. I remember well going to a village where all doors were open and we were invited in for tea as total strangers. On a trip to the Wye Valley, I stopped off in a village and asked the way in English to a tourist attraction, but they refused to talk to me unless I spoke Welsh and that was in a post office. The fact is, that every country has its friendly and unfriendly areas. I don't think Hamburg is typical for all areas of Germany and I think I would be better off swapping my neighbours with endless fields and forests...

Just a few thoughts...