Banjo helps to design the Hebrides

If you want to open your curtains to stunning views each morning, there are worse places to live than the Hebrides.

But if you want the inside of your property to look equally eye-catching, it could be a little trickier. Luckily that’s where interior design guru Banjo Beale and his team come in, as in this new series they are travelling across the Scottish islands, ready to perform stunning makeovers with a limited budget and tight deadline.

As Banjo puts it: “My hometown of Tobermory is one of the most colourful in the UK but on the inside, some of the spaces are crying out for character. Thankfully, some brave locals are handing me the keys to their places, from a bothy two hours’ walk from the nearest road to a remote lighthouse, castle turret and beloved community rugby club. They’re dream properties to design but logistical nightmares to deliver.

“The weather is unpredictable, the locals are straight talking, the budgets are lean and you can’t just run to the shops to buy supplies – you have to be resourceful!”

If Australian-born Banjo’s name sounds familiar (and let’s face it, it is memorable) that’s probably because he won BBC’s Interior Design Masters in 2021. Since then, he’s launched his own interior design business from the Isle of Mull, where he has made his home with husband Ro for the last eight years.

However, it wasn’t just his design skills that made an impression on viewers and the TV producers, as his personality also won him plenty of fans.

Clare Mottershead, Lead Commissioning Editor, Factual Entertainment and Events, says: “Banjo’s originality, warmth and wit made him a favourite with our Interior Design Masters audience so it’s great to be able to share the next chapter of his story as he brings his infectious passion for design to his adopted Hebridean home.”

Over the next few weeks, we’ll see him tackle everything from a bothy (a term for a basic form of accommodation that is traditionally left unlocked) on the remote island of Ulva to a bookshop and café on Skye.

He begins though in Tobermory on the Isle of Mull, where Banjo’s friend Sally wants to modernise her family’s traditional fish shop.

She’s come to the right designer, as Banjo creates some bold plans that will transform the shop inside and out. However, while Sally may be the manager, it’s still very much a family business, and she’s worried that the rest of her clan won’t approve of anything too radical.

With his band of trusty locals, including Eoghan the carpenter and handyman Tom, Banjo pushes ahead with his ambitious and somewhat risky plans. Can he overcome the challenges posed by the shop’s location to deliver something that meets Sally’s brief, shows off his own creativity, and still gets the family’s seal of approval?

Let’s hope so, because if anyone is unhappy, the premise of this series suggests they’ll struggle to get another designer in to make the changes...