Homes Under The Hammer fans were left furious this week after BBC bosses aired two episodes featuring exactly the same house, just a day apart.
The BBC scheduling blunder led to many complaints triggering the broadcasting company to issue an apology to viewers.
In Thursday’s episode from series 27, presenter Tommy Walsh, 67, toured a Grade II listed church in Duxford which sold for £218,000 in 2021 and was turned into flats.
The show also featured former footballer Dion Dublin, 55, exploring a cottage in Ruskington, Lincs, and the property was sold to two sisters for £180,000 in 2022.
The next day, the same two auctions, with identical tours and interviews, were shown again in a repeat of an episode from series 25, which originally aired in December 2022.
Homes Under The Hammer fans were left furious this week after BBC bosses aired almost identical episodes a day apart from each other
The BBC scheduling blunder led to many complaints triggering the broadcasting company to issue an apology to viewers
Producers recycle material to ensure they can fill an episode every day and the two shows last week had different third properties.
However, fans said it felt like Groundhog Day as they were watching more or less the same programme.
Read More Homes Under The Hammer’s Dion Dublin shares sweet rare snap with wife Cheryl and daughter Ruby, 5, as they enjoy a beach day in Ireland
One fan wrote on a forum for the show: ‘BBC, why are you putting on the same programme twice in two days.’;
‘It wasn’t the same edition, but it does appear that Friday’s ‘new’ episode featured some of the same stuff that had appeared in the repeated episode the day before, and nobody realised this when they scheduled them on consecutive days.’;
‘This is unfortunate, but it does happen sometimes.’
After viewers filed their complaints over the low-effort scheduling flop, the BBC claimed in a statement that they are taking steps to avoid the scheduling error from happening again in the future.
The broadcaster said: ‘We received some complaints from viewers after the scheduling of two different episodes resulted in similar content being broadcast on adjacent days.’
‘We have looked into this issue and we can see that the same two properties did feature on consecutive days, this was due to a scheduling error.’
In Thursday’s episode from series 27, presenter Tommy Walsh, 67, toured a Grade II listed church in Duxford which sold for £218,000 in 2021 and was turned into flats
The show also featured former footballer Dion Dublin, 55, exploring a cottage in Ruskington, Lincs, and the property was sold to two sisters for £180,000 in 2022
The next day, the same two auctions, with identical tours and interviews, were shown again in a repeat of an episode from series 25, which originally aired in December 2022
And fans said it felt like Groundhog Day as they were watching more or less the same programme
‘We are taking steps to avoid this happening again in the future.’
The BBC declined to add any further comments.
It comes after Dion revealed the most shocking items found in properties during his time on Homes Under The Hammer.
The presenter even revealed that cannabis plants have been discovered while getting houses ready for auction and he has sometimes noticed a pungent smell when walking around empty properties.
He told The Sun: ‘We go in and we go, ”Ahh… better not go in there”.
‘Obviously, you can’t get it on the TV, but you get the aroma and you think, ‘Ahh, not today’.
‘They’ve either had pets or maybe been growing something . . . anyway, I’ll say no more than that.’
Dion previously told how he is now more frequently recognised for being on Homes Under The Hammer rather than for being a footballer back in the day.
He told the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast: ‘I could be in the supermarket and I’ll be by a lot of older couples saying, ‘That’s Dion Dublin from Homes Under The Hammer’. I’m thinking, ‘I used to play football’.
‘It’s the older generation. And listen, I’m more than happy with it. I love the show, I love doing the job. I love that I’ve found something else to do.’