Escape to the Country

Alistair Appleton heads to the East Midlands, where a man is looking for an English country home on a budget of £600,000 so that his family can move from Dublin to join him.

Jules Hudson heads for Monmouthshire to help a couple find a rural property with room to raise pigs, chickens and alpacas. With a budget of £500,000, he decides to enlighten the pair to the merits of barn conversions.

Jonnie Irwin visits Co Down in Northern Ireland to help prospective buyers find a property where they can retire. They have a budget of £270,000, and ideally would like a three-bedroom bungalow with a double garage overlooking the Mourne Mountains.

Nicki Chapman helps a couple find a country house in the Cotswolds. With a budget of £1 million, they have a range of options, including Jaceobean and Georgian manor houses and a quirky eco home.

Presenter Alistair Appleton helps a recently retired couple with a budget of £550,000 find a country home in rural Hampshire with a large "boys' toys" garage and a challenging gardening project.

Jules Hudson helps a couple of newlyweds with a budget of £500,000 find a home in Carmarthenshire. The man is a professional athlete hoping to compete in the 2012 Olympics so he has very specific requirements, including a gym and a big kitchen.

Jules Hudson helps a couple in Cambridgeshire with a budget of £440,000 who want to remain in the county and are eager to have a garden again after two decades without. He tempts them with an Edwardian farmhouse with extensive grounds, a pair of cottages and a Victorian former school house.

Denise Nurse helps property hunters with a budget of £275,000 downsize to a home in Lincolnshire that boasts open-plan living, two bedrooms and space for a vegetable patch.

Jules Hudson helps a couple who are looking for a property they can transform into a business in the West Country. Their idea is to create a camp site with tee-pee and wood-burning hot tubs with their £950,000 budget.

After 27 years of urban living, two keen walkers want to downsize to the Yorkshire Dales on a budget of £350,000. Alistair Appleton hopes an 1840's former salt store in Upper Settle will suit their requirements.

Alistair Appleton helps a couple find an eco-friendly home in Shropshire. They have aspirations to run a green B&B, self-catering lets and sustainable lodges, and cannot believe their luck when they discover a 600-year-old farmhouse with brick barns to convert and three acres of land within budget.

Jules Hudson is in West Wales helping a couple with a budget of £385,000 swap the suburbs for a rural smallholding. Keen horticulturalist Brenda wants enough land to run a plant nursery, and husband Colin needs five acres, outbuildings and workshops for his collection of renovated tractors.

Jonnie Irwin comes to the aid of a couple searching for a large property in rural Cheshire, taking them to a former pottery with an open-plan 800 sq ft living room.

Alistair Appleton helps a retired couple to search for a home in the New Forest, Hampshire. Their children have left home so the buyers are looking to downsize with a £700,000 budget, but none of the properties they see is big enough.

Jonnie Irwin heads to Somerset, where a couple of expats with a budget of £500,000 want to find their dream home. More used to a spacious property in Australia, they need to accept the different proportions of English country properties, but the pressure is on with their possessions arriving any day.

Denise Nurse travels to the Cotswolds, where she helps a couple in a long-distance relationship look for their perfect home. With a budget of £700,000, she finds a 16th-century former court house with plenty of character.

Aled Jones visits Argyll and Bute to help a Scottish couple hoping to find a suitable property in which to set up an artists' retreat. With a budget of £500,000 in hand, the pair are taken to view a castellated Victorian property on the edge of Loch Fyne. Plus, a visit to Knapdale forest, where beavers are being re-introduced.

Jules Hudson heads to Devon to help a mother and daughter who are looking for a suitable country home for themselves and their three Shetland ponies, but while the mother is fond of something traditional, the daughter is after a property with a contemporary feel.

Nicki Chapman visits Shropshire, where she helps a couple find a secluded property on a budget of £430,000. Among the rural retreats on offer, she shows them an impressive 17th-century former blacksmith's.

Alistair Appleton hunts for properties with a couple returning to the UK from Italy, and hope to find a house in Dorset to rival their current lakeside villa. The presenter also visits the only dairy in the world that produces Dorset Blue Vinney cheese.

Denise Nurse helps a family swap city living for a life in rural Sussex. She searches for a property with plenty of land suitable for setting up a fitness boot camp, and locates a 1930's period house that boasts more than three acres and is on budget at £750,000.

Aled Jones heads for Cornwall to help a Derbyshire woman and her daughter find a new home. With a budget of £250,000 the pair hope to find a property with several acres of land to graze their small flock of sheep. The presenter also takes to the water to try his hand at gig racing.

Nicki Chapman heads to Northumberland to help a farmer's daughter find a property with land on her £450,000 budget. The presenter also explores the wildlife of the Farne islands.

Jules Hudson is in Powys, mid Wales, helping a self-employed couple seek out a more relaxed lifestyle. With their budget of £665,000 they are amazed at how far their money stretches, but will a seven bedroom Victorian property be a step too far?

Alistair Appleton helps a couple returning from Australia find a rural retreat in Wiltshire on a budget of £600,000, but they are unprepared for the UK's property prices.

Jules Hudson helps a couple with a budget of £500,000 retire to the West Country, hoping to find a suitable thatched cottage. He also visits the whimsical A La Ronde - a 16-sided, 200-year-old house inspired by an Italian cathedral.

Nicki Chapman is in Herefordshire, property-shopping with a couple who dream of owning a period black-and-white cottage with bags of curb appeal. They have a budget of £350,000 and are seeking a house with at least three bedrooms, space for two offices and a decent-sized country cottage garden.

Nicki also finds time to help bring in the hop harvest.

Denise Nurse travels to Perthshire in Scotland to help an author with a £400,000 budget who is looking for a property where she can begin writing her next novel.

Alistair Appleton heads to Warwickshire, where a couple of newlyweds are searching for a rural home on a budget of £550,000. After viewing a cottage that is too small and a 19th-century farmhouse needing too much work, it proves hard to find the right combination.

Jonnie Irwin is in Cornwall, helping a couple leave behind their urban coop in search of some free-range living. With a budget of £350,000, this move is all about their menagerie; with two horses, two dogs and with an eye on buying some llamas, land is a must.

Jules Hudson is in Essex, helping a couple of sisters find a quirky home with a big character to match their own. With a budget of £400,000 they fall head over heels with both the property and Jules.

Denise Nurse is on the trail of stunning rural property in Cumbria, a county renowned for its incredible scenery. The buyers have a budget of £900,000 and are looking for a super-sized substantial family home with three reception spaces, five bedrooms and plenty of land. Denise also checks out one of Cumbria's oldest sporting traditions, hound trailing.

Nicki Chapman is in Cornwall with a couple looking for a 'showy' home with room to house their internet business. With a budget of £450,000, the property has to have a rural setting with a real 'chill factor'.

Alistair Appleton is property hunting in Warwickshire with a couple who want to leave the stresses of London life behind and seek out a spiritual retreat in the country. They have a healthy budget of £750,000, but will a charming 17th-century mill house have the right energy?

Jonnie Irwin is in Essex helping a young couple find an equestrian property with a budget of £575,000. But as the Home Counties are notoriously pricey, they may have to do some lateral thinking to get the house and acreage they are after.

Jonnie also gets a master class in making bricks from the oldest brickworks of its kind in the country.

Nicki Chapman is in Suffolk helping a couple of newlyweds swap their current crowded house in the suburbs for a spacious country home. With a budget of £650,000, there's plenty to choose from including a 17th-century farmhouse, a classic Georgian home and a brand new thatched property. Nicki also gets a masterclass in ornamental plaster work.

Nicki Chapman goes property hunting in Shropshire with a couple who need an outbuilding to house a private museum for their 700 pieces of World War II memorabilia. And with a budget of £400,000, they are spoilted for choice when it comes to properties with country character.

Jonnie Irwin helps two very exacting buyers in Kent look for a medieval oak-beamed barn with expansive living spaces on a budget of £630,000.

Nicki Chapman is in Dorset, helping a couple swap city skylines for open countryside. With a budget of up to £800,000, these buyers are tempted by a fabulous slice of a country estate with 350 acres of communal land.