Handmade: Britain's Best Woodworker

About this Broadcast

Season 1, Episode 3

The seven remaining woodworkers face the toughest big build of the competition so far and one of the hardest objects to make - a chair. They must bend and build their way to create chairs that could become design classics in just two days and craft what would take a professional weeks to make. And in the skills challenge, the woodworkers' whittling skills are tested. Award-winning architect Alex de Rijke and queen of furniture-making Helen Welch monitor proceedings as judges, with a double elimination in the offing. Presented by Mel Giedroyc

HD subtitles repeat sign-language audio-description

DIY General Leisure Hobbies Show/Game Show

Cast & Crew

Mel Giedroyc (Presenter)

Alex de Rijke (Contributor)

Helen Welch (Contributor)

Chloe Avery (Series producer)

Emma Reynolds (Series director)

Karen Plumb (Executive producer)

Grant Mansfield (Executive producer)

More Information

Did You Know..

Mel Giedroyc (Presenter)

Born: June 05, 1958 in Epsom, Surrey

Best Known For: Being the blonde half of TV personalities Mel and Sue.

Early-life: Melanie Clare Sophie Giedroyc was born on June 5, 1968, in Epsom, Surrey, and grew up in Leatherhead. Her father is a Polish-Lithuanian history writer who settled in England in 1947. Mel also has Belgian and Belarusian ancestry. She attended Oxford High School before going on to Trinity College, Cambridge, where she studied Modern Languages. Her sister, Coky, is a TV director whose credits include The Hour, Blackpool and What Remains.

Career: Like bread and butter, Giedroyc and Sue Perkins go well together - in fact, they're almost inseparable in professional terms. They were a hit at the Edinburgh Festival in 1993, and went on to write scripts for French and Saunders before presenting comedy chat show Light/Late Lunch and RI:SE. She was also in the children's sketch show Sorry I've Got No Head. More recently she has scored another hit with The Great British Bake-Off, alongside Sue, and daytime ITV show, Mel and Sue. Her radio work has included The 4 O'Clock Show on Radio 4 Extra.

Quote: On her relationship with Sue Perkins: "She's like Don Corleone with her friends, which I must say can at times be trying: she will always get the truth out of you, you can't hide anything."

Trivia: She has written two books: From Here to Maternity and Going Gaga.