TV schedules cluttered by programmes about hoarding

As several recent Storage.co.uk blogs have noted, the American airwaves seem to be piled high at the moment with TV shows about self storage scavenging. Storage Wars, Auction Hunters and Storage Hunters have all made their TV bows relatively recently, and all revolve around the interesting format of following people who spend their lives searching for valuables inside self storage units that other people have abandoned.

It’s probably something to do with the recession. Most of us could do with some more money in these straitened times, and the idea that there could be piles of gold waiting to be found behind every padlocked self storage shutter no doubt stimulates a few peoples’ inner entrepreneur.

As well as being informative about a fascinating sub-culture, these programmes attempt to turn their protagonists’ adventures into something of a soap-opera, emphasising the scrapes and rivalries with other self storage scavengers they run into along the way.

Here in the UK, a similar television trend has recently emerged with new series of programmes about compulsive hoarding suddenly appearing on both the BBC and Channel 4. These are more in the mould of traditional documentaries, without being glamorised by frothier storylines, but they should provide an interesting glimpse into a serious problem none the less.

The Hoarder Next Door (Channel 4, Thursdays 9pm)

This week saw the first episode of The Hoarder Next Door, in which psychotherapist Stelios Kiosses visits the homes of people who have a serious problem with hoarding in order to try and help them get rid of some of their surplus possessions, and regain control of their lives.

The first episode featured 55-year-old Nigel Jennings from Liverpool, who was billed in the publicity material as having a house where “the only place he can sit at home is his mattress, and even that isn’t completely safe”, because the rest of his home is so piled-high with clutter.

The format requires Stelios Kiossess to spend six weeks alongside his patient in each episode, accompanied by a team of expert declutterers. Compulsive hoarding is often linked to wider psychological trauma, and the programme-makers have hinted that Mr Jennings needs help with getting over his “painful” past.

Britain‘s Biggest Hoarders (BBC 1, Tuesdays 9pm)

Meanwhile, the BBC’s contribution to this issue is Britain’s Biggest Hoarders, in which TV presenter Jasmine Harman attempts to help some people with serious hoarding issues.

This seems fairly similar to Channel 4’s offering in many ways, although the choice of presenter means it should have a more personal feel. Jasmine Harman approaches these issues with personal experience, as she also presented the previous BBC documentary My Hoarder Mum and Me, about her Cypriot-born mother Vasoulla, who herself has a serious hoarding problem. In this new programme she will revisit her mother, as well as looking at other members of the general public who have the condition.

Together, these two programmes demonstrate TV’s new fascination with the issue of compulsive hoarding. Storage.co.uk will review them both in the near future.