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Tamara Lloyd in Lincolnshire took the prize. She single-handedly looked after 300 animals: seven pigs, two turkeys, 12 geese, 38 horses, 42 cats, 38 dogs… The list went on, like a demented nursery rhyme. Lloyd claimed to hate mud, which was unfortunate, because it was everywhere.

Presenter Jasmine Harman was a warm presence: all toothy smile, sincere eyes and pregnant bump. She was sympathetic to the subjects, holding hands and issuing hugs when they got upset. She shed a few tears of her own about her childhood dog Sparky, sobbing that she hadn't looked after him as well as she could. Considering that Sparky lived to the grand old age of 16, she was being hard on herself.

Harman, best known for Channel 4 property show A Place in the Sun, has previously made films about extreme hoarders, including her own mother, and these animal fanatics seemed to be in a similar ballpark. There were clearly some "issues" here.

However, answers to these "issues" never really came. Harman brought in animal welfare experts and behavioural psychologists but they merely stated the obvious: there were too many animals, the humans were neglecting their own needs, get rid of some.

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By the end, though, we were almost back to where we started. Lines still had 17 dogs. Beaupierre had rehomed five cats but still owned 21. Lloyd hoped to buy more land to house even more animals.

Ultimately, this film was intriguing but rather pointless. Perhaps they should have made a programme about real zoo neighbours instead. "Those hippos are up partying at all hours and the bears still haven't returned that pot of honey they borrowed…"

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