Kevin McCloud's Man Made Home - TV review

But whilst the stars of Grand Designs build industrial size homes, with futuristic styles, reams of beautiful glass and steel and a carbon footprint as big as Birmingham Airport, McCloud has somewhat simpler ambitions.

He just wants what every other middle-aged man across the country – a great, big shed.

Kevin's is out in the countryside and a real home from home, presumably for when he wants some time away from the wife and kids.

He wants to build his home completely from scratch, with the highest-quality materials, eco-friendly techniques and comfortable as can be.

It's shaping up to be a beautiful, old-fashioned cabin in the woods and, with the structure all done and dusted, now just needs to be made somewhere comfortable and enjoyable to relax.

And where better to start thinking about some quiet reflection than on his own throne – the toilet.

A quick warning for anyone planning to catch up on this latest instalment of Man Made Homes on 4od - this isn't one to watch while you're having your dinner.

Because the main focus of this third episode is poo.

Yes, that's right. Poo. Kevin doesn't want just somewhere nice to have one (a poo with a view, as he describes it) he also wants to be able to turn it into fuel to keep his cabin warm and cook a simple meal.

Kevin isn't only making biogas from his own droppings, he's also out in the park picking up dog poo – and even popping out to Longleat for some lion dung.

I'm not sure using lion poo fumes to cook your dinner is really for everyone though – although if next week you see reports of record visitors at West Midlands Safari Park, all turning up half-an-hour after feeding time, then I'm happy to be proven wrong.

And Kevin even invites all of his friends round for a 'poo-party', passing around the bran flakes like canapes as he tries to build up enough gas to power a small stove.

I bet a night-out round at the McCloud's is a gas . . .

And if all of the talk about poo isn't enough to turn the Sunday roast dinner in your stomach, there are also brains on the menu.

Because as well as sitting on the loo, McCloud also wants somewhere to sit and relax on his new porch.

Recycling an old, rusty tractor into the frame for a chair the next step is to line it with something comfortable. And the deer in the woods offer the perfect solution.

Kevin isn't a hypocrite – he reluctantly steps up to shoot the animal himself – and even scoops out the brains to tan the hide in a traditional way himself. Poo and brains in one hour-long programme, now that's Sunday night entertainment.

In the end, he created something incredibly comfortable, important and beautiful – in his words. To me, it looked like an old tractor with some deer hide tied on it.

Cheaper than going to IKEA, but far less practical. Each to their own I suppose.

Overall though, it's a mightily impressive project. Whilst McCloud doesn't talk about money – despite insisting his Grand Designs benefactors provide some information on their bulging budgets – it does appear to have been done on a shoestring.

And the net result is a simpler way of life, a place to relax, collect your thoughts and escape from the pressures of day-to-day life.

Kevin McCloud's man made home is well worthy of being called a Grand Design.

Todd Nash