Chaos at the Chateau

Overview

Chaos at the Chateau was a television program that ran from March to May 2007 on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom. The show follows the lives of Ann and David Darrell, originally from Essex, who decided to renovate an old chateau in Slovakia and turn it into a luxury boutique hotel. As well as looking at the problems the couple faced in finding, renovating and running the hotel, it also deals with their relationship. Chaos at the Chateau is a prime-time continuation of the series A Place in Slovakia, which followed the couple's attempts to find a suitable chateau. The show has been described as a "real life Fawlty Towers", with incompetent hoteliers – a vulgar bossy wife and tetchy henpecked husband – aided and abetted in their comedy escapades by clueless staff. Controversy surrounded David Darrell when it was revealed, following the transmission of the programme, that he was being pursued for £950,000 for alleged fraudulent practices that occurred during his time as an Insolvency Practitioner. He was removed from the Register of Insolvency Practitioners in 2003 because of concerns regarding work that he had invoiced for, but allegedly not carried out. In March 2008, the Darrells put their Slovak chateau on the market for €3,000,000.