Warksburn Old Church Goes Prime Time with Guy Martin on Channel 4!

We are delighted that Warksburn Old Church was featured in Guy Martin’s House Without Bills, a major 90-minute documentary, which was first broadcast on Channel 4 at 9pm on Monday 9th February 2026.

Click the Channel 4 logo to stream the programme for free. The section featuring Warksburn Old Church starts at 14 min 20 sec on the timeline.

Commissioned by Channel 4 and produced by North One, the programme follows energy efficiency obsessive and former Isle of Man TT racer, Guy Martin, as he joins a nine-month renovation of a semi-detached house in the Manchester suburb of Stretford. The ultimate aim? To drive its heating bills as low as possible by transforming it into a Passivhaus—the ‘gold standard’ in ultra-low energy building certification.

Why Warksburn Old Church?

As part of the documentary, Guy investigates the broader story of British housing’s future: visiting Warksburn Old Church in Northumberland, one of the most energy efficient homes in the country.

Guy Martin with Anne and Alan James at Warksburn Old Church — Guy Martin interviewing Anne and Alan James at Warksburn Old Church – CREDIT North One / Channel 4

We are proud to be the only Passivhaus certified church-to-home conversion in the world. It was a privilege to welcome Guy and his crew to Northumberland for filming back in September 2025, and to show them exactly what is achievable when you renovate a heritage building to the world’s most demanding building standard, and combine that with cutting-edge energy management.

“Fair Play to Them”

Guy Martin is known for his straight-talking honesty, so we were delighted to hear his verdict on our labour of love. Reflecting on his visit to Wark, Guy said:

“Meeting Anne and Alan was an education, I loved their attention to detail. What they’ve done there at the church is amazing and could be a blueprint for future houses. Fair play to them.”

Guy knows the nuts and bolts of engineering inside out, so his kind words about our eco-home mean the world to us: thank you!

A Secret Celebration

Filming television is hard work, but we’re delighted that Guy and the team enjoyed a rather special personal moment whilst they were here. Filming took place just a week or so before his Guy’s wedding, so Warksburn Old Church became the impromptu venue for a ‘mini stag do’ for him and his trusty film crew, who’ve worked with him for 15 years.