Named The Planners, a new BBC documentary series promises to "lift the lid on the decisions behind planning approvals and refusals . . . through the eyes, ears and drawings of the planners themselves — the people who interpret the rules, evaluate the proposals and make the recommendations. These are the people who can make homeowners' dreams come true or bring them crashing down."

Here is the description for the first of the series' eight episodes: "In this episode of The Planners, three national house builders target a greenfield site outside Winsford in Cheshire. They're proposing to build 540 new homes in the area but the locals aren't happy and will stop at nothing to derail the development. A Cheltenham couple erect a mock-up of their neighbour's extension to highlight their concerns to planners. A retired couple that lives in a conservation area in the heart of Chester submit a planning application to erect 17 solar panels onto their garage roof and a Cheltenham resident spends over £10,000 pounds on her planning application for a dropped curb outside her home."

For real . . .