A Life of Grime

"A Life of Grime" (a play on the expression "A Life of Crime") was a BBC docusoap following the work of environmental health inspectors. Launched during an explosion of reality television, the idea found something of a cult following.

With Louis Armstrong's What a Wonderful World as the ironic title music, the episodes were narrated by the late John Peel and later Arthur Smith in sardonic tones. Its appeal was due to a disgust factor and the eccentric but often lucid characters encountered either hoarding rubbish or keeping huge numbers of animals, most famously Edmund Trebus. The original series was set in Haringey; subsequent series have been set in Bristol, Salford, Sheffield, Tower Hamlets, New York and Edinburgh.

Trebus was made famous through the show. He was a Polish immigrant to the UK and was known to the council for hoarding goods in his house. He often had run-ins with the council before eventually being placed in a nursing home where he passed away on 29 September 2002.

There is now an American version airing on the Discovery Times Channel that takes place in New York.

"A Life Of Grime" & "A Life Of Grime New York" has been shown on UKTV People.