A Life of Grime

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A Life of Grime (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.

Mr 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.