Keys to the Castle

This show aired today in an encore presentation. It features John Barrowman as the host, leading a tour through several inhabited castles in Great Britain. It's a fascinating show, highlighting some really beautiful castles. It's enlightening to find out how much money it actually costs to maintain one of these huge domiciles. My favorite segment is the one about Cawdor Castle, aka Castle Macbeth, in the north part of Scotland.

That's what this show offers for non-John Barrowman fans. For John Barrowman fans, it has, well, John Barrowman. A lot of him, wearing jeans and hoodies and puffy vests and a kilt, and lapsing into his ancestral Scottish accent. When I first ran across this show quite by accident on its first airing last fall, I was first of all surprised to see Barrowman on US TV--HGTV, after all, is not known for its hot British hunks. I was even more surprised at how thoroughly entertaining he was. Overall, for fans of John, this show is a must-see.