ULVA, Scotland — Sixteen residents. One ferry. And now, a television crew back for more.
The tiny island of Ulva, off Scotland’s west coast, is bracing for a second round of cameras, chaos, and construction. Banjo and Ro Beale are returning to film another series of Grand Island Hotel for the BBC.
The couple first appeared on screens documenting their attempt to turn a derelict mansion called Ulva House into a boutique hotel. That show was a hit. It also brought so many visitors that the island’s residents, all 16 of them, asked for Sunday ferry services to be stopped.
They wanted peace. Now the Beales are back.
Banjo won BBC One’s Interior Design Masters in 2022. Ro is a cheesemaker and distiller. They moved to Ulva in 2025 with their dog, Grampa.
They have since added a new Scottish Deerhound puppy named Cousin Jerry. They are also planning to bring in peacocks and a llama. The budget, Banjo said, is gone.
“We blew our budget last year so this time around we’re really getting creative,” he said. That is the stakes of this second series.
Not just a renovation. A renovation with no money left, more animals, and bigger ambitions. The couple is pushing ahead with the rest of the hotel.
They are doing it with less cash and more creatures. Ro put it plainly.
“Most people, after renovating a crumbling mansion on a remote island, would probably have a lie down,” he said. “Banjo looked at the situation and decided what we really needed was more animals, more projects and less money. So naturally we’ve got grand plans to finish the hotel and somehow, even more hare-brained schemes.” The first series sparked a tourist boom.
The second series could do the same. That is a concrete risk for the island. Ulva’s residents have already felt the pressure of sudden fame.
They stopped Sunday ferries to reclaim quiet. Now the cameras are back.
The show will follow the couple, their handymen, and the locals who help them. It will also follow the animals. The puppy.
The peacocks. The llama.
Drama, Banjo promised, is part of the deal. “The plans are bigger, and so is our family,” Banjo said. “As we continue the ambitious restoration of Ulva House, we’ll be welcoming new puppies, peacocks, a llama and plenty of drama.
Life on a remote island is never straightforward, but that’s exactly what makes it such an adventure.” The couple relocated to Ulva specifically to take on this project. They embraced the isolation. They accepted the limited budget.
Now they are doubling down. The mansion is still crumbling.
The work is still ambitious. The money is gone. But the filming is underway.
For the BBC, the show was a hit. For Ulva, the show was a disruption.
That tension is the story of the second series. The same island. The same couple.
The same ferry. But bigger plans, a bigger family, and a budget that has already been spent. What happens when the cameras leave this time is an open question.
The residents know what happened last time. They are watching again.
