In the first of a brand new series, Penelope Keith along with village judges - archaeologist Alex Langlands, garden designer Juliet Sargeant and craft expert Patrick Grant - weighs up four contenders vying for the title of 'Village of the Year'. This week we are in the western zone made up of some stunning seaside and rural idylls. Penelope is by the seaside in Charmouth, Dorset. In Redbrook, in the Wye Valley Patrick bridges the divide between Wales and England. Juliet uncovers her inner Viking in Lydford, Devon, and Alex learns to thatch on the coast in Aberdaron, Wales. Which village will make it through to this week's semi-final and be in with a chance of winning £10,000?

Penelope Keith and the Village of the Year team of judges travel the British Isles to report on four villages hoping to be crowned Village of the Year. In Devon, the Lympstone Brass Band puts on a performance for Penelope; Alex Langlands investigates an alien invasion in Llwyngwril, North Wales; Patrick Grant learns about the peculiar art of swede racing in Colwinston, South Wales; and Juliet Sargeant helps spruce up the idyllic village of Porlock. Only one of the four villages can make it through to the semi- final and be in with a chance of winning £10,000.

Penelope Keith and the Village of the Year panel of judges visit four villages going head-to-head in their bid to be crowned Village of the Year. Penelope meets an army of volunteers on the Dorset coast in Burton Bradstock; surf's up for historian Alex Langlands at the world's first surfing lake in Dolgarrog; anything goes for Patrick Grant in Llangwm's museum of everything; and Juliet Sargeant has a real taste of the sea in Mousehole, Cornwall. Find out which village becomes a semi-finalist and is in with a chance of winning the £10,000 prize money.

Travelling the length and breadth of the British Isles, Penelope Keith and her team of judges are looking for the UK's Village of the Year. In Betws-y-Coed in the heart of Snowdonia, Alex Langlands gets adventurous; Penelope is horsing around in Charlton Horethorne; Juliet Sargeant reels in the catch of the day in Polperro, Cornwall; and on the Gower Peninsula, Patrick Grant is digging for cockles in Penclawdd. Which village woos the judges to become a semi-finalist?

Penelope Keith and her panel of expert judges investigate four more villages competing to win the title of 'Village of the Year'. On the Jurassic coast Penelope's all at sea with Beer's historic fishing fleet, and Patrick Grant is 'boule-d' over in Sherston, Wiltshire. In Devon, Juliet Sargeant meets the Clovelly donkeys, and Alex Langlands goes native in the Welsh village of Llanllyfni. But which village will secure a coveted place in the semi-finals and the chance of winning £10,000?

Five villages from this week's heats go head-to-head for a spot in the grand final and the chance to win Village of the Year and the £10,000 prize money. Penelope Keith and her three judges have been searching for the very best of British village life, and in this episode they find out even more from the five contenders in the Western Zone. Will the buildings, the scenery or good old British eccentricity win the day?

Penelope Keith and her fellow Village of the Year judges are searching the British Isles to find the very best in village life. From the South East, four more shortlisted villages have their chance to impress the judges. Penelope discovers eccentric events in Elstead, Surrey. Alex retraces ancient footsteps on the Norfolk coast in Happisburgh. In the heart of Berkshire in Hampstead Norreys Patrick explores a tropical rainforest. And Juliet rounds up a flock of rare sheep in Ashwell in Hertfordshire. But which village will be in with a chance of winning a place in the semi-final, and a chance to win the £10,000 prize money?

From the north of Scotland to the west of Cornwall, Penelope Keith and her team of judges are on the hunt for the Village of the Year. Craft expert Patrick Grant helps to update the 3000-year-old white chalk horse of Uffington. In Kent, Penelope takes in the magnificent views of peg-tiled roof tops in Goudhurst. Archaeologist Alex Langlands travels to Suffolk and finds the Bardwell bells appealing. And in Blunham in Bedfordshire, garden designer Juliet Sargeant comes up smelling of roses at their yearly floral festival. Which village will have a chance of being a Village of the Year finalist?

Penelope Keith explores a medieval masterpiece in the Kent village of Penshurst. On the Norfolk coast, Alex Langlands meets the volunteers keeping Mundesley's beaches ship-shape. Juliet Sargeant has a go at building a traditional wall in Haddenham. And in the New Forest, Patrick Grant falls under the spell of the ancient village of Burley. Which village will be selected to make it through to the semi-finals?

Archaeologist Alex Langlands meets the residents of Rowhedge, Essex, who are making a splash in the river Colne. Craft expert Patrick Grant visits Findon; a village that's breeding winning riders and horses. In Redbourn in Hertfordshire, Juliet breaks bread with the local miller. Penelope Keith attends the world custard pie championships in Coxheath in Kent. Which village is in with a chance of winning £10,000?

In West Sussex Penelope Keith meets the harbour master of Lindfield's village pond. Alex travels to the heart of Constable country in East Bergholt in Suffolk. Juliet gets green-fingered in Woburn in Bedfordshire. And Patrick is swanning around in Cookham in Berkshire. Which village will make it through to tomorrow's semi-final?

Semifinals -- Southeast Zone: Five towns culled from the southeast zone duke it out for a chance to compete in the grand final. Which one has the chops to contend for the coveted title of Village of the Year?

Lyddington, Edale, Aynho, and Eglinton: On her first stop in the central zone, Penelope meets Lyddington's own Sherlock Holmes. In Edale in the Derbyshire Dales, Patrick explores a unique method of beer delivery. In Northamptonshire, Alex gets a chance to sample Aynho's apricot. And in Eglinton in Northern Ireland, Juliet enjoys a good old-fashioned ceilidh.

Nettleham, Pembridge, Glenarm, and Gnosall: In Lincolnshire, Penelope views Irish dancing in Nettleham. Alex goes cuckoo for a water garden in Pembridge, Herefordshire. In Ulster, Juliet attends the first wife-carrying championships in Glenarm. And Patrick takes a cruise down the Union canal in Gnosall in Staffordshire.

Houghton and Wyton, Bretforton, Armoy, and Tissington: Penelope bonds with alpacas in Houghton and Wyton in Cambridgeshire. Alex bangs his drum with the last village band in Bretforton in Worcestershire. Patrick learns what it is to be "to the manor born" in Tissington in Derbyshire. And Juliet takes a hair-raising back-seat ride in Armoy, County Antrim.

Histon and Impington, Audlem, Strangford, and Frampton on Severn: Penelope unleashes her inner graffiti artist in Histon and Impington in Cambridgeshire. Patrick pilots a rocket in Audlem, Cheshire. Juliet is out to sea in Strangford in Northern Ireland. And in Frampton-on-Severn in Gloucestershire, Alex explores the largest village green in England.

Woodhall Spa, Illmington, Broughshane, and Pickmere: In Lincolnshire, Penelope tracks down a seriously good sausage in Woodhall Spa. Alex get jiggy with the Morris men of Illmington in Warwickshire. Juliet explores the blooming beautiful Broughshane in County Antrim. In Cheshire, Patrick takes tea by the lake in Pickmere.

Semifinals -- Central Zone: From the west of Ireland to the heart of the Midlands, five villages show they have even more strings to their bow as they continue to try to woo the judges for a spot in the final competition.

Boat of Garten, Bamburgh, Grasmere, and Embo: In Inverness-shire in the northern zone, Penelope discovers Boat of Garten, the village that brought ospreys back to the British Isles. Alex plays king of the castle in Bamburgh, Northumberland. Juliet takes in the beauty of the Lake District in Grasmere, and Patrick explores the once independent state of Embo in the Scottish Highlands.

Catterline, Goathland, Bolton-by-Bowland, and Tarskavaig: In Aberdeenshire, Penelope discovers the inspiration for great art in Catterline. Alex checks out the North Yorkshire village of Goathland that's no stranger to the cameras. Juliet pops into the Lancashire pub that's reviving the heart of Bolton-by-Bowland. On the Isle of Skye, Patrick explores a unique community that is thriving on the edge of the Atlantic.

Fochabers, Robin Hood's Bay, Acharacle, and Croston: In Moray, Penelope is visiting a village that was planned to perfection: Fochabers. Alex explores the smuggling stronghold of Robin Hood's Bay in North Yorkshire. Patrick dances to a Scottish tune in Acharacle, and Juliet is in hot-pot heaven in Croston, Lancashire.

Kinloch Rannoch, Great Ayton, Avoch, and Staveley: Penelope enjoys going back to the land in Kinloch Rannoch in Scotland. Alex draws his sword in Great Ayton in Yorkshire. Patrick tries his hand at the local lingo in Avoch in Ross-shire. In Cumbria, Juliet immerses herself in the hustle and bustle of Staveley.

Semifinals -- Northern Zone: From the north of Scotland to the heart of Lancashire, four villages have made it on to the judge's short list, but only one will advance with a chance to win the prize.

Grand Final: Across 19 heats and 4 semifinals, 76 villages have been whittled down--and now only 4 remain. There's one last chance to impress, as each of the villages put on a special event for the judges to showcase everything that makes their village great.