Russian house prize is TV hit

The programme is captivating ordinary Russians

A Russian reality TV series offering a couple the chance to win a luxury home is proving a big hit with the nation's TV viewers, according to reports.

Twelve couples are being filmed as they build a £150,000 five-bedroom country house, or dacha, in the wooded Moscow suburbs for the series Dom (House).

They are being voted off couple by couple until viewers choose a winner later next month.

The show is enthralling ordinary Russians in a country where the average wage is less than £150 a month, The Times said.

It would take most Russians more than 80 years to afford the dacha on offer, according to the newspaper.

In life you choose your own circle of friends - here it's the other way round Male contestant

Dom is said to reflect reality in Russia in its portrayal of the traditional roles carried out by men and women.

The men do all the building on the log-cabin-style dacha while the women cook dinner and do the cleaning.

The women were allowed to cut wood this week - but only in a contest of competence under their husbands' guidance.

The contestants have been living in huts surrounding the building site since the beginning of July.

The daily programme, hosted by singer Nikolai Baskov, features a fighter pilot, a professional clown, a female road-builder and two construction workers.

It has already led to some harsh words, with one of the male contestants telling the newspaper: "In life you choose your own circle of friends.

"Here it's the other way round and we're forced to talk to people we don't like."