Ground Force

This article is about the television programme. For other uses, see Ground force.
Ground Force
Genre Gardening, makeover
Created by Peter Bazalgette
Presented by Alan Titchmarsh (1997–2002)
Charlie Dimmock
Tommy Walsh
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of series 12
No. of episodes 97
Production
Running time 30 minutes
Production company(s) Endemol UK
Release
Original network BBC Two (1997)
BBC One (1998–2005)
Original release 19 September 1997 (1997-09-19) – 24 July 2005 (2005-07-24)
Chronology
Related shows Ground Force America
Top Ground Gear Force

Ground Force is a British garden makeover television series originally broadcast by the BBC between 1997 and 2005. The series was originally hosted by Alan Titchmarsh, Charlie Dimmock and Tommy Walsh and was produced by Endemol for the BBC.

Production

The series was created by Peter Bazalgette[1] and was first broadcast on 19 September 1997 on BBC Two. In each episode, a team of gardeners make over the garden of an individual who has been nominated by a member of their family or a friend. Whilst that individual is away, the team, assisted by friends and family, make over the garden over two days, and surprise the individual on their return. The team was led by Alan Titchmarsh, presenter of Pebble Mill at One and Gardeners' World, gardener Charlie Dimmock, builder Tommy Walsh and his assistant Will Shanahan. Dimmock met the producer–director of the series five years previously when she built a pond for the Meridian series Grass Roots,.[2] She became known for not wearing a bra.[3] Walsh was invited to take part after completing work on the executive producer's garden.[4]

The series moved to BBC One for the second series.[5] Titchmarsh left in 2002, saying that he felt the series was becoming repetitive and because he wasn't able to work with materials like stainless steel and do intricate brickwork patterns due to time and money constraints.[6] Kirsty King joined the team after Titchmarsh left.

A number of new five-minute segments were filmed for Ground Force Revisited and appended onto repeats of earlier episodes, where Dimmock and Walsh revisited the garden concerned to surprise the owners and see how the gardens had developed.

The series was credited with helping the increase in sales of garden decking in the late 1990s and early 2000s due to its use during the series. Retailer B&Q had sales rise from £5,000 in 1997 to £16 million in 2001.[7] In an interview in the Daily Mail, Titchmarsh said: "I am partly to blame for the decking boom, and I am sorry, I know it's everywhere these days."[6]

The series was cancelled in 2005. Describing its cancellation, BBC Director-General Mark Thompson said that the series was "reaching the end of its natural life" and that "the public do get very cross when they see the BBC flogging a dead horse".[5][8]

At its peak, the series attracted 12 million viewers.[9] Repeats of Ground Force are currently shown on Home.

Music

The theme music for the series was performed by the Black Dyke Band,[10] and included the following pieces:

Specials

Jill's Garden in Weston-super-Mare, built by the team in memory of Jill Dando

The team worked on a number of other special projects, including:

The Africa Garden at the British Museum

The Ground Force team's final episode was aired in July 2005. It took place in the forecourt of the British Museum in London, where the team designed and created the Africa Garden as part of the Africa 05 celebration,[14] the biggest celebration of African culture organised in the UK. The design of the garden features temperate, tropical and desert zones.

International versions

A New Zealand version of Ground Force aired on TV One from 1998 to 2003. It was titled Firth Ground Force, named after a local concrete and masonry company.

In 2000, the producers sought legal advice after accusing the Nine Network in Australia of producing a "carbon copy" of Ground Force entitled Backyard Blitz. A legitimate Australian version of Ground Force was already in production, and aired shortly after on the Seven Network.[9] While this version of Ground Force was short lived, Backyard Blitz continued on until 2007.

Ground Force America is the American version, presented by Dimmock and Walsh. It began airing in 2003 on BBC America, and it was the channel's first original production. The channel had been airing the UK version since 1999.[15]

Top Ground Gear Force

Main article: Top Ground Gear Force

On 14 March 2008, Top Gear "resurrected" Ground Force in a Sport Relief special called Top Ground Gear Force where the presenters of Top Gear conducted a Ground Force style show on Sir Steve Redgrave's garden.[16]

Transmissions

Original series

Nearly 100 episodes were produced and shown:

Series Start date End date Episodes
1 19 September 1997 7 November 1997 8
2 30 June 1998 1 October 1998 12
3 12 February 1999 5 March 1999 4
4 15 October 1999 19 November 1999 6
5 10 March 2000 14 April 2000 6
6 6 October 2000 26 November 2000 5
7 22 April 2001 27 May 2001 5
8 7 January 2002 18 February 2002 6
9 2 September 2002 23 September 2002 4
10 27 January 2003 13 March 2003 6
11a 1 March 2004 23 June 2004 7
11b 6 December 2004 17 January 2005 5
12 24 January 2005 21 March 2005 8

Specials

Entitle Air Date
Mandela Special 2 January 2000
When Changing Rooms Met Ground Force 12 February 2000
When Changing Rooms Met Ground Force 2 24 October 2000
RAF Special 11 December 2000
India Special 18 April 2001
A Garden for Jill Dando 24 August 2001
Goes West Indies 3 March 2002
Goes South Atlantic: Falklands 16 June 2002
New York 25 August 2002
The Italian Job 5 December 2002
Goes Festive 25 December 2002
Does Mardi Gras 21 April 2003
Goes to Ethiopia 29 December 2003
On the Road to Marrakech 29 December 2004
A Garden for Africa '05 24 July 2005

Ground Force America

Series Start date End date Episodes
1 21 July 2003 8 September 2003 7
2 5 July 2004 2 August 2004 5

References

  1. ↑ Craig Gray, Laura (18 February 2009). "Media revolution: Tomorrow's TV". BBC News Online. Retrieved 2009-08-02.
  2. ↑ "Meet Charlie Dimmock". Home. Retrieved 2009-08-02.
  3. ↑ Conlan, Tara. "Titchmarsh quits Ground Force". Daily Mail. Retrieved 2009-08-02.
  4. ↑ "Meet Tommy Walsh". Home. Retrieved 2009-08-02.
  5. 1 2 Born, Matt (4 March 2005). "Ground Force axed by BBC before its viewing figures wilt". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2009-08-02.
  6. 1 2 Boshoff, Alison. "Ditch the decking: Titchmarsh". Daily Mail. Retrieved 2009-08-02.
  7. ↑ "The rise of the green-fingered criminal". The Independent. 15 April 2001. Retrieved 2009-08-02.
  8. ↑ "Ground Force 'coming to its end'". BBC News Online. 3 March 2005. Retrieved 2009-08-02.
  9. 1 2 Robins, Jane (27 April 2000). "Ground Force may sue Australian 'copy'". The Independent. Retrieved 2009-08-02.
  10. ↑ Herbert, Ian (4 July 2000). "Black Dyke band sacking leaves top trumpeter feeling brassed off". The Independent. Retrieved 2009-08-02.
  11. ↑ "A memorial to Jill Dando". The Weston Mercury. Retrieved 2007-06-23.
  12. ↑ "Ground Force creates NY tribute". BBC News Online. 15 August 2002. Retrieved 2007-11-07.
  13. ↑ "Mandela's green-fingered makeover". BBC News Online. 14 December 1999. Retrieved 2007-11-07.
  14. ↑ "An Africa Garden". British Museum. Retrieved 2007-11-07.
  15. ↑ Robertson, Colin (27 January 2003). "Ground Force crosses the pond". Broadcast. Retrieved 2009-08-02.
  16. ↑ Top Gear: Top Garden Ground Gear Force
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