Ground Force

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. Walsh was invited to take part after completing work on the executive producer's garden.[3]

The series moved to BBC One for the second series.[4] Titchmarsh left in 2002. 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.[5]

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".[4][6]

At its peak, the series attracted 12 million viewers.[7] Repeats of Ground Force are currently shown on Home.

The theme music for the series was performed by the Black Dyke Band,[8] and included the following pieces:

• Ground Force Theme— played during the show's opening and closing.
• The Titchmarsh Warbler— a fast tempo piece usually played during the rush to complete the garden.
• Lament of the Dandelion— played near the end of the show as Titchmarsh surveyed the completed garden.

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:

• a garden in memory of TV presenter Jill Dando in her home town of Weston-super-Mare[9]
• the New York Restoration Project garden near Ground Zero in New York, for singer Bette Midler[10]
• an Old Servicemen's Home garden in Jamaica
• a Children's Home garden in New Delhi, India
• the home of former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela[11]

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,[12] the biggest celebration of African culture organised in the UK. The design of the garden features temperate, tropical and desert zones.

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.[7] 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.[13]

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, who was livid at the intrusion.[14]

• Ground Force at the National Film and Sound Archive
• Ground Force Africa Garden
• Ground Force broadcast information
• Ground Force on IMDb