GROUND FORCE
UPDATE: Charlie & Tommy went to the U.S. last year (2003) to do a special 'Ground Force' series for BBC America. It has turned out to be a massive hit, with 30 MILLION people watching the show. Charlie & Tommy did some makeovers on the typical American picket fence gardens. BBC America is an optional digital channel you pay for, and to get 30 million viewers on digital is almost unheard of. BBC Canada & BBC Australia will be showing the American one-off series in 2004. Meanwhile you can watch the latest new series without Alan and with newcomer Kirsty King - coming on BBC Canada.
Like a lot of hit British television shows ‘Ground Force’ is being copied in the U.S., Canada, and Australia. But you can still see the original and best on BBC Canada, BBC America, and BBC Australia. ‘Ground Force’ is a great big hit that even surprised the BBC itself. It began years ago.
The idea to do a ‘makeover’ garden show, similar in concept to the ‘makeover’ shows the BBC are doing now for interior decorating, and even clothes, was the brainchild of executive producer Carol Haslam. Together with producer & director John Thornicroft they engaged the well-known horticulturist and garden book author, Alan Titchmarsh. The idea that a run-down garden could be completely changed in two days, seemed far-fetched to many doubters, but they went ahead and looked for two others to join Alan. How Charlie Dimmock and Tommy Walsh came to join the team is an interesting story.
Charlie was working in a water-garden nursery and was hired by John Thornicroft to build a pond in his garden. That was in 1992, five years before ‘Ground Force’ took off in 1997. He never forgot her. Tommy was doing some landscaping for exexcutive producer Carol Haslam at the time the show was being readied and she asked Tommy’s opinion on many gardening questions. She was so impressed she asked him to do a ‘screen test’ with Charlie Dimmock to see if the ‘chemistry’ and know-how was there. It was. And the rest is history. Tommy has his own, now very popular building and 'hard' landscaping business in Hackney, and Charlie has her own garden nursery, that specializes in water features. She has several books in publication. Even Tommy has a book out.
The show kicked-off in 1997 and immediately caught the publics eye. The fact the gardens can be completely changed in just two days made many TV viewers very sceptical. ‘How could they do it in so short a time’, they asked, with many convinced the show was a fake. Until that is, every neighbour within twenty miles saw firsthand that Alan, Charlie, Tommy, and more recently Will Shanahan, actually do get the job done in two days - quite often with some help from families and friends of the recipient. And not only done - but for free! They work to a budget. It was £750 at the beginning, then it rose to £1000. Now it’s £1500 as more and more features are added such as large decks, exotic plants, and gazebos and sheds.
At the end of the 2002 season Alan decided to leave. As well as being Britian’s foremost expert on all gardening matters he has also become an incredibly succesful author of scores of gardening books, which can be viewed in detail on the www.Amazon.co.uk website. He has also become the horticultural advisor to a score of well-known people including the Duke of Edinburgh. All this keeps Alan very busy, and after six years heading the cast he now has reluctantly left. Tommy & Charlie will head the new show in 2003 along with Will Shanahan, and newcomer Kirtsy King, who was for awhile the shows associate producer, buying the garden requirements for the show. Last spring (2003) Charlie & Tommy were in the U.S. doing a special BBC short series there.
What makes ‘Ground Force’ such a hit? There are no scripts. It happens live and for real, even the odd on-camera argument. Gardens are transformed as if by magic. And at the end of the show there are tears of joy as the new garden is revealed to a very surprised (well mostly) and happy person. With 'Champers' all round!
YOU ASKED:
The Music: Yes, the great brass band music that is played during the show is on a CD and is played by 'The Black Dyke Band'. It can be bought from www.amazon.co.uk, entitled 'Ground Force'. Go to the website, to 'Music', then put 'Black Dyke Band' in 'Search'.
Their Website: Yes, 'Ground Force' is part of the BBC network and everything you need to know about the show can be found on: www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/tv_radio/pro.../ground_force/
