Ground Force
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| Ground Force | |
| Genre | Lifestyle |
|---|---|
| Presented by | Alan Titchmarsh Charlie Dimmock Tommy Walsh |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Endemol |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC |
| Original run | 19 September 1997 – 1 July 2005 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | Top Ground Gear Force |
| Related shows | Ground Force America |
Ground Force was a BBC "lifestyle" or "makeover" television show.
Contents |
[edit] Premise
In each episode a team of gardeners descend on an individual's garden and remake it for the cameras within two days, against the clock, while that individual is lured away on some pretext.
[edit] History
Ground Force premièred on September 19, 1997 and concluded on July 1, 2005.
Repeats of Ground Force are currently shown on Home.
Alan Titchmarsh hosted the programme between 1998 and 2002 with his colleagues Charlie Dimmock (who gained much press attention[citation needed] for often working with a shirt, but no bra), Tommy Walsh and Will Shanahan.
Making its debut on July 29, 2003 Ground Force America was the U.S. version of Ground Force with the same presenters.
The team also 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[1]
- the New York Restoration Project garden near Ground Zero in New York[2]
- 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[3]
After Titchmarsh's departure the other three continued as presenters with Kirsty King joining the team as well. They also filmed new, five-minute segments to be appended onto repeats of earlier episodes, revisiting the gardens concerned to surprise the owners and see how the gardens had developed.
The Ground Force team's grand finale was aired in July 2005. The final episode 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,[4] the biggest celebration of African culture ever organised in the UK. The design of the garden features temperate, tropical and desert zones.
An Australian version of Ground Force was aired in the early 2000s on the Seven Network. An American version was inspired and produced for BBC America as Ground Force America.
[edit] Top Ground Gear Force
On March 14, 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.[5] A similar special was aired in 2007 humouring cancelled music show Top of the Pops called Top Gear of the Pops.
[edit] Transmission Guide
- Series 1: 8 editions from 19 September 1997 - 7 November 1997
- Series 2: 12 editions from 30 June 1998 - 1 October 1998
- Series 3: 4 editions from 12 February 1999 - 5 March 1999
- Series 4: 6 editions from 15 October 1999 - 19 November 1999
- Series 5: 6 editions from 10 March 2000 - 14 April 2000
- Series 6: 5 editions from 6 October 2000 - 26 November 2000
- Series 7: 5 editions from 22 April 2001 - 27 May 2001
- Series 8: 6 editions from 7 January 2002 - 18 February 2002
- Series 9: 4 editions from 2 September 2002 - 23 September 2002
- Series 10: 6 editions from 27 January 2003 - 13 March 2003
- Series 11a: 7 editions from 1 March 2004 - 23 June 2004
- Series 11b: 5 editions from 6 December 2004 - 17 January 2005
- Series 12: 8 editions from 24 January 2005 - 21 March 2005
- Specials
- Mandella 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
- Ground Force America: 7 editions from 21 July 2003 - 8 September 2003
- Goes to Ethiopia: 29 December 2003
- Ground Force America 2: 5 editions from 5 July 2004 - 2 August 2004
- On the Road to Marrakech: 29 December 2004
- A Garden for Africa '05 : 24 July 2005
[edit] Trivia
The "Mandella Special" episode featured one of the most famous out-takes in BBC history, when a scene involving Winnie Mandela rushing over to Tommy Walsh and telling him "under no account to dig under that tree" was removed.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "A memorial to Jill Dando". The Weston Mercury. http://www.thewestonmercury.co.uk/content/twm/flatfiles/jilldando/JillsGarden/GardenIndex.aspx. Retrieved on 2007-06-23.
- ^ "Ground Force creates NY tribute". BBC. 15 August 2002. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/2195473.stm. Retrieved on 2007-11-07.
- ^ "Mandela's green-fingered makeover". BBC. 14 December 1999. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/565013.stm. Retrieved on 2007-11-07.
- ^ "An Africa Garden". British Museum. http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/online_tours/africa/an_africa_garden/africa_garden_the_sculptures.aspx. Retrieved on 2007-11-07.
- ^ Top Gear: Top Garden Ground Gear Force
[edit] External links
- Ground Force at the National Film and Sound Archive
- Ground Force Africa Garden
- Ground Force broadcast information
- Ground Force at the Internet Movie Database
