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 | 1 January 1998 – 1 July 2005 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | Top Ground Gear Force |
| Related shows | Ground Force America |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
Ground Force was a BBC "lifestyle" or "makeover" television programme in which 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. Ground Force premièred on January 1, 1998 and ended on July 1, 2005.
Repeats of Ground Force are currently shown on UKTV Gardens.
Alan Titchmarsh hosted the programme between 1998 and 2002 with his colleagues Charlie Dimmock (who gained much press attention 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 ex-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"
Contents |
[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] See also
[edit] References
- ^ A memorial to Jill Dando. The Weston Mercury. Retrieved on 2007-06-23.
- ^ Ground Force creates NY tribute. BBC (15 August 2002]). Retrieved on 2007-11-07.
- ^ Mandela's green-fingered makeover. BBC (14 December 1999]). Retrieved on 2007-11-07.
- ^ An Africa Garden. British Museum. 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
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