''Burke's Backyard'' was an Australian gardening and lifestyle series presented by horticulturist

Don Burke Donald William Burke (born 16 July 1947) is an Australian television presenter, television producer, author and horticulturist. He is best known as the longtime host of '' Burke's Backyard'', a lifestyle program produced by his wife's company ...

, broadcast on both radio and television. On television, it was a regular weekly series on the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television ne ...

from 12 September 1987 to 26 November 2004.

History

The program began on the Sydney AM radio station 2UE on Saturday and Sunday mornings before being picked up by the Nine Network in late 1987. Channel 9 broadcast the show on Friday evenings for the next 17 years. It is currently being broadcast on radio by 2UE and syndicated stations on Saturday and Sunday mornings. A magazine of the same name as the television program was published as a merchandising tie-in by

Australian Consolidated Press Are Media is an Australian media company that was formed after the 2020 purchase of the assets of Bauer Media Australia, which had in turn acquired the assets of Pacific Magazines, AP Magazines and Australian Consolidated Press during the 2010 ...

. Don Burke went on to join

Jamie Durie Jamie Paul Durie OAM (born 3 June 1970) is an Australian horticulturalist and landscape designer, furniture designer, television host, television producer, and author of eleven books on landscape architecture, garden design and lifestyle. He is ...

in creating the television show ''

Backyard Blitz ''Backyard Blitz'' is a Logie Award winning Australian lifestyle and DIY television program that aired on the Nine Network between 2000 through to 2007 before its cancellation. It was hosted by Jamie Durie and was created by Don Burke and produ ...

''.

Cast

The show was hosted by

but also included other presenters. The cooking segment was presented by Geoff Jansz, who also hosted the Channel Nine cooking shows What's Cooking and Fresh.

Tara Dennis Tara may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Tara'' (1992 film), an Indian film directed by Bijaya Jena * ''Tara'' (2001 film), an American film, also known as ''Hood Rat'', directed by Leslie Small * ''Tara'' (2010 film), a ...

coordinated the fabrics and design section, while Rebecca Harris coordinated the pet section as she also did in her own Nine series Animal Hospital. Harris sometimes also appeared on the design and fabric segments.

Scott Cam Scott Cam (born 24 November 1962) is an Australian television presenter, a recipient of the Gold Logie appearing on several lifestyle programmes on the Nine Network. He is best known as the host of the hit reality TV renovation show '' The B ...

assisted Don as the building, gardening and design expert for more than half the program's duration. Other cast members included

Ernie Dingo Ernie is a masculine given name, frequently a short form (hypocorism) of Ernest, Ernald, Ernesto, or Verner. It may refer to: People * Ernie Accorsi (born 1941), American football executive * Ernie Adams (disambiguation) * Ernie Afaganis (born ...

, Peter Harris,

Dr. Chris Brown Chris Brown (born 11 September 1978) is an Australian veterinarian, television presenter and author. He is best known for the television series ''Bondi Vet'', which began screening in 2009. He hosts ''The Open Road with Doctor Chris'' on CBS. ...

Nigel Ruck Nigel ( ) is an English masculine given name. The English ''Nigel'' is commonly found in records dating from the Middle Ages; however, it was not used much before being revived by 19th-century antiquarians. For instance, Walter Scott published ...

, Jackie French, Elise Pascoe, Rita Hill, Dr. Harry Cooper,

Reg Livermore Reginald Dawson Livermore (born 11 December 1938) is an Australian actor, singer, theatrical performer and former television presenter. Childhood From a young age, Livermore demonstrated an interest in the performing arts. Regular outings to ...

and Rosemary Stanton. For the 2007 television specials, Don Burke was assisted mainly by

. Former Olympic Gold Medalist swimmer Giaan Rooney also joined the cast for the specials, giving environmental tips, while financial expert

Paul Clitheroe Paul Hugh Clitheroe AM (born 7 July 1955 in Nottingham, England, UK) is an Australian television presenter, radio presenter, financial analyst, financial advisor and publisher. Career Clitheroe graduated from the University of NSW in the lat ...

presented the financial section.

Theme song

The theme to ''Burke's Backyard'' is a modified version of Bullamakanka's version of "

Give Me a Home Among the Gumtrees ''Give Me a Home Among the Gumtrees'' (or ''Home Among the Gumtrees'') is a popular Australian song written in 1974 by Wally Johnson and Bob Brown (aka Captain Rock). History It was originally performed as a satirical number in Johnson and Brown' ...

" (Bob Brown; Walter Johnson Jr.). The chorus is as follows: Give me a home among the gum trees, with lots of plum trees A dog or two and a barbecue flowers down the side And veggies by the fence all in Burke's Backyard

Ratings

The television show was consistently a very strong ratings performer for the

. It occupied the Friday 7:30–8:30 timeslot for 17 years. During its final year, however, it rated poorly and was 'rested' by the

. In the Spring special return in 2007, the show posted a very encouraging 10th place in the week's shows. It defeated both of its competing

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australi ...

shows including '' Australia's Best Backyards'' and '' Hot Property'', and was the most watched

show of the week.

References

External links