''Beechgrove'' (formerly known as ''The Beechgrove Garden'') is a

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

programme broadcast since 1978 on

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Irela ...

. Over the years it has been broadcast on

, BBC One Scotland, BBC Two Scotland and

Britbox BritBox is an online digital video subscription service, founded by BBC Studios and ITV plc, operating in nine countries across North America, Europe, Australia and South Africa.

History

''Beechgrove'' is a gardening programme, which started on 14 April 1978. It was inspired by the garden behind the home of

WGBH WGBH may refer to: * WGBH Educational Foundation, based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States ** WGBH (FM), a public radio station at Boston, Massachusetts on 89.7 MHz owned by the WGBH Educational Foundation ** WGBH-TV WGBH-TV (channel 2), ...

in Boston, Massachusetts, named the Victory Garden. The original plot of land used was the small area of garden attached to the BBC studios in Beechgrove Terrace,

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), a ...

. Due to its small size, the programme's popularity and the fact the garden had been transformed several times over, a new area of ground to the west of Aberdeen was acquired for the programme by Tern Television who have produced the series since 1992. The new site covers 2.5 acres and is located at the former

Grampian Regional Council Grampian ( gd, Roinn a' Mhonaidh) was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. The region to ...

Brotherfield Nursery, in

Westhill, Aberdeenshire Westhill is a suburban town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, located west of the city of Aberdeen. Size of Westhill The town of Westhill covers the area that was the Western Kinmundy and Blackhills Farming areas. Demographics The population in 200 ...

. Episodes were broadcast from the site in 1996. The show was once parodied in the BBC Scotland comedy sketch show ''

Scotch and Wry ''Scotch and Wry'' is a Scottish television comedy sketch show produced by BBC Scotland and starring Rikki Fulton and a revolving ensemble cast which over the years included Gregor Fisher, Tony Roper, Claire Nielson, Juliet Cadzow and John Be ...

'', with Rikki Fulton as George Barron and Gregor Fisher as Jim McColl (dubbed the sunshine boyos) "growing" whisky. Since the 1980s, The Beechgrove Garden has been shown intermittently on the BBC in England usually in non-prime time slots during the day. Since 2013 The Beechgrove Garden has been broadcast in the rest of the UK, usually early on a Sunday morning slot. On 17 June 1983, the 100th show was broadcast. In 1990, the decision was made to redevelop the garden, which meant literally uprooting everything and starting again. It caused an outcry from the press and public, but it went ahead and led to a public auction for keepsake plants from The Beechgrove. There was even bigger change six years later, when the garden moved from its original home to an exposed, rural hillside on the outskirts of Aberdeen. In 1992, ''The Hit Squad'' with Jim McKirdy and Walter Gilmour was launched. They revamped gardens in need, according to presenter Jim McColl, they started all today's make-over shows. Episodes of the show have been transmitted across the world, from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the ...

. The 1,000th episode was filmed in May 2016. During the

2020 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifi ...

and the subsequent lockdown, the presenters filmed episodes from their own gardens. George Anderson was filming in his home in Joppa, Edinburgh. Kirsty Wilson was presenting from her flat in Edinburgh, Brian Cunningham was in his garden in Scone and Carole Baxter will film from her garden in

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially different boundaries. The Aberdeenshire Council area inclu ...

. 2022 was the 30th year of production company, 'Tern' producing Beechgrove for BBC Scotland.

Theme

The theme tune for the show is the jig "Miss Tara MacAdam", written by Phil Cunningham. This replaced the show's original theme tune, "Sponge".

Presenters

The current Presenters are: * Carole Baxter (1986–current) *

Chris Beardshaw Christopher Paul Beardshaw (born 11 January 1969) is a British garden designer, plantsman, author, speaker and broadcaster. Background Beardshaw was formally trained in Horticulture at Pershore College, and holds a BA Hons and PGDip in Landscape ...

(2013–current) * George Anderson (2005–current) * Brian Cunningham (2015-current) * Kirsty Wilson (2019-current) * Calum Clunie (2021-current) Vale View, Beechgrove day 3

Previous presenters on the programme included: * Jim McColl (1978–1988, 1993–2019) * George Barron (1978–1984) * Dick Gardiner (1984–1990) * Sid Robertson (1990–1994) * Bill Torrance (1990–1999) * Walter Gilmour (1984–) * Jim McKirdy. (1984–) * Carolyn Spray (1995–2014) * Lesley Watson (1995–2013)

Programme side-shoots

''Beechgrove Repotted''

''Beechgrove Repotted'' is one of Beechgrove's side-shoots. ''Repotted'' is a 2019 series of reversions that have been moulded to form a series of programmes which all explore a specific gardening theme. Themes include: * Gardening on a Budget * Garden Art * Gardens on the Edge * Community Allotments * Garden Therapy * Garden for Wildlife * Urban Gardens * Growing Communities

''The Beechgrove Potting Shed''

A sister programme, ''The Beechgrove Potting Shed'', was broadcast weekly on BBC Radio Scotland between 1978 and 2012. Presented in its latter years by Theresa Talbot, it was axed as part of a cost-cutting measure by the station."Beechgrove's McColl angry as radio show axed"
''The Herald'', 4 October 2012

References

External links

Beechgrove Garden website"Miss Tara MacAdam" entry on thesession.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beechgrove Garden, The BBC Scotland television shows Gardening in Scotland 1978 Scottish television series debuts Culture in Aberdeen 1970s Scottish television series 1980s Scottish television series 1990s Scottish television series 2000s Scottish television series 2010s Scottish television series 2020s Scottish television series Gardening television