Gardeners' Question Time
Gardeners' Question Time is a radio program produced by the BBC since 1947. The weekly show, which is now broadcast on BBC Radio 4, usually takes place at a meeting in the UK, in which amateur gardeners an expert panel to ask questions about their garden. Individual shipments only answer questions that were submitted by mail or e -mail, in exceptional cases, the expert panel also travels further, about Ireland or Northern France. Currently, the program is broadcast Sunday afternoon by 14 clock to local time.
History
The first broadcast about gardening on the BBC was a series of 15-minute lectures which Cecil Henry Middleton from 9 May 1931. His casual tone made it a great success because it so clearly stood out from the usual serious tone that was prevalent at that time on the radio. Under the name In Your Garden, the show was soon on Sunday afternoon, reaching 3.5 million listeners there. The first issue of television series was produced under the same title November 21, 1936. The radio program was discontinued in 1970. During the Second World War was supported by the program, the Dig for Victory campaign of the British government, which had the goal to keep the citizens to themselves to plant vegetables, wherever it was possible.
Another precursor was How Does Your Garden Grow? whose appeal remained limited in the aftermath of the transmission area north of England since 1957 but ran in the nationwide BBC program.
In the development of the program, there were two decisive moments: The Radio 4 program reform in 1970 only provided space for a garden program in the transmitter, and the entertaining Gardeners' Question Time arguing with the more serious and intended for expert program In Your Garden. Ultimately won Gardeners' Question Time because of its much larger audience numbers (one million to 200,000 ), and because it led zoom beginners and non - gardeners gardening. Critics of this decision complained about the lack of seriousness of the program, and the often superficial advice. The program would provide gardening as shallow entertainment.
At this time, the program was also in a content crisis. Thank the mission appeared outdated and repetitive. In particular, the members of the expert panel criticized by many as out of date. Before the studio Manchester that produced the program at this time, in this case, however, aware of one-step, the composition of the panels had to be changed. Expert Fred Streeter died in late 1974 at the age of 98 years from the effects of a broken hip, while Alan Gemmell at the age of 63 years turned out by a disease of herpes zoster in 1976.
A much larger incision, there was in the 1990s when the BBC handed over the production of the program to a private company. In the course of this development, the existing panel for decades left the show and went to Classic FM. The producers broadcast the extended from 30 to 45 minutes, and increased the number of experts possible considerably. The places where the program was recorded, were not only garden clubs and local assembly halls, but also for example metro stations or a nudist colony. While the experts knew the questions before the broadcast before 1994, they have since then respond spontaneously to the questions. The show is currently hosted alternately by Eric Robson and Peter Gibbs.