Gardeners’ World enjoys its highest viewing figures in a decade as people spend more time in their gardens during the coronavirus lockdown
- BBC2 show which saw presenter Monty Don self-film drew 2.7million audience
- Don, 64, said it was ‘odd’ filming ‘without another human being in sight’
- Highest viewing figures in years comes as people are confined to their homes
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
The BBC’s long-running TV series Gardeners’ World has seen some of its highest ratings in a decade during lockdown as people have been forced to spend more time in their gardens.
The BBC2 show has benefitted from people staying at home and tending their plants, as bosses have managed to keep the show on air.
Last week’s episode, on April 24, which saw presenter Monty Don self-filming footage from his garden, got an audience of 2.7 million, the highest ratings in a decade.
Yesterday’s episode [Friday] was the first to be filmed using a system where producers have rigged up cameras around Don’s garden, meaning he can present the show without crew around him.
On April 24 the BBC2 show, which saw presenter Monty Don (pictured) self-filming footage from his garden, drew an audience of 2.7million
Broadcasters are being forced to look for innovative solutions to keep the flow of new programming coming through amid the coronavirus crisis.
BBC2 is planning to air Gardeners’ World each week between now and October after putting in place measures to produce the show while sticking to social distancing rules.
Cameras are now being rigged up in Monty Don’s garden for each episode, with the crew able to avoid any near contact with the presenter and his family.
During filming the production team, including a remote camera operator, sit in shipping containers on the presenter’s driveway and Don communicates with his producer/director through a walkie-talkie.
Don, 64, told the Daily Mail it was ‘odd’ doing a day’s filming ‘without another human being in sight’ but it was being done in a ‘highly professional’ way.
He said the programme was being made with ‘ingenuity’, ‘skill’ and ‘an awful lot of hard work’, adding ‘I’ve never done anything quite like this’.
Don said during lockdown many of those who had their own gardens now felt ‘a profound sense of gratitude and good luck’ that they had one.
Cameras are now being rigged up in Monty Don’s garden for each episode, with the crew able to avoid any near contact with the presenter and his family
The presenter said during the current situation gardening was proving to be ‘powerful medicine’ in helping people deal with the mental anxiety caused by the ‘frightening’ crisis and that a garden ‘resets the button’.
He said: ‘You can sit in your garden, hear the birds, you can breathe clean air, you can watch the blossom or the leaves unfold, or whether it be the tulips or the daffodils or whatever it might be, or you might even do a bit of weeding or plant something. That’s powerful medicine.’
The production team, including a remote camera operator, sat in shipping containers on his driveway while he communicated with his producer/director through a walkie-talkie.
Don, 64, said it was ‘odd’ filming ‘without another human being in sight’ but gardening was helping people deal with the crisis.
He said: ‘You can watch the blossom or the leaves unfold or even do a bit of weeding or plant something. That’s powerful medicine.’