I am sorry that Toby Buckland has been given very little praise for his hard work on Gardeners' World. I agree that the first series was not very good, but it has become much more interesting and helpful, with many of the basic problems middle of the road gardeners like myself, have difficulty finding answers to elsewhere. I am not suprised at Monty's return, and wish Tony lots of luck in the future. I do think he has been rather pushed aside.
Thank heaven ! We can go back to watching a programme that we had given up on completely, but which we formerly loved. The news that Monty is returning to Gardeners World is the best since the dark set in last winter. May we also add especial thanks for the two best " special" programmes we think Gardeners World has sreened since the brilliant Allotment one with Monty Don. Both these were with Carol Klein as presenter, the recent "Biological" one and the lovely programme where she went back to her roots in Lancashire to explore the flowers she grew up with. Long may she reign !!!
Can't believe the BBC are going back to Monty Don. Veg, veg and more veg with the occasional let's tweak the long border! Dull, dull, dull!
Toby Buckland was a breath of fresh air in my view, a Geoff Hamilton in the making with a more back to basics type of programme. He also knows his stuff, which was becoming more apparent as the programmes went along. Those who say they'll start watching again can't really judge can they? And what exactly has Alys done to be treated this way? What a fickle bunch we are! The Gardener's World production team should take a long hard look at themselves. Are any of them losing their jobs, and just before Christmas too? Probably not!
The whole episode has rather tarnished my view of my favourite gardening television programme, and all things associated with it.
Shame on you BBC and shame on you Gardeners World!!
I am delighted to see Monty returning I thought that that the present format lacks interest to real gardeners. It has become more of a dumbed down entertainment slot. Our garden club with more than 100 members almost unanimously agree with me
I am so pleased to hear of Monty's return .Don't get me wrong I love Toby too, but Gardeners World had gone off the boil as far as I 'm concerned . Carol and Jo..great news too . Not sad to say goodbye to Alys ,not my favourite.
Welcome back Monty. Now can't wait to see Gardeners' World as it should be. I stopped watching when Toby, Alys and Joe started their infantile chats. Now we will be able to watch some proper gardening. Pity that Rachel is coming back, all hair, grin and nothing else! Still, we can't have everything!
It looks like we are all waiting for an official announcement of what is to happen to Greenacre. Aswell as the money spent here a great deal of time and effort has been spent, designing, building and planting the garden. To me it looked like they had longevity in mind, as many of the projects are ones that would evolve and develop over time. It seems astonishing that all those plans and work would be instantly scrapped. Many viewers have posted here how they were looking forward to seeing how the garden develops, myself included. It didn't seem to be a stop gap garden whilst Monty was recovering, but a new large project that would be with us for years to come. It seems crazy to scrap it at this stage when it was developing nicely, was a project that had gotten off the ground and was nowhere near it's end. Like someone else had commented if it were open to the public, I for one would be interested in looking round. I don't see what difference it makes if a garden started out as a field or has always been a garden. Both are just ground with things planted on them! I think if Gardeners World wanted to accomodate the viewers that were not Toby fans or ones who wanted a more traditional apporach, they should have allocated different features within the programme, such as visiting Monty in his own garden, not scrapping one whole format for another. There are many of us that are disappointed and sad to be loosing Toby Buckland and a format we enjoyed. (I have to say I was never a fan of the 30 min fixs though). As many have said Toby and the new format were just getting into their stride and ironing out any bits that were unpopular. Any drastic new change is going to take a while to settle in and it seems to have been a case of people getting used to something new. Just as the programme was getting established it has been cut, really bad timing I think. The current format with Toby seems to have been popular with many people relatively new to gardening (myself included) and inspiring a new generation, something which should be encouraged. There should be room for both old and new gardeners within one programme I think. It seems the production ideas are more to blame than the presenters. I am still baffled as to why Toby has been dropped totally. I saw and met him at Gardeners World Live this year and have to say he was very knowledgeable, enthusiastic and generous with his time. A true asset to GW. He seemed genuinely happy to be there and sharing his knowledge with the public. He was not at all deterred even when it started to rain. His knowledge and enthusiasm was obvious in the stories he told and the many random public questions he could answer. He was very friendly, welcoming and down to earth, you momentarily forget he was a bloke off tele and felt like he was someone you knew. Like many people have said watching on a friday night is like learning from a friend. Next years Gardeners World Live will be poorer without the presence of Toby. I also have to say, I like the current GW theme tune and don't want to revert back to the old one! Maybe it's just because this was my GW era, but I found hearing the first notes of the tune would instantly lift my spirits! There seems to have been alot of strong reactions to this news. I will be interested to know whether the production team have been suprised of the amount and types of views expressed. I would also be interested to know whether any actions or decisions may be changed due to the opinions expressed here. I guess once the formats changed it's changed, tough. So I hope that all the disappointed viewers can be accomodated somewhere else. Would really like to see Greenacre again, and if not definately would like to see Toby Bukcland on another programme. It seems there is definately an audience for what was currently being produced as Gardeners World.
I am appalled that Toby won't be back. Prior to him presenting I found gardener's world dull and boring. He made the show interesting, educational and more relevant to the younger viewer. This is a poor decision and it's time the BBC gardening team embraced some of the new ideas that people like Toby bring. I will not be watching the new series and I hope Toby goes somewhere where his talents are appreciated.
I'm delighted that Monty's back, it's the best news I've had in ages!
However, having read a lot of these comments I must say I'm annoyed by all this Rachel de Thame-bashing. Would people please stop saying she doesn't get her hands dirty? If it's meant literally, surely everyone knows (and she's had to explain it herself several times) that it's for the perfectly sensible reason of preventing soil-borne diseases, a particular consideration for women of child-bearing age. And if some of these comments are implying that she didn't get stuck in and metaphorically get her hands dirty then you obviously don't remember her back at Berryfields when she was the co-presenter with Monty and Chris Beardshaw - she was digging away in the muck and rain with the best of them.
I do think there's a degree of sexism here - would people complain if a male gardener was good looking? How about Alan's legion of female fans who love him not only for his horticultural know-how!? Women can't win, can they? If they're over 60 the Beeb doesn't want them and if they're pretty we complain!
Posts
May we also add especial thanks for the two best " special" programmes we think Gardeners World has sreened since the brilliant Allotment one with Monty Don. Both these were with Carol Klein as presenter, the recent "Biological" one and the lovely programme where she went back to her roots in Lancashire to explore the flowers she grew up with. Long may she reign !!!
Toby Buckland was a breath of fresh air in my view, a Geoff Hamilton in the making with a more back to basics type of programme. He also knows his stuff, which was becoming more apparent as the programmes went along. Those who say they'll start watching again can't really judge can they?
And what exactly has Alys done to be treated this way? What a fickle bunch we are!
The Gardener's World production team should take a long hard look at themselves. Are any of them losing their jobs, and just before Christmas too? Probably not!
The whole episode has rather tarnished my view of my favourite gardening television programme, and all things associated with it.
Shame on you BBC and shame on you Gardeners World!!
Monty Don's a real backward step from a team who actually knew what they were talking about.
I'll just echo your wise words - shame on the BBC and on the GW production team.
Our garden club with more than 100 members almost unanimously agree with me
Carol and Jo..great news too .
Not sad to say goodbye to Alys ,not my favourite.
Like someone else had commented if it were open to the public, I for one would be interested in looking round.
I don't see what difference it makes if a garden started out as a field or has always been a garden. Both are just ground with things planted on them!
I think if Gardeners World wanted to accomodate the viewers that were not Toby fans or ones who wanted a more traditional apporach, they should have allocated different features within the programme, such as visiting Monty in his own garden, not scrapping one whole format for another.
There are many of us that are disappointed and sad to be loosing Toby Buckland and a format we enjoyed. (I have to say I was never a fan of the 30 min fixs though). As many have said Toby and the new format were just getting into their stride and ironing out any bits that were unpopular. Any drastic new change is going to take a while to settle in and it seems to have been a case of people getting used to something new. Just as the programme was getting established it has been cut, really bad timing I think.
The current format with Toby seems to have been popular with many people relatively new to gardening (myself included) and inspiring a new generation, something which should be encouraged. There should be room for both old and new gardeners within one programme I think. It seems the production ideas are more to blame than the presenters.
I am still baffled as to why Toby has been dropped totally. I saw and met him at Gardeners World Live this year and have to say he was very knowledgeable, enthusiastic and generous with his time. A true asset to GW. He seemed genuinely happy to be there and sharing his knowledge with the public. He was not at all deterred even when it started to rain. His knowledge and enthusiasm was obvious in the stories he told and the many random public questions he could answer. He was very friendly, welcoming and down to earth, you momentarily forget he was a bloke off tele and felt like he was someone you knew.
Like many people have said watching on a friday night is like learning from a friend.
Next years Gardeners World Live will be poorer without the presence of Toby.
I also have to say, I like the current GW theme tune and don't want to revert back to the old one! Maybe it's just because this was my GW era, but I found hearing the first notes of the tune would instantly lift my spirits!
There seems to have been alot of strong reactions to this news. I will be interested to know whether the production team have been suprised of the amount and types of views expressed. I would also be interested to know whether any actions or decisions may be changed due to the opinions expressed here. I guess once the formats changed it's changed, tough. So I hope that all the disappointed viewers can be accomodated somewhere else. Would really like to see Greenacre again, and if not definately would like to see Toby Bukcland on another programme. It seems there is definately an audience for what was currently being produced as Gardeners World.
However, having read a lot of these comments I must say I'm annoyed by all this Rachel de Thame-bashing. Would people please stop saying she doesn't get her hands dirty? If it's meant literally, surely everyone knows (and she's had to explain it herself several times) that it's for the perfectly sensible reason of preventing soil-borne diseases, a particular consideration for women of child-bearing age. And if some of these comments are implying that she didn't get stuck in and metaphorically get her hands dirty then you obviously don't remember her back at Berryfields when she was the co-presenter with Monty and Chris Beardshaw - she was digging away in the muck and rain with the best of them.
I do think there's a degree of sexism here - would people complain if a male gardener was good looking? How about Alan's legion of female fans who love him not only for his horticultural know-how!? Women can't win, can they? If they're over 60 the Beeb doesn't want them and if they're pretty we complain!