''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 from 12 September 1987 to 26 November 2004.

History

The program began on the Sydney AM radio station

2UE 2UE is an all-music radio station in Sydney owned by Nine Entertainment Co and run under a lease agreement by Ace Radio. It currently broadcasts from its studios in Pyrmont, New South Wales. History 1920s 2EU Electrical Utilities applied to the ...

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 201 ...

. Don Burke went on to join Jamie Durie 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 produc ...

''.

Cast

The show was hosted by

but also included other presenters. The cooking segment was presented by

Geoff Jansz Geoff Jansz (born 1958 ) is a Sri Lankan-born Australian chef and television presenter. Career After graduating from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Pharmacy in 1984, Geoff Jansz worked as a pharmacist, but later opened a restaur ...

, who also hosted the Channel Nine cooking shows What's Cooking and

Fresh Fresh or FRESH may refer to: People *DJ Fresh (born 1977), UK-based drum and bass artist *DJ Fresh (producer), US-based R&B producer born Marqus Brown Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Fresh'' (1994 film), a crime film * ''Fresh'' (200 ...

. Tara Dennis coordinated the fabrics and design section, while Rebecca Harris coordinated the pet section as she also did in her own Nine series

Animal Hospital ''Animal Hospital'' is a British television show starring Australian singer and TV presenter Rolf Harris that ran on BBC One from 1994 to 2004 and more recently starring Phil Dixon. The series featured animal welfare stories from many RSPCA hos ...

. 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 Bl ...

assisted Don as the building, gardening and design expert for more than half the program's duration. Other cast members included Ernie Dingo, 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, Jackie French, Elise Pascoe, Rita Hill, Dr. Harry Cooper, Reg Livermore and

Rosemary Stanton Rosemary Alison Stanton (née Finley) (born 5 June 1944, Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian nutritionist and dietician, known for her media appearances. Biography Stanton has been called "the first 'celebrity' dietitian". As of 2018 ...

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

. Former Olympic Gold Medalist swimmer

Giaan Rooney Giaan Leigh Rooney, OAM (born 15 November 1982) is an Australian former competitive swimmer and television personality. As a member of the Australian team in women's 4×100-metre medley relay, she won an Olympic gold medal and broke a world ...

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 England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the ...

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 Nine Network. 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 Nine Network. 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 Australia ...

shows including ''

Australia's Best Backyards ''Australia's Best Backyards'' is an Australian lifestyle TV series on the Seven Network. The program is hosted by landscape gardener Jamie Durie, who previously hosted ''Backyard Blitz ''Backyard Blitz'' is a Logie Award winning Australian ...

'' and '' Hot Property'', and was the most watched Nine Network show of the week.

References

External links