''Countryfile'' is a British television programme which airs weekly on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

and reports on

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are descri ...

, agricultural, and

environmental issue Environmental issues are effects of human activity on the biophysical environment, most often of which are harmful effects that cause environmental degradation. Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment on t ...

s in the United Kingdom. The programme is currently presented by

John Craven John Raymond Craven, (born 16 August 1940) is an English journalist and television presenter, best known for presenting the BBC programmes '' Newsround'', ''Countryfile'' and '' Beat the Brain''. Early life Craven was born in Leeds, West Rid ...

Adam Henson Adam John Lincoln Henson (born 8 January 1966) is an English farmer, author and television presenter. Family Henson's grandfather Leslie Henson, was a music hall and musical comedy comedian and actor. His farmer father Joe Henson MBE,

Matt Baker Matthew James Baker (born 23 December 1977) is a British television presenter. He co-presented the children's television show ''Blue Peter'' from 1999 until 2006, BBC One's ''Countryfile'' since 2009 and ''The One Show'' from 2011 to 2020, wit ...

, Tom Heap, Ellie Harrison,

Paul Martin Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006. The son o ...

Helen Skelton Helen Elizabeth Skelton (born 19 July 1983) is an English television presenter and Actor, actress. She co-presented the BBC children's programme ''Blue Peter'' from 2008 until 2013, and since 2014 has been a presenter on ''Countryfile''. She als ...

, Charlotte Smith, Steve Brown,

Sean Fletcher {{Infobox person , name = Sean Fletcher , image = , caption = , birth_date = {{birth date and age, 1974, 4, 20, df=y , birth_place = New York, New York, U.S. , death_date = , death_place = ...

Anita Rani Anita Rani Nazran (born 25 October 1977), better known as Anita Rani, is an English radio and television presenter. Early life Rani was born and brought up in Bradford, West Yorkshire to a Hindu father and a Sikh mother. In an episode of ...

''Countryfile'' currently airs every Sunday at various times.

History

The show was first broadcast on 24 July 1988 as ''Country File''. While farming remained a core ingredient, the programme held a much broader brief—to investigate rural issues and celebrate the beauty and diversity of the British countryside. Anne Brown and Chris Baines fronted the programme for its first year under its original producer Mike Fitzgerald. The programme was modelled on a regional BBC magazine series called "Your Country Needs You", presented by Chris Baines, directed by Ann Brown and produced by Mike Fitzgerald. Broadcaster

started fronting the Sunday morning programme in 1989. The programme was originally 30 minutes in length. In April 2009, ''Countryfile'' moved to an early Sunday evening slot, with

and

Julia Bradbury Julia Michele Bradbury (born 24 July 1970) is an Irish-born English television presenter, employed by the BBC and ITV, specialising in documentaries and consumer affairs. Her passion is the outdoors and more recently following her cancer diagn ...

joining Craven as co-presenters. Tom Heap and Ellie Harrison also joined in 2009. In 2014,

became a presenter and in 2015,

joined the programme. The programme currently airs 52 weeks of the year and includes a five-day weather forecast live from the BBC's weather studio in London. ''Countryfile'' was originally produced by

BBC Birmingham BBC Birmingham is one of the oldest regional arms of the BBC, located in Birmingham. It was the first region outside London to start broadcasting both the corporation's radio (in 1922) and television (in 1949) transmissions, the latter from th ...

, moving to

BBC Bristol The BBC campus, Broadcasting House Bristol, is located on Whiteladies Road, Bristol. The first building to be occupied was 21/23 Whiteladies Road, which was built in 1852 and is a Grade II listed building, with four radio studios. It was form ...

in 2012.

Overview

Episodes are typically centred on two lead presenters visiting a place or region, and uncovering the stories, characters and traditions which make that area distinctive. Typical subject matter includes wildlife, conservation, farming and food production, the arts, countryside crafts, social history and leisure activities. Presenters and guests are often wearing

British country clothing British country clothing or English country clothing is the traditional attire worn by men and women in rural Britain; it is the choice of clothing when taking part in outdoor sports such as equestrian pursuits, shooting, fishing and during gener ...

, episodes may include several segments with other presenters, uncovering other stories in the region. Compilation programmes occasionally air with a thematic focus, with a reduced number of original segments typically featuring one lead presenter only, and several other segments repeated from previous shows. Journalism remains an integral part of the programme's agenda. BBC News's Rural Affairs Correspondent Tom Heap or John Craven presents a weekly investigation into the big issues affecting the British countryside. Recent examples include the impact of animal diseases, the move towards renewable energy, environmental disasters, threats to rural services as well as changes to farming policy and practices. Farmer Adam Henson joined the programme in 2001 following a search to find a new presenter amongst programme viewers. In 2009 he started fronting the weekly "Adam's Farm" strand which gives viewers an insight into the challenges of running a mixed farm in the Cotswolds. His father, Joe Henson, was one of the original founders of the

Rare Breeds Survival Trust The Rare Breeds Survival Trust is a conservation charity whose purpose is to secure the continued existence and viability of the native farm animal genetic resources (FAnGR) of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1973 by Joe Henson to pres ...

. In 2013 the programme marked its 25th anniversary with a special edition guest-edited by

The Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers o ...

. ''Countryfile: A Royal Appointment'' saw the team joining the Prince on his Gloucestershire farm where he shared his passion for the British countryside, rare breed animals, organic farming and hedge-laying. ''Countryfile'' also accompanied him on a trip to County Durham to find out what's being done to help struggling hill farmers before heading to a London comprehensive where pupils are growing and cooking their own food with remarkable results. The Silver Jubilee celebrations continued well into July when 250 viewers were invited to a traditional summer fayre held on Adam Henson's farm. The anniversary was marked by a new title sequence and re-versioned music composed by David Lowe. October 2013 also saw the programme uniting with another BBC institution. Ireland went on to win '' Countryfile's One Man and His Dog'', which was broadcast on 27 October.

Magazine

The BBC's ''Countryfile'' magazine was launched in 2007 and is now published by Immediate Media Co. The current editor is Fergus Collins.

Photographic competition

The ''Countryfile Photographic Competition'' remains a highlight of the programme's year. Viewers are invited to submit entries and the best make up a

wall calendar A calendar is used to display dates and related information, usually in a table format. Calendars are used to plan future events and keep track of appointments, and so a typical calendar will include days of the week, week numbering, months, pub ...

sold in aid of Children in Need. The 2017 calendar raised over £2.2 million for the charity.

Spin-off programmes

Ageism case

In November 2010, the BBC faced an

employment tribunal Employment tribunals are tribunal public bodies in England and Wales and Scotland which have statutory jurisdiction to hear many kinds of disputes between employers and employees. The most common disputes are concerned with unfair dismissal, red ...

following allegations of sexism and ageism brought against the corporation by ex-reporter,

Miriam O'Reilly Miriam O'Reilly (born 16 February 1957 in Balbriggan, County Dublin) is an Irish television presenter. Until 2009, she was a presenter on the BBC One rural affairs show ''Countryfile''. Early life The daughter of an Irish farmer who came to ...

. O'Reilly sued the BBC due to the allegations following her dismissal from the programme in 2009, along with other female reporters,

Michaela Strachan Michaela Evelyn Ann Strachan (born 7 April 1966) is an English television presenter and singer. Early life Born in Ewell, Surrey, Strachan grew up in Hinchley Wood and attended Chadsworth Stage School, then Claremont Fan Court School, both i ...

, Juliet Morris and Charlotte Smith. Former BBC One controller Jay Hunt told the tribunal the claims were "entirely and categorically untrue" as well as "profoundly distressing and utterly offensive", arguing that the only reason for O'Reilly's departure was because she was not recognisable to a peak time audience. On 11 January 2011, the employment tribunal found in favour of O'Reilly's claims on the grounds of ageism and victimisation, but not sexism. The BBC accepted the tribunal's findings after what O'Reilly described as "an incredibly stressful 14 months."

On-air team

Main presenters

(1989—) *

(2001—) *

(2009—) * Tom Heap (2009—) * Ellie Harrison (2010—) *

(2014—) *

(2015—) *

(2015—)

Reporters, relief presenters and co-presenters

* Charlotte Smith (1998–2009, 2014—) * Jules Hudson (2009—) * James Wong (2009—) * Joe Crowley (2014—) *

Sam Matterface Samuel Peter Matterface (born 21 April 1978) is an English sports broadcaster currently working for TalkSPORT and ITV Sport. Career Matterface started working in sports radio in 1992 for local hospital radio station OHR, before moving into com ...

(2015—) *

Naomi Wilkinson Naomi Laura Wilkinson (born 30 June 1974, in Bristol, England) is an English television presenter and actress. Career Wilkinson was a presenter of ''Milkshake!'', the early-morning programming block for young children on Channel 5 and ''Fi ...

(2015—) * Steve Brown (2017—) *

Margherita Taylor Margherita Taylor (born 26 April 1972) is an English TV and radio presenter. She is a freelancer with Global Group and currently presents on stations Smooth Radio and Classic FM. Taylor studied media and communications at the University o ...

Former presenters

* Clare Balding (2011–2012) *

(2004–2014) *

Chris Baines Chris Baines (born 4 May 1947) is an English people, English naturalist, one of the UK's leading independent environmentalists.Michael Collie Michael Collie is a British television and radio presenter who appears on BBC News. He is also a former presenter of the weekly politics programme, the Politics Show, in addition to his work presenting BBC Midlands Today, produced by the BBC's ...

(1989–1995) *

Ben Fogle Benjamin Myer Fogle, (born 3 November 1973) is an English broadcaster, writer and adventurer, best known for his presenting roles with British television channels Channel 5, BBC and ITV. Early life Fogle is the son of English actress Juli ...

(2001–2009, 2014–2015) * Caroline Hall * Joe Henson (–2015) * Shiulie Ghosh (1993–1995) * Katie Knapman (2009–2013)https://uk.linkedin.com/in/katie-knapman-7117502b * Juliet Morris (until 2009) *

(until 2009) * Rupert Segar (1990) *

(1999–2009) * Roger Tabor

International broadcast

''Countryfile'' started airing on

BBC Knowledge BBC Knowledge was a British television channel which was owned by the BBC and was launched on 1 June 1999, broadcasting documentary, cultural and educational programmes. It was shut down on 2 March 2002, and was replaced by BBC Four. History L ...

New Zealand in early 2016.

References

External links

*
Official Twitter
*
''Countryfile'' magazine
{{Agriculture in the United Kingdom 1988 British television series debuts 1990s British television series 2000s British television series 2010s British television series 2020s British television series BBC Television shows Television series by BBC Studios English-language television shows Rural society in the United Kingdom Television shows about agriculture