''Burke's Backyard'' was an Australian gardening and lifestyle series presented by horticulturist Don Burke, broadcast on both radio and television. On television, it was a regular weekly series on the

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

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 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 P ...

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. Don Burke went on to join

Jamie Durie Jamie Paul Durie (born 3 June 1970) is an Australian horticulturalist and landscape designer, modern furniture, furniture designer, television host, television producer, and author of eleven books on landscape architecture, garden design and ...

in creating the television show '' Backyard Blitz''.

Cast

The show was hosted by Don Burke but also included other presenters. The cooking segment was presented by Geoff Jansz, who also hosted the Channel Nine cooking shows What's Cooking and Fresh. 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 29 August 1994 to 13 September 2004. Other presenters included Lynda Bryans, Steve Knight, Mairi McHaffie, Rhodri W ...

. 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 B ...

assisted Don as the building, gardening and design expert for more than half the program's duration. Other cast members included

Ernie Dingo Ernest Ashley Dingo Member of the Order of Australia, AM (born 31 July 1956) is an Indigenous Australians, Indigenous Australian actor, television presenter and comedian, originating from the Yamatji people of the Murchison (Western Australia), ...

, Peter Harris, Dr. Chris Brown, Nigel Ruck, Jackie French, Elise Pascoe, Rita Hill, Dr. Harry Cooper,

Reg Livermore Reginald Dawson Livermore (born 11 December 1938) is an Australian actor, singer, theatrical performer, designer, director, lyricist and writer and former television presenter. Biography Early life From a young age, Livermore demonstrated an ...

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

and Nigel Ruck. 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 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" (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

. 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

. 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 Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

shows including '' Australia's Best Backyards'' and '' Hot Property'', and was the most watched

show of the week.

References

External links