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1°31′26.96″W
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51.4292722°N 1.5241556°W
/
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British TV series or programme
The Victorian Kitchen Garden
|
---|
Genre
| Gardening
|
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Based on
| an idea by Jennifer Davies
|
---|
Directed by
| Keith Sheather
|
---|
Starring
| |
---|
Composer
| Paul Reade
|
---|
Country of origin
| United Kingdom
|
---|
Original language
| English
|
---|
No.
of episodes
| 13
|
---|
|
Producer
| Keith Sheather
|
---|
Production locations
| Leverton
, England
|
---|
Production company
| BBC
|
---|
|
Network
| BBC2
|
---|
Release
| 1987
(
1987
)
|
---|
|
The Victorian Flower Garden, The Victorian Kitchen, Harry's Big Adventure, The Wartime Kitchen and Garden
|
The Victorian Kitchen Garden
is a 13-part British television series produced in 1987 by Keith Sheather for
BBC2
, based on an idea by Jennifer Davies, who later became associate
producer
. It recreated a
kitchen garden
of the
Victorian era
at
Leverton, Berkshire
(near
Chilton Foliat
,
Wiltshire
). The presenter was the
horticultural
lecturer, Peter Thoday (1934-2023),
[1]
the master gardener was
Harry Dodson
, and the director was Keith Sheather.
[2]
The theme music and soundtrack was composed by
Paul Reade
and performed principally by
Emma Johnson
playing the
clarinet
. It won the 1991
Ivor Novello award
for best TV theme music.
[3]
Content
[
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]
The series began in the largely derelict
walled garden
at Chilton Lodge, and followed Dodson and his assistant, Alison, as they recreated the working kitchen garden.
The work involved many repairs, from replanting the box
(
Buxus
)
edging and replacing the gravel walks, to reglazing the
cold frames
and repairing the Victorian wood-framed,
brick
-based
glass-houses
. The team were determined to use plants that the Victorian head gardener would have had available. The programme displayed the various tools and techniques of Victorian gardening. Dodson had used many of both and therefore could demonstrate how they were used.
Episodes
[
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]
Episode
|
Title
|
Airdate
[4]
|
1
|
The Beginning
|
16 September 1987
|
2
|
January
|
23 September 1987
|
3
|
February
|
30 September 1987
|
4
|
March
|
7 October 1987
|
5
|
April
|
14 October 1987
|
6
|
May
|
21 October 1987
|
7
|
June
|
28 October 1987
|
8
|
July
|
4 November 1987
|
9
|
August
|
11 November 1987
|
10
|
September
|
18 November 1987
|
11
|
October
|
25 November 1987
|
12
|
November
|
2 December 1987
|
13
|
December
|
9 December 1987
|
Sequels and later availability
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]
The series was successful and spawned three sequels:
[5]
- The Victorian Kitchen
(with
Ruth Mott
), 1989
- The Victorian Flower Garden
, 1991
- The Wartime Kitchen and Garden
, 1993
- Harry's Big Adventure
, 1994
Each of the series (except for
The Wartime Kitchen and Garden
) is commercially available on DVD, distributed by
Acorn Media UK
. Accompanying books of all four series were written by the associate producer, Jennifer Davies, and published by
BBC Books
.
- The Victorian Kitchen
. London: B.B.C. Books, 1989
ISBN
0563206853
- The Victorian Kitchen Garden Companion
; Harry Dodson and Jennifer Davies. London: B.B.C. Books, 1988
ISBN
0563207108
- The Victorian Kitchen Garden
. London: B.B.C. Books, 1987
ISBN
0563204427
Reception
[
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]
Writing for
The Guardian
in 2009 during a repeat of the series,
Lucy Mangan
found that it was the "details that make the programme sing" and concluded by saying: "May it flourish somewhere in the schedules for ever."
[6]
Writer
Helen Rosner
discovered several episodes of the show online during the spring of 2020, and wrote a long article praising it for
The New Yorker
:
"The Soothing Pleasures of "The Victorian Kitchen Garden", a Vintage BBC Docuseries"
.
[7]
References
[
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]
External links
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]