TV Gardener of many BBC gardening shows (including Ground Force where he appears with Charlie Dimmock) has a house in Cowes and High Sheriff of the Island 2008

1. Alan Titchmarsh first few television appearances were on the long running BBC television show Nationwide as a horticulture expert. Titchmarsh admits "I suddenly tasted blood. It was - Wow!, I like this. I want to do more." This interest in television led to him being invited to present coverage of the Chelsea Flower Show for BBC television in 1983, something Titchmarsh has now hosted every year through to present (2008).[3] Titchmarsh also appeared on other BBC shows, such as Breakfast Time and Open Air, again as either a guest presenter or as a gardening expert, providing commentary and answering viewers' questions.[citation needed]

In 1988, Titchmarsh was offered a slot on BBC Radio 2 hosting a gardening show with Gloria Hunniford called House In A Garden,[4] but by 1991, it was clear that Titchmarsh's future lay in television, and he was brought in to host another BBC television programme, the long running (and now defunct) Pebble Mill at One talk show, hosting from 1991 to the time the show was cancelled in 1996. Also in 1991, Titchmarsh hosted a 6-part series where he followed in the footsteps of the pilgrims, travelling around Britain and Ireland in the process.[5]

The cancellation of Pebble Mill at One in 1996 gave Titchmarsh the opportunity to move back towards his first love, gardening and he took over as host of another long-running BBC television programme, Gardeners' World in the same year, the show being filmed in his own garden. In 1997, he took gardening to the masses with a popular BBC One television series, Ground Force in which he and fellow presenters Charlie Dimmock and Tommy Walsh would perform a makeover on a garden, Titchmarsh making full use of his horticultural skills when restocking the lucky gardens featured.[3] The show has travelled as far as U.S. and South Africa, where a memorable episode saw the Ground Force team makeover Nelson Mandela's garden.[6]
Alan Titchmarsh at the 2008 Gardeners' World Live Exhibition in the NEC.

Staying involved in gardening programmes post Gardeners' World, Titchmarsh has hosted two series of How To Be A Gardener, which is his most recent gardening programming to date.

Away from the gardening world, Titchmarsh has had spells presenting Songs of Praise, and a series of programmes on BBC Radio 2 where he played a selection of light classical music, and more recently, hosting a BBC nature documentary series, British Isles - A Natural History. In recent years, his television and radio workload his lightened, presumably to allow Titchmarsh more time to concentrate on his growing career as a novelist and renewed interest in writing gardening books (see below).

Titchmarsh has also appeared in an advert for the Yorkshire Tourist Board in a series which included contributions from other Yorkshire-born celebrities including Brian Blessed, Melanie Brown, Darren Gough and Brian Turner, and occasionally does other voice over work for adverts. His recent voice over work has extended to voicing the title character in Gordon the Garden Gnome, a cartoon series for the CBeebies channel.[7]

Titchmarsh has hosted a follow-up series to British Isles - A Natural History which is titled The Nature of Britain and focuses on British plant and animal species. The series has been broadcast in Autumn, 2007.[8]

Other more recent various works include hosting a special edition of the Antiques Roadshow, entitled the 20th Century Roadshow, which focused on modern collectibles, performing in the Children's Party At The Palace for the Queen's 80th birthday, and being guest host of The Paul O'Grady Show while Paul was off for medical reasons. As of January, 2006 Alan has a permanent slot on BBC Radio 2 from 6:30pm until 8:30pm on Sunday evenings named "Melodies for you" consisting of light classical and popular music, the show follows the traditional style of Sunday night broadcasting on Radio 2.

As of June, 2007, Alan can also be seen hosting The Great British Village Show, in which gardeners and cooks from all over Britain competed to be Britain's best at growing pumpkins, runner beans and tomatoes, and at knitting, baking cakes and making jam.[8]

Titchmarsh began his chat show for ITV, The Alan Titchmarsh Show in September, 2007.

1 Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Titchmarsh

Own Website http://www.alantitchmarsh.com/Home.asp

High Sheriff IOW Webpage http://www.highsheriff-iow.org.uk/