Press Release

A New Year and a New TV Series, 8pm Friday nights from 5th January 2007

December 2006

Major 10-part TV series on BBC Two gives inside view of Kew’s plants and people

January 5 sees the start of a new TV series following the staff of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew as they go about their business of nurturing plants at home and abroad. Narrated by Alan Titchmarsh, A New Year at Kew follows the popular success of A Year at Kew. The new series has a fresh sparkle, packed with information about gardens, plant science and the adventures of the individuals who make Kew tick.

As winter bites, gardeners around the country will be able to snuggle up on the sofa and enter a world of people who care passionately about plants, and to travel with them into some of the hidden corners of the world where rare and threatened species grow. Viewers will be able to plumb the depths of Kew’s monumental compost heap; follow an intrepid Kew scientist as she searches China for medicinal plants; watch a Kew scientist working with farmers in Ghana to control pests on vital food crops; see how Kew charts early and un-seasonal flowering; and witness the efforts of Kew scientists to encourage poor South Africans to grow plants that are believed to be effective treating HIV.

Share the anxieties of Hugh, a scientist in the world-famous Millennium Seed Bank, as he tries to propagate some 200-year- old seeds discovered by accident in the National Archives. Join in Sarah’s excitement as she prepares the gardens around Kew Palace for a Royal opening. Watch Oliver’s antics as he races across the gardens with a giant drum for the Lion Dance to open the historic Pagoda. The series enters the lives of the people who care for Kew, and shows how important plants are for visitors, medicine, and conservation around the world.

In ten weeks the story unfolds the year, from the buds of spring to the sweltering days of summer. We see the arrival of wallabies at Kew, the planting of a new Mediterranean garden, and first steps in trying to reconstruct a botanical garden in Montserrat that was destroyed by a volcano. The programme reveals some fascinating detective work going on behind the scenes, such as the grisly ‘Torso in the Thames’ case. And, while exciting work goes on in several different continents, back at Kew, the everlasting pruning and weeding continues with its own quiet drama.

A lavishly illustrated book accompanies the series, taking an even closer view of Kew’s plant expertise: The World of Kew by Carolyn Fry, price £18.99.

Ends

For further information and sample tapes for review:
Please contact Sue Runyard, Anna Quenby, or Oliver Basciano in the RBG Kew Press Office.
Telephone: 020 8332 5607. E-mail: pr@kew.org.

Notes to Editors
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a world famous scientific organisation, internationally respected for its outstanding living collection of plants and world-class herbarium as well as its scientific expertise in plant diversity, conservation and sustainable development in the UK and around the world. Kew Gardens is a major international visitor attraction and its 132 hectares of landscaped gardens attract over one million visitors per year. Kew was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2003 and represents over 250 years of historical landscape. For further information please visit www.kew.org.

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