Countryfile

Countryfile is a British magazine-style television programme produced by BBC Birmingham, first aired in 1988, which reports on rural and environmental issues within the United Kingdom. For its first 20 years it was fronted by broadcaster John Craven, until he stepped back from the role of main presenter in 2009, to be replaced by Julia Bradbury and Matt Baker. Craven continues to present a weekly investigative feature focusing on the farming and food industry.

The issues which Countryfile addresses may include animal-culling, fox hunting, organic farming, EU agricultural policy, pollution, and open access land, and as such the nature of the programme is often political, sometimes airing debates between pressure groups.
The programme's format is based to an extent on the input of viewers, and annual photography competitions based on the beauty of the British countryside are part of this. The winning images of the competition are featured in the annual Countryfile Calendar, the profits from which - £750,000 in 2009 - go to the annual BBC Children In Need charity appeal.
Another feature is the Video Diary, which documents some aspects of agricultural or rural life in the countryside, filmed and produced by a member of the British public. Each week in the last ten minutes of the programme, there is a weather forecast for the next five days by called "weather for the week ahead" from the BBC Weather Centre.

On 27 July 2008, a special anniversary programme of Countryfile was broadcast, marking the 20th anniversary of the show. It revisited the highs and lows of the past twenty years, including BSE, foot and mouth, Avian flu, Bluetongue and the Red Kite to the UK.
In 2009, Countryfile moved to a 7pm slot on Sunday evenings, with additional presenters Julia Bradbury and Matt Baker and additional contributors Jules Hudson, Katie Knapman and James Wong. Craven continues as a weekly contributor to the programme, presenting a rural news roundup and other items, while it continues to draw upon a pool of regular and occasional reporters.
The Sunday morning slot was taken over by a new outdoors activity show called Country Tracks, hosted by Ben Fogle, Joe Crowley and Ellie Harrison, which mixes archive footage from Countryfile with newly-filmed sequences to create a different journey through the UK each week. ^[1][2]
The show will move to High Definition television in late 2009. Also the team headed down to Adam's Farm for a Christmas meal.^[3]
The theme music for the programme is composed by David Lowe who also wrote the original theme in 1988.