2017 2018

Countryfile explores the Ribble Valley. Matt Baker is in the stunning Gisburn Forest where he discovers these wild woods at dawn. He also meets those, on two wheels and four, that make the most of nature's playground here. Anita Rani is on a farm with its roots in the past, but which is looking to the future. She meets the refugees who are discovering farming in the snow. And Adam Henson meets the stallions playing a special part in securing the future of rare breeds. Tom Heap looks into an argument between gun owners and doctors over new Home Office rules on gun licensing that have left many people confused and angry.

Countryfile visits the Somerset Levels, where Matt Baker is on the hunt for the common crane, a bird that has been brought back from the brink. It now thrives in this area, thanks to an unlikely union. Anita Rani meets the farmer who is turning apples into a tempting tipple. Adam Henson takes stock on his farm as winter arrives. And in the first part of a new feature, the programme discovers the highs and lows of life as a rural vet. Charlotte Smith finds out why people who swim in the sea are unwittingly exposing themselves to dangerous bacteria and discovers where they come from.

Anita Rani joins some budding 'citizen scientists' taking in the New Year Plant Hunt. Leicestershire has more than 300 rare species of plant, but they're being lost at a rapid rate. Anita visits Leicester University's herbarium to investigate the city's plants past, present and future.

John Craven is at Rutland Water which is a hotspot for birding, with more hides than any other reserve in the country, where every year at least one hide is rebuilt. John joins in with 'raising' the new building which forms part of the trainee reserve officers training for the year. Steve Brown gets to know some of Rutland Water's winter visitors better and looks forward to the Big Garden Birdwatch, as well as meeting the young birdwatchers taking part and revealing how to take part in this years' event.

Tom Heap looks at the problems faced by rural fire services.

There can't be many farms in Britain run by a family of sporting legends, but Matt Baker's on a sheep farm in Crieff to meet two brothers who were pretty much born to curl! The Muirhead family name is one of the most famous in the global game of curling. Their dad Gordon was a world champion and, with a string of Olympic accolades, their sister Eve is perhaps Scotland's most prestigious curler. Matt meets brothers Thomas and Glen Muirhead as they get ready for lambing on the family farm. But their minds are fixed on getting a very different type of delivery right... as part of Britain's curling team in 2018's Winter Olympics. We hear about the sporting dynasty and how Olympic training fits around farming, and we learn about the family dynamic between the brothers both on the rink and in the fields.
In another nod to traditional Scottish sports, Charlotte Smith heads into the forest of the Drummond Estate on a hunt for the perfect tree for caber tossing in the upcoming Highland Games. The programme uses some great archive from the 1930s and 40s to illustrate how so many traditional Scottish games use items from the land, such as stone, rope and wood. The caber is usually a Scottish larch, and it has to be bigger and better than the previous year's. We follow the tree's journey as it gets felled, carved and polished ready for this year's game. Finally, in the grounds of the Drummond Estate, Charlotte gets a one-on-one coaching session - albeit with a much smaller practice caber!
Adam Henson is on a farm in Trewithick, Cornwall, where the mild climate has given one farm a huge helping hand. Steve and Ryan Johnson only started sheep farming a few years ago, but now they're rearing hundreds and lambing all year round. The milder climate means a longer growing season for grass, meaning a longer growing season for lambs. They've already lambed their Dorsets and their Lleyns. Adam helps out as they scan and get the maternity shed ready for their final lambers - their High

Today, Countryfile embraces the wonders of winter. Matt Baker is on the Dorset coastline to meet a man who's championing local winter produce. Anita Rani finds out how making jewellery inspired by nature can improve the winter blues. In the Highlands, Steve Brown mushes with a pack of huskies, and we catch up with Eddie the Eagle, 30 years after his appearance at the Winter Olympics. We also take to the wilds with the artist who loves painting mountains. Joe Crowley meets the man with a lifelong passion for deer, while Ellie Harrison finds out about our long fascination with foxes. And Adam Henson is on a farm where gathering in the sheep is a risky business.

Ellie Harrison and Matt Baker are in Cambridgeshire, where Matt looks at a huge project to turn a quarry into the UK's biggest reed bed. Thousands of tons of sand and gravel are being shifted at Ouse Fen to create the perfect habitat for wildlife, including one of the UK's rarest birds, the bittern. Matt is also on hand to help release some fish into specially-created pools.

Ellie is with a team from Cambridge University whose work is throwing new light on the secret life of truffles. She also takes a walk in the woods with botanical artist Caroline Henricksen, who reveals a world of wonder beneath Ellie's feet.

Wildlife cameraman Richard Taylor Jones witnesses a wildlife spectacle of a lifetime, Adam Henson meets a young farmer making a go of it in the New Forest, plus the latest instalment from the young vets.

Tom Heap has an exclusive interview with Bill Gates about why he's making the most of British agricultural expertise.

Matt Baker and Anita Rani are in Anglesey, where Matt is on the lookout for harbour porpoises. He meets scientist Peter Evans to find out why the waters round Anglesey are so good for a whole variety of marine mammals. He also meets the schoolchildren who've made it their mission to keep the islands beaches clear of plastic.

Anita meets 'squirrel whisperer' David Lacey, a man who has red squirrels literally eating out of his hands. Anita then heads out with fisherman John Jones to find out what's behind the boom in Menai mussels.

Tom Heap is looking at faux fur and asks how do we know it isn't real. And Adam Henson finds out how the latest facial recognition technology is helping farmers spot problems early with their livestock.

When is faux fur not fake? Well, more often than you'd think. Helen Skelton is investigating how real fur is making it into our shops and our wardrobes without us realising.

Matt Baker and Helen Skelton are in Derbyshire, where Matt is exploring the boom in farming alpacas. He meets Ingrid Rushton, one of the first people in the UK to own them, and visits a blood transfusion drop-in for alpacas where owners have come from all over the region bringing their animals to donate blood which could save baby alpaca's lives.

Helen tries her hand at 'weaselling', the latest craze to sweep the Peaks. It is a kind of potholing that happens above ground and joins a party of schoolchildren who squeeze in and out of the rocky tors that dot the landscape. She also meets countryside champion Yvonne Witter, who has made it her mission to get more people from ethnic backgrounds into our countryside.

Tom Heap looks at illegal abattoirs and asks if the meat on our plates is what we think it is, and Adam is in north Wales meeting the farmer using a special type of working dog to manage his livestock.

Water is our most precious natural resource. There is not a plant or animal on earth that can do without it. Our landscape is shaped by it; livelihoods depend on it. Water provides homes for wildlife and is a source of inspiration and a place for recreation.

In this programme, Helen is at Kielder Water in Northumberland, exploring the ways in which the wet stuff shapes our lives. There is also a meander through the archives, dipping a toe into previous watery worlds to which Countryfile has been.

Steve Brown is on the trail of an elusive and endangered Scottish creature - the mud snail. They may not be one of nature's glamour species, but these tiny molluscs play an important role in the ecosystem. Anita Rani cycles along the sands of the East Lothian coast on a 'fat bike'. With larger than normal tyres they leave virtually no trace in the sand, having as little impact on the natural habitat as possible. Matt Baker visits St Abbs - a community who refused to let their lifeboat service go under. When threatened with closure they independently took on the community lifeboat, saving 104 years of history. There are ten million cattle farmed in the UK, and it is a well-known fact that livestock like cows produce a lot of methane, which contributes to global warming. Adam Henson is in Edinburgh at an agricultural college where they are working on a solution. Tom Heap looks at companies buying up swathes of countryside and selling it on with planning permission for houses.

Ellie Harrison is in Pembrokeshire looking at the effect of recent storms on the coastline.

Adam Henson visits Scotland's Rural College, where they are researching ways to reduce farming's impact on global warming.

Tom Heap looks at the problems faced by the UK's sheep farmers and asks why people have fallen out of love with lamb.

As the birthplace of the industrial revolution, this is a landscape rich in coal and iron. But the legacy of one of the ancient coal shafts is a river that is colourful for all the wrong reasons - it runs bright orange with iron-rich ochre from the rocks below. Matt Baker immerses himself in Shropshire Wildlife Trust's Love Your Rivers project. It's a huge conservation operation, involving 12 organisations and an army of volunteers inspired to give their landscape some TLC.

Ellie Harrison accompanies sniffer-dog Lunar in a search for pine martens. She also meets James Sherwin - a man who set himself a 12-month mission - to cook for a whole year only using ingredients farmed and grown in Shropshire. What started as a small idea, in a pop-up restaurant, has now grown into a countywide venture.

Steve Brown spends the day with Becky Haywood, an artist who combines her love of nature with molten glass.

Adam Henson has a round-up of life on the farm as spring sets in.

As the numbers of one the UK's favourite mammals plummets, Tom Heap asks where have all our hedgehogs gone?

Matt Baker, Anita Rani and Joe Crowley are in West Yorkshire where Matt meets Dr Ryad Alsous, a refugee from Syria whose love of bees has helped him forge a new life here. Matt also meets some of the refugees and locals Ryad is inspiring with his love of bees. Matt gets to try his hand at making a beehive and samples a delicious Syrian dessert made with the honey he helps Ryad harvest.

Anita is on the moors looking for the Easter bunny - or should that be Easter hare? She's on the hunt for the elusive mountain hare in its most northerly English habitat. Anita also meets Susan Sroka, a one woman hare rescue service who's been nursing a baby leveret back to health.

Joe explores Emily Bronte's passion for wildlife and finds out that she had her very own bird of prey.

Tom Heap looks at the reasons for the decline in our hedgehogs and Adam Henson buys some of the rarest native breed cattle there are, blue albions.

Sean Fletcher and Naomi Wilkinson are in the wilds around Loch Ness. Sean is on the Erchless Estate, where they are busy tapping birch trees for the next big culinary thing - birch sap. He also meets the sporran maker putting a twist on this traditional item of Scottish clothing.

Naomi spends the day with seventh-generation crofter Iain McLeod and his daughter Chloe to get a taste of crofting life. It is lambing time so there is plenty to keep Naomi busy. She then meets Michelle Anderson Carrol, a vegetarian who rears rare breed pigs for meat.

Then it is off to Glenurquhart, the home of shinty, where Naomi and Sean take sides and go head to head in this ancient Scottish game.

Tom Heap takes a look at the rise in popularity of a vegan diet, and Adam Henson is on the Welsh estate where they keep bison.

Matt Baker and Anita Rani are in West Cumbria where Matt takes a wild and bracing walk along a brand new section of the England Coast Path on Walney Island near Barrow. He meets the people who are creating the path, sees some incredible wildlife on route and discovers a local film-maker who's using materials foraged from the sea shore, to craft new and unexpected films.

Meanwhile Anita heads to the north near Whitehaven taking a trail that explores the life of forgotten Cumbrian artist Percy Kelly.

Helen Skelton is a few miles inland meeting the woodsman who gave up life in the city to return to his childhood home where he now handcrafts wooden chopping boards.

Sean Fletcher is looking at how a fishing ban might just save England's only breeding colony of black guillemots.

Tom Heap looks at how many people say they would pay extra to ensure the best animal welfare standards, but does that always prove to be the case when it comes to the supermarket till?

And Adam Henson is on the estate in Wales where they've gone big into a type of livestock you won't find down on his farm - bison!

Anita Rani is in Norfolk meeting the people keeping some of the UK's vanishing trades alive. Her first stop is Horsey Windpump which has been restored to full working glory by Tim Whiting, one of the last millwrights in the country. Next she joins the reed cutters making a living on the Norfolk Broads, where she gets to try her hand at cutting. Then she joins Nigel Ford, a man on a mission to restore all of Norfolk's ancient milestones. Finally, she meets David Wolstenholme who makes cricket bats by hand, a skill that's listed by the Heritage Crafts Association as being critically endangered, before she takes her place at the crease to put the bat to the test.

Matt Baker is in Cornwall to meet Julian Jackson, who lost his sight in 2010 and is raising money for a vision charity by walking from Land's End to John O'Groats, following spring as it spreads northwards through the country.

Ellie Harrison hears about a project that has brought beavers back to the riverbanks of Cornwall after a 400-year absence.

Steve Brown takes to the warm spring waters in a catamaran, hoping to spot some seasonal marine life.

Tom's looking at why farmers can be at high risk of suicide and discovers what's being done to help one particular group.

Adam and Charlotte meet up with the first of three finalists as they search for the Countryfile Farming Hero for 2018.

Anita Rani is in Rothbury, being put through her paces with the mountain rescue team and hearing how new technologies are helping search-and-rescue operations. Anita then goes to Amble. She visits the lobster hatchery that is giving the area's shellfish stocks a helping hand. She sees how the baby lobsters are reared before being released back into the waters.

Matt is on Coquet Island, the only place in the UK with a breeding population of roseate terns. As peak breeding season approaches they need to make sure everything is in place. Matt get busy constructing nest boxes for the terns, preparing the shingle (which they like to bed into) and rigging up the nest cams.

Steve Brown takes in the wildlife at Hauxley Nature Reserve. He meets James Common, whose wildlife blogging has earned him a place in the finals of this year's UK Blog Awards.

Tom Heap looks into the export of live animals for slaughter from the UK and the calls for it to be banned after Brexit.

The team are in Hampshire, where Matt Baker hears about a project championing the use of local wood, as more people using locally sourced timber leads to better-managed woodlands, and that means more biodiversity.

John Craven hears how oysters are being reintroduced to the Solent in a bid to revive stocks. The Solent Fishery was once the largest in Europe, but oyster fishing was banned five years ago when annual harvests plummeted from 200 to 20 tonnes in five years.

On the shoreline around the Solent, Ellie Harrison hears about an innovative project to study coastal erosion. She meets Sasha, who uses radio trackers placed into stones on the beach to follow their movements.

Tom Heap looks at how new technology and smart machinery could put UK farmers at greater risk of cyberattack.

Adam Henson and Charlotte Smith travel to the Shetland Islands to meet the third and last finalists for the Countryfile Farming Hero Award 2018.

Matt Baker is whipping up a Welsh spring treat with baker Beca Lyne-Pirkis.

Ellie Harrison meets the designer who's creating a celebratory 30th anniversary Countryfile garden for the Hampton Court Flower Show.

Anita Rani's in Dorset living life on the edge, in the hope of spotting migrating birds. Steve Brown discovers how a Somerset artist gets an unusual view of our fresh new landscape.

In the Norfolk Broads John Craven explores the legacy of the Edwardian naturalist and photographer Emma Turner.

We meet the Buckinghamshire farmer who's becoming an internet sensation and the metalworker who's capturing spring in miniature.

Adam Henson is getting fit for spring, with a little help from some farm friends.

To celebrate 65 years since Her Majesty's coronation, Countryfile, also celebrating its 30th anniversary, has been given unprecedented access to the Queen's Windsor estate.

Matt Baker is at Windsor Great Park finding out about the Queen's countryside retreat and how it was as a young princess that Her Majesty first fell in love with the park. It's here where she can indulge her love of nature and also her great love of horses. Matt meets the Queen's head groom as well as her favourite pony Emma. He also explores the park in the Duke of Edinburgh's horse-drawn carriage for a unique tour of some of the Queen's favourite places.

Adam Henson explores the farming history at Windsor as well as looking at the Queen's current farming methods. She has a number of breeds of livestock on the farm. Adam meets the farm manager looking after the Sussex breed of beef cattle before meeting the Queen's dairy herd of beautiful jersey cattle which are reared using also the latest farming technology. Adam is also allowed inside the never before filmed majestic creamery - designed by Prince Albert in 1857.

Anita Rani looks at the Queen's love of horses and her passion for native British breeds. Anita meets a farmer who breeds Cleveland Bays, a breed rescued from the brink of extinction by HM the Queen.

Sean Fletcher is at the Royal Welsh Show. It's a country show Princess Elizabeth first visited in 1947. Sean finds out about the amazing reception she's received each time she's visited.

Windsor is home to some of the most ancient and veteran oak trees in Northern Europe. John Craven meets the man in charge of a huge new planting scheme across the Great Park instigated by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.

Countryfile also explores the wildlife on the park, the return of Windsor's vineyards after a gap of more than 900 years and Matt Baker looks at the challenge the Queen has faced to make this 1000-year-old estate environmentally fit to face the future.

To celebrate 65 years since HM the Queen's coronation, Countryfile has been given unprecedented access to the Queen's Balmoral estate. Matt Baker is at Glamis Castle, the family home of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the Queen Mother, where the Queen spent many happy childhood holidays. Ellie Harrison is exploring the woodland on the Balmoral estate and seeing how conservation projects introduced by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh are encouraging wildlife. Anita Rani is on the Western Isles where the royal family would travel on board the Royal Yacht Britannia. Anita alights on the Isle of Ghiga where the Queen once made an unannounced visit which the locals still remember today. Adam is back on the Balmoral estate meeting the stockman who looks after the Queen's herd of Highland Cattle and checks out one of the Queen's favourite bulls; Smurf. Adam catches up with the head of the Balmoral stud to see how the Queen is preserving the bloodline of the estate's Highland ponies. Ellie Harrison joins Balmoral's head deer stalker as they go out and about on the estate. Matt Baker is at one of the bothies on the estate and hears about the royal family's taste for dining outdoors and sees the barbecue designed by the Duke of Edinburgh.

To celebrate 65 years since Her Majesty's coronation, Countryfile, also celebrating its 30th anniversary, has been given unprecedented access to the Queen's Sandringham estate.

Matt Baker discovers that the Queen's love of her most private rural hideaway comes through her father's side of the family. When George VI died at Sandringham in 1952 it became even more special to the Queen and as Matt discovers, memories of her father are written into the landscape, especially the trees on the estate.

Adam Henson looks into the farming history of Sandringham which has run as a mixed farm of nearly 6000 acres for many years. Adam looks at the wheat and blackcurrant crops before turning his attention to the Red Poll cattle.

Ellie Harrison is at the Royal Stud just half a mile from the main house. It was here that the young princess would accompany both her grandfather and father to spend time with the thoroughbreds. From this moment onwards the young princess was spellbound and still is today. Ellie learns that the Queen asks for regular reports on all her horses and sees how once the horses' racing careers have finished, the Queen has found a new lease of life for them - dressage.

John Craven looks at the great flood of 1953 and meets the local people who were affected in the Sandringham area to hear their stories.

Ellie is also looking at the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh's work with scientists and ecologists to monitor the health of the land at Sandringham. She visits the Duke of Edinburgh's bird hide to witness the wildlife that visits the reclaimed land and calls it home.

Matt Baker also visits the Royal Pigeon Loft and discovers that the birds are a real passion of the Queen.

Finally, Anita Rani learns about Her Majesty's love of gun dogs. Anita meets gun dog handler Bill Meldrum and learns how he taught the Queen to win field trials.

Sean Fletcher, Margherita Taylor and Steve Brown are in Northern Ireland. Sean is at the beautiful Lower Lough Erne meeting the two boat-building brothers reviving the traditional clinker boat. He sees the intricate way they are made and gets to sail in one - the first time a wooden clinker boat has set sail on the Lough in decades.

Margherita explores the boom in pine marten numbers in Fermanagh and finds that, while it is good news for the local red squirrel population, it is bad news for smallholders. And Steve Brown heads to Killeter, where the local churches are putting on a very special display to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Cecil Frances Alexander, writer of All Things Bright and Beautiful.

Also in this programme, Tom Heap meets Sir James Dyson and hears his vision for the future of British farming. Adam Henson does a bit of spring stock-taking down on his farm, and John Craven is joined by Cerys Matthews and Simon King for the launch of the Countryfile Photographic Competition for 2018.

Matt, Ellie and Steve are in West Sussex, where Matt explores the phenomenon of 'champing' - where people pay to stay in churches. He also meets the man who listens to trees and discovers the surprising world beneath their bark.

Ellie meets Maya Leonard, a self-proclaimed insect activist, to hear how beetles are just as important at pollinating plants as bees.

Steve is with the volunteers who hope to put an end to food waste. They call themselves gleaners, and today they are helping themselves to a field full of unwanted rhubarb.

Also in this programme, Tom looks at the problem of untreated sewage being dumped in rivers, Adam meets the brewer who he hopes will buy his barley, and Adam and Charlotte announce the winner of Countryfile's Farming Hero Award.

Matt Baker and Margherita Taylor are in Dorset, where Matt spends time at Lorton Meadows, a nature reserve renowned for its birds of prey. He meets Sam Dallimore, who shows him some of the nest boxes, before meeting up with Jason Fathers, who is installing web cameras. And the stars of the show are the polygamous kestrels - one male with two females, a rare occurrence in the raptor world. Thanks to the webcams, Matt gets a close-up view of the chicks too.

Margherita dons her oilskins and tests her sea legs out with the couple who turned their passion for sea fishing into a thriving business. The programme also features Kieran Peree, who gave up his training as an engineer to dive for scallops off the Dorset coast.

Adam visits a care farm that is helping people rebuild their lives. Tom discovers how low pupil numbers and a lack of funds mean many rural schools are facing a fight to survive. And Anita meets the first of the contenders in Countryfile's search for a young presenter.

Ellie Harrison and Sean Fletcher explore the grounds and surrounds of Hampton Court Palace. It is home to the last stable of working shire horses in London, and Sean hears how they offer a natural alternative to modern machinery. While Sean is at the house, Ellie is in the garden, at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, revealing the finished design of the Countryfile Wildlife Garden.

Anita Rani and Adam Henson meet the next two Young Presenter finalists. Adam also hears how lupins are being used as an alternative to soya in livestock feed. Tom Heap finds out whether a US free-trade deal after Brexit would mean boom or bust for UK farmers.

Sean Fletcher spells out what it is he loves so much about Wales, with his 'seven wonders of Wales' - the mountains, hill farming, heritage, wildlife, castles, food and the coastline. This final wonder is a particular favourite of Sean's, and he's not the only one to think that. So to celebrate its shoreline, Wales has chosen 2018 as its Year of the Sea. From the 870 miles of pathway that run the whole length of the coastline, many Welsh wonders can be seen. Sean journeys along Pembrokeshire's stretch of the Welsh Coastal Path. On the way he flexes his Welsh language skills as he meets people who live and work on the path with tales to tell.

To celebrate Countryfile's 30th anniversary, John Craven takes us through 30 of the most memorable moments from the programme from the past three decades. Matt Baker meets local legend Joss Naylor, who has been running over Cumbria his whole life and is known as the king of the fells. There's a look back over some of the big news stories covered by the programme, including foot and mouth. Tom meets a farmer featured at the height of the outbreak to see how he's coped. There's also a look at some favourite wildlife encounters and Ellie meets the students who could become the future of wildlife film-making. We revisit some of the quirkier events in the rural calendar, such as the world nettle eating championships and the world tin bath racing event. Steve Brown is on Ullswater meeting those on a quest for the Holy Grail of the boating world. Countryfile has often travelled abroad to see what we can learn from our farming neighbours and Adam is in France hearing how ancient methods of farming could be the future.

The team travel to Exmoor. Matt Baker meets a group of youngsters on the National Citizen Service scheme, a residential course that uses outdoor activities to help children from all backgrounds to build skills for work and life. Exmoor is one of only a handful of places in the country where the UK's most endangered butterfly - the high brown fritillary - can be spotted, and Margherita Taylor meets those doing all they can to restore its habitat in a bid to increase its numbers. This involves using a remote-controlled mini-tractor that breaks down bracken to create runnels that the butterflies can travel though. It also encourages the underlying violets to grow that the caterpillars feed on. Adam Henson meets the Sikh family of strawberry-growers that are uniting farmers around Worcestershire, who have started the Growers United Football Charity. It not only brings local farmers and growers together and raises money, but also promotes agriculture as a key sector of the economy. Tom looks at what is being done to fight lyme disease, a debilitating illness that affects up to 3,000 people a year and is often transmitted through a single bite from an infected tick. Joe finds out how moorland communities are dealing with the impact of this summer's wildfires, looking at how the continuing dry spell is forcing farmers to use up vital supplies of winter fodder to make up for the lack of grazing in the parched countryside. The Young Presenter Talent Search reaches its climax, as Anita is joined by fellow presenters Nick Baker and JB Gill to decide the winners in each age category.

John, Margherita and Steve are in East Yorkshire where John takes a trip down memory lane to the seaside holidays of his youth. He returns to Bridlington where he meets the enthusiasts keeping the traditional coble boats afloat, and is lucky enough to set out in one under sail. Margherita discovers a secret arts trail in the Wolds and meets poet Ian MacMillan to hear about his love of the area. Steve is a few miles inland meeting a farmer who grows hemp and discovers how versatile a plant it is. And to prove this he helps build a wall made of hemp bricks. Charlotte looks at how tourism is having a negative impact on some of best loved beauty spots, and Adam meets the farmer taking to the internet to get his message about farming out.

Matt, Ellie and Steve are in Nottinghamshire where Matt reports on the plight of the original Bramley apple tree. He joins the scientists working to preserve as much genetic material from it in an effort to unlock the secrets of its long life.

There's a double hit of wildlife from Ellie as she goes on a night time hunt for one of Britain's rarest bats - the barbastelle. It's appearance this far north is creating a stir amongst conservationists. Then she joins the husband and wife team behind one of the country's most successful barn owl projects, and gets up close to their latest clutch of chicks.

Steve heads for the woods to see how nature is helping some of the county's most vulnerable people. Also in this programme Charlotte looks at the threat to our country parks from council funding cuts and Adam's on his farm counting the cost of the continuing dry spell.

The team are at Countryfile Live, set in the stunning grounds of Blenheim Palace. Matt Baker tries his hand scurry racing, where it takes skill to handle the horses and make the scurry take corners at speed.

Ellie Harrison meets the artist whose skill is taxidermy without the animals.

John Craven takes along his pet dachshund Dora and explores Churchill's love of dogs.

Steve Brown goes backstage at the first ever British charcuterie awards and meets the producers putting British meats on the map.

Adam Henson is with Blenheim's head shepherd finding out how to manage a flock of 1,500 sheep on a World Heritage site.

Tom Heap looks at the impact plastics are having on the environment. Anita Rani is joined by the winners of the Young Presenter Talent search.

Anita and ten-year-old Matilda get hands-on with hedgehogs and discover why, despite being endangered nationally, their numbers are on the rise in the grounds of the Blenheim estate. Thirteen-year-old Archie teams up with Anita to find out why fishing has increased 50 per cent amongst under-16s. While Archie gets some angling advice from a teenager helping to get more youngsters involved, Anita meets comedian and fishing fanatic Paul Whitehouse for his top tips. Anita and Archie then go head to head in a fish-off.

Matt and Margherita are in North Wales where Matt discovers how miniature technology could tell us more about the habits of one of our best-loved insects. He's shown how tiny antennae are strapped to individual bees which are then tracked by drones. Matt also meets the entrepreneurial young beekeeper already farming her own bees and selling the honey to businesses nearby.

Margherita takes a ride on the famous Blaenau Ffestiniog railway along with people living with dementia and their carers. The trip is the brainchild of Emma Jayne Quaeck who saw how being out in nature helped her own mother's condition.

Margherita also heads underground to see how old slate mines are being used to help age prize-winning local cheese.

John is joined by fellow judges Cerys Matthews and Simon King to announce the final 12 in this year's Countryfile Photographic Competition, and Adam comes face to face with a cattle breed that is shaking up smallholding.

Steve Brown goes on a whistlestop tour of the place he calls home - the Isle of Sheppey. A flat landscape typified by saltmarsh, sea and big skies, this is a wilderness full of wildlife. The programme spends the day immersed in nature at Elmley Marshes on the north Kent coast. It's the country's only family-run farm that is also a designated national nature reserve.

With waders within the wetlands, livestock on the saltmarsh that snakes down to the sea and raptors soaring high in the enormous skies, Steve gives viewers an insight into the landscape he loves. The programme also looks back at some of Countryfile's favourite forays on to marshland, on the seas and in the sky.

Anita Rani and John Craven are in Essex, where there is so much more going on beside the seaside than just sandcastles and seagulls stealing chips. Anita hears how tough old timber that has travelled half way around the world from the tropics to the UK is being up-cycled and repurposed to find new life in the Essex landscape.

John visits a farm which is a leader in the field when it comes to growing niche crops. Peter Fairs was one of the first farmers to grow quinoa back in the 1970s, and an increase in plant-based diets means that Peter's unusual crops are becoming more mainstream. John gets a taste of their latest superfood crops - borage and chia.

In a couple of weeks Countryfile celebrates Britain's best shepherding talent, playing host to the One Man and His Dog sheepdog trial competition. As the competitors and their collies get ready, Adam Henson heads out to meet teams Scotland and Ireland.

Tom Heap looks at why the government has finally given fracking the go ahead.

Harvest is one of the busiest times of the farming year, but this year many farmers are bearing the brunt of the winter storms and summer drought. Helen Skelton visits a farm in York to hear how carrots are in crisis. The extremes of weather have lead to the lowest yields for decades and the highest levels of imports.

Steve Brown is in Cornwall looking at a much smaller harvest. He meets Seth Pascoe, a man who wants to bring the nutritional benefits of sea berries to the wider public. But it is a delicate fruit with many sharp thorns to bypass.

Adam Henson meets the Welsh and English contenders for this year's One Man and His Dog. Have they got what it takes to be crowned champion?

Charlotte Smith investigates whether farmers can really trust their banks when it comes to their future financing.

Matt Baker has all the information on to take part in this year's Countryfile Ramble for BBC Children in Need.

The British Isles' top shepherds and their collies descend on the small village of Llansteffan in south Wales as we host Countryfile's One Man and His Dog 2018.

Teams from England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland are all competing for the coveted trophy, each team made up of a senior shepherd and the up-an-coming talent of a youngster.

This year the seniors take on trailing's most difficult discipline, 'the brace' - working two dogs at the same time, and our youngsters have an average age of just 11 years.

Whilst Matt Baker takes to the commentary box, Anita Rani explores the Llansteffan ferry, making its return after 60 years, and which for generations has connected two communities across the Tywi estuary. Anita also hunts for one of the area's richest natural resources - cockles.

This week we're in Herefordshire where Sean is at Bodenham Lake, site of a huge habitat creation project. When work is complete there will be new spaces for otters, water rail, bitterns and the lake's best known inhabitant, the grass snake. Sean joins Sophie Cowling, the warden here, and her volunteers as they seek out these slippery creatures as part of an ongoing survey.

Margherita meanwhile is in a traditional orchard looking to turn its fortunes around with the help of a brew popular in medieval times - verjuice. Made from the juice of unripe apples, verjuice is proving a hit with foodies and top chefs alike.

Adam is also in Herefordshire, helping to get another of the country's famous crops in - hops. Matt's getting ready for this year's Countryfile Ramble for Children in Need by meeting Josh, an inspirational 14-year-old whose ambition is to climb a mountain. John is here to announce the winner of this year's Countryfile photographic competition, and Tom is investigating how city-based drug gangs are targeting some of the countryside's most vulnerable children.

Ellie Harrison takes an unflinching look at the state of the country's wildlife - the pressures it is under, the challenges it faces and the prospects for some of the most vulnerable species.

Ellie visits Devon to see the efforts being made to save one of the rarest insects, the narrow-headed ant. She also visits the Exmoor estate where water voles haven't been seen in 30 years.

Matt Baker is in Cornwall to see how a project to rear lobsters sustainably could have benefits for other threatened sea species.

Steve Brown visits a seabird sanctuary still dealing with the after-effects of the Torrey Canyon disaster 50 years ago.

Adam Henson is in Northern Ireland to see how farmers are working with the RSPB to bring back farmland birds.

Ellie Harrison is in Derbyshire to explore some of the things people can do on a different day out. Her first stop is Carsington Water, where she learns how to build a makeshift raft before taking to the water and racing it. Then she takes in an arts trail that features chainsaw sculptures, including a giant frame in which the landscape becomes the art. She heads to a limestone quarry to do some daytime moth-spotting and learns that this unusual habitat is the ideal home for some of the country's rarest moths. Finally, she takes part in the world-famous Bonsall Hen Racing Championships, meets the current world champion, eight-year-old Jack Alsop Smith, and gets some hen-racing tips before competing to see who will be crowned 2018 champion. Ellie also looks back through the Countryfile archives to come up with other ideas for a different day out.

Countryfile celebrates all things autumn. Matt Baker is on the Isle of Skye otter spotting. Anita Rani meets a potter on the Ards Peninsular who is capturing the essence of the season in her work. Steve Brown experiences the beauty of autumn leaves in miniature and all their mighty magnificence.

In north Wales John Craven visits the kitchen garden where autumn produce is coming to a sticky end. Adam Henson meets a couple making the most of autumn's random apples. In South Yorkshire Margherita Taylor gets her hands dirty with a third-generation forager.

The programme visits a pumpkin farmer at his busiest time of year, and beauty expert Liz Earle explains why autumn is her favourite season on the family farm.

The fourth annual Countryfile Ramble for BBC Children in Need features the show's presenters leading rambles across the UK, joined by viewers and inspirational youngsters helped by the charity. Anita Rani heads to Northern Ireland's Mourne Mountains, Adam Henson takes in Scotland's Galloway Forest Park, Ellie Harrison leads a mass ramble of more than 1,000 round the cathedral city of Ely, John Craven and Steve Brown team up to take a group of ramblers through Padarn Country Park in north Wales, and Matt Baker heads to the Isle of Skye, hoping to fulfil a young boy's dream of scaling a mountain.

Meanwhile, roving reporter Tom Heap catches up with some of the thousands of public rambles which took part across Britain in aid of the cause.

Countryfile visits Worcestershire, where Matt Baker finds out about plans to save Pershore Lock Island and encourage more wildlife to live there. He also meets a group of visually impaired children who are experiencing nature from the water. Anita Rani meets the couple who fell in love over their passion for Holstein cattle. She also uncovers the mysterious history of the county's black pear.

John Craven discovers Ruskin Land and meets the architecture students getting hands-on with oak. Tom Heap looks at whether enough is being done to keep the great British oak tree safe from disease and parasitic pests, and Adam Henson meets the farmer whose chickens only lay white eggs.

Countryfile visits East Sussex, where Sean Fletcher meets a family who have a passion for poultry.

Ellie Harrison discovers the life and work of little-known British landscape artist Eric Slater, and she also meets the woman keeping the age-old craft of trug-making alive.

It is an emotional day for Adam Henson as he tests his cattle for TB, plus, on this very special Armistice Day, John Craven is in the village of Rotherfield honouring the parish's war dead, 100 years on.

And Tom Heap investigates the outbreak of a mystery disease that could take the UK's hare population to the brink of extinction.

Countryfile visits Cambridgeshire, where Anita Rani is at the 40th annual hedge-laying competition and meets a painter that finds trees totally inspiring.

Sean Fletcher meets two water buffalo helping in the battle against invasive pennywort. Margherita Taylor is bowled over by a group of woodworkers.

And it's a big day for Adam Henson as he finds out if his cattle are TB free, and Charlotte investigates claims that hundreds of villages have been condemned to an early grave.

Countryfile is in Suffolk, where John Craven takes to the water to meet the Walberswick ferrywomen. He also finds out about the age-old craft of pargetting. Margherita Taylor is on the hunt for one of our sleepiest little mammals - dormice. She also visits a farm that run an adopt-a-pig scheme.

Adam Henson introduces his rams to his ewes, and Tom is looking at whether the UK is falling short when it comes to the welfare standards of one of the nation's favourite foods - fish.

Countryfile is in County Durham, where Helen Skelton finds out about the traditional rapper dance of the region. She meets the High Spen Pink Diamonds rapper troupe who show her a few steps and how to dance with an 18-inch strip of sprung steel! She also meets Shona Branigan, an artist who uses a blow torch and raw wood to make stunning prints.

Steve Brown enters the rare world of fancy pigeon showing. He meets 11-year-old Joseph Morrow, a champion pigeon fancier, to pick up tips on what it takes to show a prize-winning pigeon. He also speaks to a stained glass artist drawing inspiration from nature.

Also in this programme Adam Henson finds out that whilst harvest time may be long past, in Somerset it's still going on. But then willow isn't your usual crop! And Tom Heap looks at how some farmers have been accused of trying to cash in by tampering with their livestock TB test.

John Craven, Helen Skelton and Margherita Taylor are on the Isle of Wight, where John meets the amateur dinosaur hunter finding new prehistoric creatures along the coast. He also visits the miniature village where traditional building skills are being applied on a tiny scale. Margherita takes to the waves to see how artificial rock pools are throwing a lifeline to some of the islands most vulnerable sea species, and Helen hears about the challenges of farming in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. She also meets the young farmers who is also a wiz in the mountain-biking world.

Tom Heap looks at the problem of hidden waste being revealed by coastal erosion and, with the recent legalising of cannabis for some medical use, Adam Henson visits one of the biggest growers in the country.

Matt Baker, Sean Fletcher and Margherita Taylor are in the Cairngorms, where Matt meets Tilly Smith and her herd of 150 reindeer. The reindeer roam wild and free and a team of scientists are studying their grazing habits to assess its impact on the environment. Sean spends the day with ten-year-old Xander Johnson, who is part of a big effort to save one of the UK's rarest insects - the pine hoverfly, found only in two places in the Cairngorms and under threat in both of them. Margherita learns all about mountain safety and smartphones should not be trusted out in the wild. She also hears from Amanda Thomson, an academic who is on a mission to preserve disappearing Scots words and whose work has inspired Marina Dennis, a crofter keen to preserve old crofting traditions and the language used to describe them. And with Christmas just a week away, Adam Henson checks in on a couple of new arrivals who lend a very seasonal air to the farm, and Tom Heap investigates whether enough is being done to help the rural homeless when extreme weather hits.

Matt Baker and the team are in the small village of Elsdon in Northumberland, where preparations are in full swing for a big Christmas bash. Matt helps get the Bird in Bush pub all decked out for the party and meets some of the locals for whom the pub is much more than merely a place for a quiet drink. Steve Brown is out and about picking sloes for a festive tipple with a difference. Anita Rani turns to blacksmithing for an unusual Christmas decoration. John Craven is in the woods with the foragers looking for pine needles to give their cookies a seasonal twist. Ellie Harrison heads to Wallington Hall to see the red squirrels in all their winter pomp. Tom Heap joins the choir spreading good cheer door to door in a bid to combat isolation among the more elderly in the community. And Adam Henson is in Worcestershire at the biggest mistletoe market in the country.

Anita Rani is in Yorkshire celebrating some of the many remarkable women who have been featured on the programme over the years. She revisits stories of courageous and determined women - from those who stepped into male shoes, working the land during the First and Second World Wars, to a female polar explorer with a big attitude. Anita also meets the women making their mark on the countryside today, from a champion tree climber to an ornithologist whose passion for birds has a long lineage. Plus the graffiti artist with big and bold ideas about flora and fauna, and farmers of the future.