Big Kids, Charlie's Garden Army, Lord Peter , All the King's Men
Review: Charlies Garden Army BBC America
We all know Charlie Dimmock as Ground Force's resident
water feature expert and unlikely sex symbol but there's more to her than tight shirts and
pond liners. In Charlie's Garden Army Ms. Dimmock lends physical and
moral support to a variety of community groups as they transform dreary rubbish tips and
disused courtyards and the like into beautiful parks and gardens.
This is Ground Force on a grand scale which poses some problems - four experts working
against the clock to create someone's dream garden as a surprise is a brilliant and
engaging concept. A mini-drama wrapped in a DIY format. Will the Ground Force team finish
on time without wringing each other's necks, will the recipient like the hard worked for
result, will the camera man get the obligatory half dozen cheese cake shots of Charlie?
Charlie's Garden Army suffers from it's projects size and scope, each garden takes weeks
to months to complete and Charlie is present for only a three or four days throughout each
job's duration. The projects are impressive, Charlie and her volunteer armies do absolute
wonders with their vacant lots and overgrown meadows and it's heartening to see
communities banding together for the common good. I'd love to take a nice long tour of the
UK using these newly constructed spaces as a theme.
While Charlie does a fine job in her role as Garden Army's Alan Titchmarsh, designing
outdoor spaces both attractive to look at and utilitarian, her role seems to be more as an
advisor to the groups, an advisor not always listened to or respected. She also suffers
from a lack of sidekicks. There's no Tommy Walsh or Handy Andy, there's no one to serve as
Charlie's Charlie, as she does so well in The G Force. Charlie hosts, designs, and labors
all alone, a daunting task that she takes on with gusto.
The occasional dissension in the ranks, present to some extent in virtually every episode,
is acknowledged but played down where it would likely have made better viewing if
addressed full on. A unique combination of garden show and reality TV soaper might have
resulted but instead we get a few minutes of Charlie digging or planting and a few minutes
of lightning recaps of what went on while she was away (the vast majority of the work) and
an end of show presentation to the committee head or hardest worker of the group. Very
little drama or conflict, only a bit of DIY info and only poor Charlie top carry each
week's motley crew along.
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