Countryfile: 2017
Season 30 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of Countryfile Season 29.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Episode Guide
Season 30 Progress Shield
My Countryside Compilation
Jan 1, 2017 · 60 min
Anita Rani travels to Malham Cove in the Yorkshire Dales. Plus she looks back at some famous faces who shared special places in the British countryside.
Shropshire
Jan 8, 2017 · 60 min
Countryfile is in Shropshire, where Matt Baker is exploring the highs and lows of a landscape shaped by the miners who once called this place home.
Carmarthenshire
Jan 15, 2017 · 60 min
Countryfile is in Carmarthenshire, where Matt Baker explores the explosive history of the sand dunes and Helen Skelton visits the National Botanic Garden of Wales.
Jurassic Coast
Jan 22, 2017 · 60 min
Countryfile is on the Jurassic Coast, where Matt Baker meets the man who's been digging for fossils for more than thirty years.
Peak District
Jan 29, 2017 · 60 min
Countryfile is exploring the Peak District. Matt Baker joins the team on a mission to restore the scarred moorland.
Feathered Friends
Feb 5, 2017 · 60 min
Matt is up at the crack of dawn at the RSPB reserve at Snettisham on the north Norfolk coast to witness thousands of pink-footed geese taking flight.
Winter Special
Feb 12, 2017 · 60 min
Ellie Harrison is on a winter wildlife safari in the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland. In Filey, John Craven hears the history behind the fisherman's gansey.
Somerset
Feb 19, 2017 · 60 min
Ellie abseils with a team from the National Trust to help give Cheddar Gorge its annual clean-up and make sure there are no loose rocks.
Isle of Man
Feb 26, 2017 · 60 min
Joe takes a trip back in time on the oldest horse-drawn tram in the world and visits the farm where magnificent horses get to live out their days.
South Downs
Mar 5, 2017 · 60 min
The team explore the South Downs. Matt Baker meets the pony who's blazing a trail. Helen Skelton discovers why dark skies are important for wildlife.
Farming Now and Then
Mar 12, 2017 · 60 min
Adam Henson is in Snowdonia to discover how farming has changed in the past 60 years, with the help of some recently unearthed BBC archive.
Hoo Peninsula
Mar 19, 2017 · 60 min
Matt Baker and Anita Rani are on the Hoo Peninsula in Kent, and Tom Heap looks at what leaving the EU could mean for the UK's agricultural migrant labour force.
Denbighshire
Mar 26, 2017 · 60 min
Matt Baker and Ellie Harrison visit Denbighshire in north east Wales. Ellie is up at the crack of dawn to witness the spring mating rituals of grouse.
Forests
Apr 2, 2017 · 60 min
Matt is in the New Forest taking part in an inventory of trees. Ellie is in Inverness-shire seeing what industrial-scale timber production looks like.
Holderness
Apr 9, 2017 · 60 min
Matt, Anita and John are in Holderness in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Matt is on Spurn Point, which is now the country's newest island.
Lancashire
Apr 16, 2017 · 60 min
In Lancashire, Matt Baker learns all about the age-old Easter tradition of pace egg rolling and Anita Rani takes to the hills to follow the Lancashire Witches Walk.
County Durham
Apr 23, 2017 · 60 min
Countryfile is in County Durham, and Matt is on his old home turf, showing how to make panackelty, a traditional north-eastern dish.
Warwickshire
Apr 30, 2017 · 60 min
For Hedgehog Awareness Week, Ellie Harrison meets three schoolgirls on a mission to keep the hedgehogs of Warwickshire safe from harm.
Tales of the Riverbank Compilation
May 7, 2017 · 60 min
Ellie Harrison reveals how the landscape has been shaped by rivers, meeting those who live, work and play on the banks of the Severn.
Suffolk
May 14, 2017 · 60 min
Matt Baker hears about the plans the Suffolk Wildlife Trust are making for their biggest-ever land purchase in the charity's 55 years.
Lanarkshire
May 21, 2017 · 60 min
Matt Baker explores the rise and fall of the Clyde valley in Lanarkshire as a major force in Scotland's food industry. Ellie Harrison meets an urban beekeeper.
Spring Special
May 28, 2017 · 60 min
In a spring special edition of the programme Countryfile goes in search of the secret and often overlooked wonders of the season.
Essex
Jun 4, 2017 · 60 min
Matt and Ellie are in Essex where Matt jumps aboard the Pioneer, a fully restored Essex oyster boat, and Steve Brown finds out what it's like to fire an English longbow.
Northern Ireland
Jun 11, 2017 · 60 min
Joe Crowley is just south of Belfast, where he joins an RSPB team tagging swifts to find out where they are feeding. Joe Crowley is just south of Belfast, where he joins an RSPB t
Wye: Hay Festival
Jun 18, 2017 · 60 min
At the Hay Festival, Ellie Harrison goes on a wildlife safari and Sean is on a literary adventure with a group drawing inspiration from the Wye Valley countryside.
Working Animals Compilation
Jun 25, 2017 · 60 min
Sean Fletcher is in Carmarthenshire in west Wales taking a look at working animals. He meets one of the world's leading experts on birds of prey.
Worcestershire
Jul 2, 2017 · 60 min
Ellie joins a family who have set up a traditional cottage industry producing natural elderflower cordials and presses, and tracks lesser horseshoe bats in Worcester.
Northants
Jul 9, 2017 · 60 min
John Craven meets enthusiasts Matthew and Neil as they create a truly disgusting butterfly banquet to try and catch a glimpse of the purple emperor.
Fife
Jul 16, 2017 · 60 min
Ellie Harrison crosses the Firth of Forth to witness the seasonal spectacle of guillemots, kittiwakes and puffins jostling for position on the Isle of May.
Wiltshire
Jul 23, 2017 · 60 min
Anita meets the contestants of the International Young Beekeepers competition at Marlborough College and visits the River Kennet.
Cities
Jul 30, 2017 · 60 min
Anita Rani is in London at the remarkable Woodberry Wetlands, a haven for all sorts of wildlife just a stone's throw from the tower blocks of Stoke Newington.
Roots and Shoots
Aug 6, 2017 · 60 min
Ellie Harrison visits a Bristol herb garden to find out about a plant that is on the front line in the fight against cancer.
Dartmoor
Aug 13, 2017 · 60 min
Anita Rani explores the Artisan Trail in Dartmoor, a newly created route that links some of the area's best artists and craftspeople.
Summer Special
Aug 20, 2017 · 60 min
Anita Rani explores the Artisan Trail in Dartmoor, a newly created route that links some of the area's best artists and craftspeople.
Llyn Peninsula
Aug 27, 2017 · 60 min
On the Llyn Peninsula, Ellie goes snorkelling to explore the rich seagrass habitat underwater. Steve meets the dairy farmers who produce and deliver their own milk.
Harvest
Sep 3, 2017 · 60 min
Countryfile looks at how food is harvested, from large-scale crops for supermarket shelves to smaller hand-picked harvests for local markets.
Rame Peninsula
Sep 10, 2017 · 60 min
Ellie Harrison visits Mount Edgcumbe on Cornwall's Rame Peninsula, where the UK's first ever native dark honeybee reserve has just opened.
Protected Countryside
Sep 17, 2017 · 60 min
To mark it becoming a Unesco World Heritage Site, Ellie explores what makes the Lake District an area of international cultural significance.
One Man and His Dog 2017
Sep 24, 2017 · 60 min
The best shepherds and their dogs from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales go head to head for the coveted One Man and His Dog 2017 title.
South Yorkshire
Oct 1, 2017 · 60 min
Ellie is in South Yorkshire, right on the border of the Peak District, following in the footsteps of the Clarion Ramblers.
Dumfries House
Oct 8, 2017 · 60 min
Prince Charles talks about why he stepped in to save Dumfries House in East Ayrshire and his vision of how it can be used to help the local community.
Nature Strikes Back
Oct 15, 2017 · 60 min
Thirty years on from the Great Storm of 1987, Ellie Harrison visits Wakehurst Place in West Sussex to learn how it dealt with the devastation.
Cornish Heartlands
Oct 22, 2017 · 60 min
John and Margherita are in Cornwall, where John attends a food festival with a difference. Plus a profile of Cornish artist David Hosking.
Ramble for Children in Need
Oct 29, 2017 · 60 min
A special programme following the team as they lead the way on rambles of their own through some of Britain's best landscapes, all in aid of Children in Need.
Autumn Special
Nov 5, 2017 · 60 min
Matt Baker crunches through the leaves to find out about a new charter to protect woodlands, and Ellie Harrison meets Skomer's new seal pups.
Remembrance
Nov 12, 2017 · 60 min
Ellie Harrison finds out about the so-called 'Idle' women of the canals, who played a vital role in the Second World War.
Hertfordshire
Nov 19, 2017 · 60 min
Countryfile is in Hertfordshire, where Charlotte Smith meets the man who's made it his sole mission to save the barbel in the Old River Lea.
Cairngorms
Nov 26, 2017 · 60 min
Joe Crowley is at Britain's largest national nature reserve, Mar Lodge, and he is on the search for ptarmigan at the top of a mountain.
Cleveland Way
Dec 3, 2017 · 60 min
Helen Skelton and Sean Fletcher are on the Cleveland Way in Yorkshire. Helen meets the team of Scouts who have 'adopted' their own stretch of the 109-mile trail.
The Brecks
Dec 10, 2017 · 60 min
Ellie Harrison finds out about a conservation effort to save two species from extinction in Breckland, on the Norfolk-Suffolk border.
My Countryside Compilation
Dec 17, 2017 · 60 min
Ellie Harrison sees her home county of Gloucestershire as she has never seen it before. And Nina Wadia explores the Highlands.
Christmas Special
Dec 24, 2017 · 60 min
In this Christmas special, Matt Baker, John Craven and Anita Rani are in Castleton in the Peak District, where the Christmas tree festival is in full swing.
New Zealand Compilation
Dec 31, 2017 · 60 min
In New Zealand, Adam Henson meets some old friends, helps with a cattle muster and witnesses sheep farming on a breathtaking scale.