Until recently, pitching farming-based content to TV channels was a hard sell. Coverage of the UK’s agricultural sector had been limited to the sedate Countryfile or bucolic, documentary-style output like Our Yorkshire Farm.
But the success of Clarkson’s Farm, in which Jeremy Clarkson brings contrary schoolboy energy to the running of his 1,000-acre farm in the Cotswolds, seems to have convinced commissioners farming can be fun.
If Clarkson’s Farm draws unashamedly from Top Gear, Channel 4’s new spin – Our Dream Farm with Matt Baker (Saturdays, 8pm) – takes most of its cues from The Apprentice.
The prize for the seven hopefuls is more significant than a few quid from Alan Sugar: a 10-year lease as a tenant farmer on a 340-acre National Trust-owned site, with pasture for livestock, woodland, wetland and a four-bed farmhouse.
As per The Apprentice, each episode sees the contestants take on a specific challenge – the latest involves splitting a field for rotational pasture – while the winner is ultimately determined on the strength of their business plan.
But unlike The Apprentice, most of the applicants seem to know what they’re doing. And the judges – the National Trust’s Sally Richards and Giles Hunt – provide pun-free scrutiny without any stubby-fingered pointing.
Disappointingly, there’s also less hi-jinx or jeopardy – no dashing around shouting into the bottom of an iPhone or boardroom showdowns. It’s a little slow and serious – much like farming, but not much like entertainment.
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