All New Autumnwatch 2012 - live on TV, Red Button and Online

Been looking orward to Autumnwatch - but why only 4 days not 4 weeks like in the past.



But if you are doing an Winterwatch in January will you be doing a Summer on in July next year as well.



So we have a live show in the four seasons.

Looking forward to it, shortened version though it is. Will there be a messageboard, or is it pointless asking?

Autumnwatch and Springwatch really are the highlight of my TV viewing, so its exciting to hear about Winterwatch. But 4 shows and only one Unsprung seems so limited. So dissapointed.



Is this all down to budget cuts? If so why not cut some of the utter rubbish like Eastenders? Put Autumnwatch on instead, it might encourage more people to get out and about, instead of being down and out.



At least give us an extra Unsprung.....

Great News,but agree it is too short. For such a fantastic programme covering the most dynamic season it was great to view the changes over the 8 weeks as winter approaches. Still best TV and looking forward to the series. Will there be a Xmas special again this year?

Agreeing with all the above comments....great to have you back and coming from the Highlands and to hear that the web cams will be up and running.... but just four shows to cover the slow progress of the Autumn season....very disappointing.....and assume no message boards.

Great shame that the powers that be don't see just what a little gem the Watch series are and how much they are eagerly anticipated....

Yep, looks like yet another watering down of a popular series. No doubt the BBC will fob us off and tell us they've cut it back to 'provide a quality service'. Using that logic perhaps they should cut the license fee, surely it would allow them to make better programs all round ??!!

"We now have an Olympic line up of platforms to watch the cameras on ". I think it was the cost of the BBC coverage of the Olympics that has caused the demise of programmes like this. Okay, so nature progs are not everybody's cup of tea but neither are a lot of shows that are on more often and more regular than SW, AW, WW etc.

Aaaaa.................only 4 live shows.

But still I'm very happy to see the team again on my telly here in The Netherlands!!

Great to have AW back - October and the onslaught of autumn is always amazing, its the best time of year. Love the idea of winterwatch thats a great idea but even if you have to cut AW down to 4 programmes instead of 8 as in previous years its a shame its not one a week as it was great to see the change from late summer to winter and all the changes. Not sure about the one a night thing - Will wait until the end though to pass comment. Its still one of the best things on TV.

As many have said below, this is one of the highlights of my BBC2 year & one week of programming is a bitter blow. I do realise that cutbacks have to be made but 75% seems a bit excessive. Please BBC! Listen to what your viewers are saying & posting here...

On a more positive point it will be good to see the team back....

4 days!!!! Are you having a laugh??? Olympic line up? More like school sports day!

This brilliant program used to be on for 3 weeks. What has happened?

Maybe the BBC think showing a repeat of a tacky gameshow is more important?



NOT GOOD ENOUGH BBC!!!

says on Facebook they have 4 more live shows in January as "Winterwatch"

So that's same number as we usually get after all

Really looking forward to the series, just a shame we have to wait so long for it to start! The new location is an excellent choice!



Those complaining about being short changed and cutbacks, The last 3 years we've had 8, 1 hour programmes over 8 weeks. This year we are getting 8 1 hour programmes over 2 weeks, 4 in autumn and 4 in January, so its the same total!



1 unsprung is disappointing though, we had 7 last year :(

Very disappointed in this cut - hardly "Autumnwatch" more like "not-even-a-week-watch" - don't think I'll bother.

I know SO many people who, like me, really look forward to each series of Springwatch and Autumnwatch. It really is a blow to learn that Autumnwatch will only get four programmes and one unsprung. Pleeeeze BBC, don't scale down your commitment to a winning formula.

re 15 evie ... see my message 12 and Goldfinch message 13

we **still* get 8, but this time split over autumn (4 live shows in late Oct and early Nov) and winterwatch (4 live shows in January)

For years people have asked for winter and summer watches

This summer we got one show

And now we have a proper winterwatch

Sounds good :)

Holly states:



" And as if that wasn't enough.." hahaha.



You're having a laugh, my darling.



Still, as long as we get our regular 58 hours of cookery programmes and 44 hours of Strictly, who needs anything interesting or educational when our brains have gone numb anyway?

PS More red deer... I'm losing the will to live now..and I'm not going to comment on crested tits on SW/AW

looking forward to the new series . anyone "missing " the messageboards should sign up here ,https://naturewatch.freeforums.org/memberlist.php . i've noticed some familiar names above , why not give it a try ?

winnie the newt .... you're already "in" , so come on !

Well done Holly for the determinedly upbeat introduction to this, but like others I suspect this is the phasing-out process for AW and then how will SW survive? After there had been some interesting new stuff in SW I was looking forward to AW... :-( Sorry, but I'm underwhelmed by the prospect of Winterwatch....



The programmes from all round the world eg the series Chris did were wonderful but unreal... I'm so sad that it looks as though we are going to lose the local view...



Yes I agree Arch... how many cookery and house-buying programmes do we need?

A week long Winterwatch is good, but sad that Autumnwatch has to be sacrificed to get it.



Also Unsprung seems to be suffering from the cramped time frame already-it was rushed in Springwatch. Even if they put it back on the red button for 15 mins a night and then had one longer half hour one on TV. Just a wishlist.

Really looking forward to Autumnwatch. We live inside the M25 backing a golf course in NW London, we have regular nightly visits from Badgers rolling up our newly laid turfs. Just thought someone might find this snap shot from suburbia interesting

Agree Thistletop....Winterwatch will be great to look forward to but do feel that the once a week format of previous AW series particularly suited the slow progression from late summer through to the onset of the winter months.



Also sad that Unsprung seems to be yet another victim of finance. The original 15 minute slot on the red button was a great opportunity to feel really involved and to participate. We have already lost the message boards and now it would seem Unsprung may be disappearing gradually. Hope I'm wrong.

There we are Jojo, 23 posts already mostly raising concerns about the programme etc. and not a single reply. Judging by previous blogs it doesn't look like we are going to get any response. Come on BBC, don't treat us like idiots.

As you say Havadram....there we are ! Would be nice to know that someone is at least registering our opinions and concerns.

My 7 year old son and myself love Autumnwatch, there aren't many programmes around to inspire children to have a love of nature[apart from the excellent Deadly 60 series]. I cannot fathom why anybody would think cutting Autumnwatch to a paltry 4 episodes a good move, I now have a very disappointed son.

Why has Bill Oddie been dropped from the programme? I haven't watched it since. I used to love the programme and his wealth of knowledge and superb sense of humour are greatly missed. Please don't ever have Kate Humble presenting again, is this why Bill left? she was always hogging the limelight, she irritated me so I am sure she irritated him.

Hi,



fantastic news that Autumnwatch is coming back, but I agree with others in that it is a pity to have a cut-down version only. Please could we have an answer as to why? Your 'watch' programmes are one of the best things on BBC and we could do with more of them, not less. Please don't cut down Springwatch!

Please don't bash the presenters, they all work hard and it is very unkind to write negative subjective comments about a person in a public place.



I am looking forward to whatever Autumnwatch/Winterwatch I can get, and I'm sure they will do a really good job of any shows they air!

Don't think anyone has been bashing the presenters Thistletop. I agree with you that they all do a cracking job. A lot of us posting on this blog feel disappointed that the AW format has been changed and cut back....The last thing I would want is to see the series disappear and I do understand that financial constraints come into the reckoning but I do think it would be good to have some feedback from the production team explaining why the change.

Aigas is grand - one of my favourite places!

Like everyone else, I'm sad that the series has been shortened, but shorter is better than nothing.

People have short memories. The 8-week coverage with one programme per week only started in 2009. Prior to that the format was a nightly programme, 4 days a week for 2 weeks, I think, with no unsprung. Winnie and goldfinch are right: if you include the 4 new winterwatch programmes there is no reduction in programming apart from a net loss of 6 unsprungs.

As for the new location, bring it on, I can't wait! :-)

Great! So glad to see Autumnwatch is back, what a shame it isn't over 8 weeks this year. 4 nights live & only 1 unsprung just isn't enough.

As with so many other comments, I have to bemoan the shortness of the series. Programmes such as 'Strictly' have pre series progs about the competitors, the series itself, spin-offs about who's been knocked out etc, etc, etc. ad infinitum!! Then there are all the dozens of soaps! So we're not asking much to have our interest aired for a bit longer; it is for a huge age range, and educational into the bargain. Come on BBC, give us some value for our licence fee, there's nowt else worth watching!

I had the privilege of spending two days at the Aigas Field Centre recently, it is a truly wonderful place. Autumn might be a shorter format but it's new location is pure gold!

Have been looking forward to hearing when and from where Autumnwatch will be on our screens, and the location sounds fabulous - but hey, why are we being so short-changed?! And why so little Unsprung - yet again!!? Springwatch was shortened to the bear minimum and now Autumnwatch is even to be on for an shorter series! Just 4 shows - hardly worth the airtime - and where we used to have the brilliant 'Unsprung' following on from the main show, we are to be deprived this pleasure on all but ONE day. Both Springwatch AND Autumnwatch are incredibly popular with young and old alike and the perfect introduction to wildlife for the young. So come on BBC - PLEASE give us back our full measure of the wonderful Springwatch, Autumnwatch and Unsprung - with our fantastically enthusiastic presenters!

Great to see a Winterwatch added, but sooo sad that the brilliant autumnwatch has been crammed into less than one week of live shows with only 1 unsprung. I really look forward to these shows and enjoy the dramas as they unfold weekly.

So, come on BBC listen to your viewers and take your cuts from dreary mind-numbing soaps, quiz shows and reality TV... NOT Science and Nature :-(

I agree with most of the above comments. A weekly 90 minute episode of Autumnwatch and Unsprung over eight weeks on these dark nights was an oasis for people who don't watch soaps, cookery programmes or that rubbish Striclty Come Dancing, something that went out of fashion with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.



If you can't do it properly. BBC, scrap it completely and bring back Nature's Calendar with Chris, Sanjay, Mike and Janet.



I think the best approach to the BBC is for everyone to say a programme's total rubbish, then we'll get four episodes every week, 52 weeks a year.

Maybe they could dress Chris, Martin and Michaela up in dance costumes with some nice catchy music. That should get the ratings up and save the programme.

Good idea, Havadram. And the programme planners all doing the Lambeth Walk.... ... right out the front door to the nearest Jobcentre.



Strictly Come Cooking In Autumn. What about it, cheps? Spiffing idea or what?

Sam could be Dish of the Day.... melts in your mouth, not in your hand.

Hi Paul, thanks for the info and explanations. However I think the problem most people are having is that this year the entire Autumn programme is condensed into four days, whereas in the past, the same four programmes covered a period of four weeks, far more important at this time of year.



A nightly broadcast is the perfect format for Springwatch when things move quickly, but not for Autumnwatch.

Thank you Paul for your response and for all the information you have provided. Looking forward to the programmes and the Webcams and of course Unsprung.





And hello everyone hope you're all ok : )

Hello Paul and thank you for taking the time to respond to our various comments. I think most of us understand the constraints that you are working under but the point Arch makes is fundamental to the concerns being expressed. It is precisely that the Autumnwatch series is going to be shown over four consecutive days when in the past you have made the point that Autumn is a slow progression taking place over a period of time.



Of course we're delighted that there will be a Winterwatch and live cameras for us to keep abreast of happenings but it still feels like we're being short changed.

I'm sure the new location will be amazing and equally sure that all us avid "Watchers" will be there in force....

Hope some of you who are missing the messageboards will join us on the Naturewatch Forum

Could you do some podcasts this time

I suspect that it costs less to broadcast live from a particular location on four consecutive nights than to do so on four consecutive weeks on a particular night.



I don't really have a problem because (like a certain other programme that I'd better not mention) it is dark when AutumnWatch is broadcast live and thus a good deal of the programme is footage obtained, normally in daylight hours, during the preceding week(s). I hope Winterwatch (or any special in late December) will give any important updates of natural events that occur during November at Aigas and elsewhere.



It looks to me like this may be a good year for autumn leaf colour in mid and late October (if it doesn't get too windy). The colours last year were rather underwhelming I thought.

Only 4 days, bit of a disapointment. Still, I suppose the beeb must maintain it's output of cooking programmes and second hand stuff being sold.

Hi Paul. I think your answer is very much 'towing the line'. For example, you say that there has only been one Unsprung in any one BBC Two transmission week. Well that is true but you have had an Unsprung tacked onto most of the Autumnwatch programmes and Autumnwatch has only been broadcast once a week! The viewers are being treated as fools. Also, although there will be 24 hour coverage on the Internet and the Red button, there are still many elderly people in this country that are not able to grasp these new fangled technologies (my elderly mother for one). Lastly, yes it is great to have a Winterwatch series but this should be in addition to Autumnwatch and not instead of it! I, like most of the above commentators, really feel the BBC should take our views into account when planning next years broadcasting of Autumnwatch and remember we are the ones paying for the programmes you make and broadcast. Cut out the utter rubbish that we are constantly fed and give us what we want, quality and educational programme making. I would have thought that setting up Autumnwatch is the expensive bit so once everything is read, the actual broadcast is relatively cheap and the more broadcasts made, the cheaper the whole exercise becomes. I hope the BBC will seriously review its position over this and put matters right for Autumn 2013.

I couldn't agree more with Ladamark. I feel very much that this a scaling down of the BBC's commitment to Autumn and Springwatch. Yes, it's great to have Winterwatch and I'm looking forward to it but we were promised a Summerwatch special too and that didn't happen. I do feel, as Littlejojo said, that we are being short changed. The absence of a messageboard is also very disappointing. On a positive note though, I would say the Naturewatch forum is a great place for those who are missing the Autumnwatch message board too.

I love the Springwatch/autumn watch series - just wish it could be on every week - there is always news in the world of wildlife and nature.... always change, for good and bad...



looking forward to Autumnwatch

Glad to hear that Autumn watch is back, but really sad to hear it is only on for four days with just one Unsprung. Even though winter watch is on in January Autumn watch was the one I was looking forward to seeing on these long nights.



Good luck to the team, bring it on!!!!!

I feel that if Spring/Summer/Autumn/Winter Watch was on 'nearly all the time' it would become routine and lose some of its appeal.



Also, we live in a not especially large nation (consisting of islands and not joined to a large continent) and one which lacks some of the riveting forms of wildlife found in some other nations. Thus it might become difficult to constantly unearth new 'stories' and new 'angles' on the creatures and lifeforms around us, including the familiar that many have seen and the unfamiliar including those species that few people have managed to see or that many have failed even to notice. I do think the programme has increased its emphasis on science and natural history, which has added to the beauty and drama of what has sometimes been filmed (whether 'live' or not).

Am I missing something here??????? Seriously are there only going to be 4 shows, or is that just 4 live shows and the rest are not????? Very, very gutted about this, been looking forward to 3 weeks of Autumnwatch since SW finished:-( Sob:'-(

At what time will the program air?

It is too bad that Autumn Watch is only on for four days. These seasonal programs were always well done and interesting. Unfortunately, the BBC is history. It has, for the most part, turned into the Boring Broadcast Corp.

I'm sure the new AW series will be as good as always and location, presenters and team will all be great but please can we stop pretending that it's going to be bigger and better...it's obviously a victim of cut-backs.... why else the loss of message boards, the dramatically reduced run and the wonderfully refreshing Unsprung almost gone completely. I fail to understand why the programming commitment of the BBC is to such lightweight shows and ongoing, long since past their sell by date soaps. Sorry if this is yet another moan but have no idea how else we can get our views expressed, acknowledged or even noticed.

I don't understand.



It is not possible to "capture all the best wildlife action of autumn" over four days. The format of one episode a week but covering many weeks of a season is the only way to acheive this. The joy of autumnwatch in the past is that it starts during barmy weather, passes through early autumnal storms and ends at the start of winter with the early snows. This way you capture the variations of the season and how wildlife adapts to cope with this.



Very dissapointed to read about the new "exciting" format which sounds more reminiscent of springwatch.

Hi

Sunday afternoon 7 October. At around 1600 two swans landed and lay down close together in the middle of a field that had potatoes in until a few days ago. I checked with binoculars and then a bird scope to confirm that these were Hooper Swans. I live in Gedney Drove End a few hundred yards from the Wash. Is this an early sighting?

Malcolm

I am so looking forward to Autumnwatch. Yes, I would love to have Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter watches everyday 24/7. Quality over quantity, feast and famine! I am so excited! Thank you BBC for giving us such quality stuff. You make the best programmes ever. The world knows it. Thankyou.

C,mon you moaning Minnies, we still have Chwis hiding the titles of rubbish music in his comments and playing with his poodles, and at least Jimmy Savile isn't around to leer at Michaela. I know from years of trying that complaining to the BBC about anything is a waste of time.

Very excited about AW but can only add my disappointment at the dramatic shortening of the series (I liked the 'one a week for several weeks' format we had previously as mentioned by Chris A). Only one Unsprung too.....

Come on BBC bosses! There are loads of SW/AW fans out there! How can other programs run year round or have regular series? Less competition type shows (Strictly & Masterchef etc...) please and more nature!!!

It is good news about Winterwatch, and will look forward to that too; but another 4 day slot doesn't make up for the usual 3 weeks or 1 a week for 8 weeks we're going to miss out on.....

All the work that goes into setting up and filming springwatch & autumnwatch for only four episodes and one unsprung, what a shame as they are compelling viewing

all about what is around us all, please please look to the future and extend at least to the same amount of time as most other things on tv, if we don,t educate the younger viewers what hope of we of them joining in there conservation, even if they only feed the birds.

Have query. Been woken twice recently by a really scary sound outside. I know you will be thinking 'owl/fox/badger' etc, but I am positive it is none of these. I can only describe it as sounding like a angry Pterodactyl crossed with a giant chicken, being grabbed around the throat and throttled! the noise is so loud, it sounds as if it is inside the house. My daughter has heard it too and experienced it in the same way I did. Any suggestions as to what it might be? I live in a town near Christchurch in Dorset, so nowhere exotic!

Wendy 63 Jays can make quite a noise.

Come on you lot, Ashleyhr is right. Autumn moves at a slow pace unlike spring, just enjoy the 4 programmes plus Unsprung. Then in January catch up on events, in between read a book, even better get out and see the wonders of autumn for yourself. I know not every one can get out, but I’m sure the majority of you can. If you know someone that can’t get out, make the effort and take them. I’m sure they would appreciate that more than watching TV anyway. Leave the BBC alone and let them get on with the difficult job of producing these shows for us. P.S. I agree, bring Bill Back.

Why only 4 programmes and one Unsprung ?

More next year please !

4 DAYS OF AUTUMNWATCH - TRAGIC. One of the richest times in the countryside year and the BBC spend pence. I'll still look forward to the 240 minutes on offer with relish. Perhaps the team can get more of the Great British public to make Wildlife programmes to support them. UNSPRUNG...just classic BBC television, its a pity you're only using that once. The programmes are such a viewing highlight to every year its sad the series is being axed. Anyhow, best of luck with the new AUTUMNWATCH week.

autumn watch , if you find yourselves bereft of red squirrels ,do come to my garden red squirrels come from morning to night to feed, this year there have been a lot more babies than previous years, they have been burying there peanuts all over my garden . there is one with what looks like a growth on the side of his face, it does not seem to deter him eating ,but if you could tell me what it might be i would be grateful. i live directly across from a pine forest and have lots of birds feeding, a wood mouse,and the occasional woodpecker , and later in autumn i can often see deer about 30 feet from my window. how lucky am i .

Looking forward so much to the Autumn Watch programmes, but bitterly disappointed it is so short.

Marvellous news about a Winter Watch in January - but again - why so short?

This isn't a surprise at all. The show has been slipping since Simon King left. Nature programming is now officially a niche. I guess we now have to go elsewhere to find decent coverage of our Great British wildlife. Such a shame.