The Gardeners' World Blog

Some of our BBC Sport offices around Television Centre are beginning to empty as our production team moves to Liverpool for this year's Sports Personality Of The Year.

The set is being installed; rehearsals in the Echo Arena will soon be under way; and then the giants of the sporting world will be converging on Merseyside ready for Sunday night's programme.

As ever, there's plenty of press comment - mainly around the incredibly competitive shortlist for this year's main awards, though there's the usual mixture of wit, wisdom and acid comments about the show itself.

I have no problem with commentators commenting - and people like Marina Hyde always make me laugh in the most positive sense - but it's worth explaining why Sports Personality has changed over the years.