‘Scraping the barrel!’ rage Countryfile viewers as they blast BBC for Anita Rani’s episode shake-up
THE latest special archaeological Countryfile episode has received backlash after fans compared it to an instalment of Digging for Britain.
BBC host Anita Rani headed to Hinton Ampner to unearth Britain's Bronze Age history.
But Countryfile viewers have blasted the Beeb for ‘scraping the barrel’ as they expected the show to be more about farming than archaeology.
The episode ‘Archaeology at Hinton Ampner’ aired on Sunday night (March 24) and followed presenters Anita, John Craven, and Margherita Taylor to an estate owned by the National Trust called Hinton Ampner, which is known for being a “hot spot” for Bronze Age settlements.
During the episode, Anita searched the fields to uncover ancient relics of the past and worked with experts to calculate electrical current in the ground with a method called resistivity.
Meanwhile, John was investigating a prehistoric settlement dubbed ‘Britain’s Pompeii’.
Read more Countryfile
A Bronze Age fire wholly preserved the site at Must Farm, and John was given the chance to handle a pot from it.
Elsewhere on the show, Margherita Taylor set off to the Sherwood Pines Forest, where she learned about the training ground for Clipstone Camp, a place where men were stationed before heading to the front lines in World War One.
However, many Countryfile fans weren’t impressed with the archaeological special and took to social media to express their views.
Taking to X(formerly Twitter), one viewer wrote: “I thought Countryfile was about farming matters, not digs.”
"Think they're scraping the barrel a bit with this episode of #Countryfile,” chimed a second user.
A third added: "I’m enjoying it, but #DiggingForBritain don't do episodes with bits about tractor auctions etc.”
A fourth quizzed: “#countryfile. Any farming tonight?”
Some else followed it with: “Good job there's a #BangersandCash on instead of this National Trust plug.
“Come wander round this house and gardens for £16 each #Countryfile, then take a mortgage out and buy that in the gift shop.”
“Digging for Britain is a good show, but this is #countryfile. What's going on?” asked a sixth viewer.
Although, Countryfile usually unravels rural and agricultural stories, Digging for Britain differs by focusing on archaeology from the previous and current years.
Alice Roberts hosts the popular show, which first aired in August 2010 and was last broadcast on BBC in January 2024, with all episodes from season 11 available to stream on BBC iPlayer now.
On a separate episode of Countryfile, viewers were left raging at the TV over a blunder as they told the hosts Sean Fletcher and Charlotte Smith to 'get their facts straight'.
Sean, 47, opened the programme by saying: "The Marlborough Downs are part of the North Wessex Downs National Landscape, where chalk uplands open up to broad, flat valleys below."
READ MORE SUN STORIES
However, just minutes into the episode, Countryfile viewers pointed out how the programme got the location of Uffington White horse wrong.
Countryfile returns to BBC One and BBC iPlayer next Sunday at 7pm.
