Former Doctor Who and Blue Peter star visits Chichester Canal for TV programme

During the episode, which kicked off series four of the programme, former Doctor Who and Blue Peter star Peter Perves, 80, paid a visit to the canal, where he spoke to trust member Ian Milton and volunteer Andrew Gibson about its connection to the third Earl of Egremont,

Speaking to the Observer today (Wednesday), one of the volunteers, Dudley Pound, 78, said that, although it was great publicity for the canal, they were disappointed to have only been given a four minute slot at the end of the one-hour programme after a ‘day’s worth of filming’.

He said: “It was very good from a PR point of view.

“It great to be on national TV and Peter Purves said the canal is looking good. We came out of it very nicely.

“However, we were annoyed about only being given a short slot as it took a whole day to prepare for and film.”

The majority of the programme was filmed at Petworth House, where gardener and TV personality Alan Titchmarsh learned about the history of the third Earl of Egremont, considered to be Petworth’s greatest patron of art. Read more here