The Gardeners' World Blog

To paraphrase Groucho Marx on the subject of marriage, Match of the Day is an institution, but who wants to live in an institution? Actually, everyone here does, but we're also aware that we're the custodians of something long-established and venerable.

Change has to be by evolution rather than revolution. I remember someone having the temerity to remix the title music one year. This resulted in uproar, questions being asked in the House of Commons and a hasty rethink of the remix.

Even so, as I've said before, anyone watching a tape of the show from just a few years ago would be astonished at how much the programme has changed. Proper multi-camera coverage everywhere, a commentator at each game, MOTD2 and new pundits have in turn led to a different level of analysis.

From Groucho to another moustachioed cynic, Basil Fawlty. He pictured his wife on Mastermind thus; "Sybil Fawlty:
specialist subject - the bleeding obvious".