Escape to the Country newcomer Richie Anderson: "I’m not just there to be the brown guy with an accent"

This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine.

As you can tell from my accent, which I like to say is as broad as my shoulders, I’m from the Black Country – not the countryside. I grew up on a council estate in Smethwick that had the nickname Concrete Jungle.

I’m very proud of where I come from, but I didn’t encounter much green as a child and the only rural scenes I knew were the views from the train on football trips, following West Bromwich Albion for away games. That and a yearly holiday to Devon.

After Smethwick I studied journalism in Leeds, and then, when I got a job on Zoe Ball’s breakfast show at Radio 2, I moved to London. I could hardly have had a more urban start to life.

But now when we wake up in the mornings, my partner Dean and I can hear the cows mooing. Draw back the curtains and we see green fields and trees. Open the window and we can smell the muck being spread by the farmer. So, how did I get here? You could say my life’s been changed by a television programme.

When I first moved down south, I was very excited. I had a dream job and the big city was all mine. But in reality, I struggled with life in London. Away from my other half, I was living on my own and finding the truth in that old cliché – big cities can be lonely places. Not just that; working in the TV and radio industry in London can feel like living at 100 miles an hour and I found it impossible to switch off. Life in the capital was making me unhappy.

One thing kept my spirits up. When I returned home, I’d have a nap in the afternoon and would often wake up in time for Escape to the Country on BBC One. I found I was increasingly looking forward to a show that offered a glimpse of a better, calmer life away from the city. I began to realise that I needed my own escape to the country.

One episode in particular convinced me to take the plunge. It came from Northamptonshire, which was described as “like the Cotswolds without the crowds”. It was also perfectly positioned between the Midlands and London. I rang up Dean and said, “Let’s just do it.”

But I was worried. I went to school with people of all races and religions. I had lived in three of the most diverse places you could wish for. If we moved to the country, would I be the only brown person in our village? Would we be the only gay couple? The only young people?

It turned out my preconceptions about country life were outdated. From the moment we arrived we were made very welcome. If you watch some TV dramas about rural Britain, you might get the impression it is inhabited entirely by older, middle-class people. In fact, I’ve found the countryside is getting younger and more diverse. My neighbours on one side are Polish; on the other, mixed heritage like me.

And now, being part of the Escape to the Country team myself, I am working on a programme that shares that diversity. I’m not just there to be the brown guy with an accent – if you watch the show and the people it features, you’ll see a genuine commitment to providing a truer picture of our modern countryside.

Escape to the Country changed my life. I hope that I can help other people, whatever their background, change their lives by showing them that the countryside – whether it’s to escape for a day out or to call it home – is there for all of us.

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