The Gardeners' World Blog

As I promised last week we can bring you some exclusive ‘behind-the-scenes’ footage of some of the Premier League stars appearing in the new Match of the Day titles.

Our researcher Zak Oomer, did a fantastic job of getting players and managers all around the country to take part.

In the video linked above, you’ll see the likes of Aaron Lennon, Bobby Zamora, Kevin Doyle and others in a studio surrounded by green walls.

The reason for all the green is so we can cut the players out using a sophisticated computer programme and place them in a three-dimensional world that we’ve created for the new titles.

As summer finally seems to have replaced the monsoons across the country, the autumn rugby union international season has arrived in the northern hemisphere, which comes early this year due to the forthcoming Rugby World Cup. The prize is huge for the players, with places in the final squad of 30 for each country in the World Cup confirmed after this weekend.

BBC TV cameras will be live at Murrayfield on Saturday for the duel between Scotland and Ireland (2.10pm, BBC ONE) while there will also be highlights of England v France (7pm, BBC THREE and also at 3pm on Sunday, BBC TWO).

Pre-season friendlies, even the Community Shield, are football's equivalent of watching opera singers gargle. This weekend the opening night curtain goes up and the Premiership will be in full voice. I could carry on in this vein, with talk of penalty arias and putting a tenor on the first goalscorer, but you'd probably prefer to read something about the return of Match of the Day this weekend.

My colleague Jim Irving wrote last week about our new-look set and graphics.

Editor's UPDATE 3pm 10/08/07: Jim has posted a link to a behind-the-scenes clip showing the new titles being made.

It's three years since the MOTD Premiership highlights came back and with this season marking the start of a new contract, it was time for an update. The titles have been revamped and have been given a private unveiling this week.