Alan Davies

And Mark Hodson, professor of environmental science at the University of York with a particular interest in earthworm ecology.

Before we had anything like modern biology, worm was a catch-all for pretty much anything small, long and wriggly.

These days, we know that worms living in our guts, for example, have very little in common with the earthworms turning over the soil in your garden.

And today, my choice falls on earthworms.

It's September in my little experimental universe.

Peak season for hungry earthworms.

The soil's still warm, nicely damp from late summer rain, and they're hard at work.

But not for long.

On my count, three, two, one, the next shuffle of soil comes up empty.

We're about to spend ten years without worms.

It's one hour in.

It's a beautiful morning, the sun is shining, the birds are chatting away, but someone has to get the bad news first.

That's a lot of worms.

Yeah.

Sandra, I'm assuming that you're up at the same time as the birds.

Yes.

How do you take the news in the first hour, a world without worms?

Yes.

Now it's one year in.

And I think it's a good time for us to grab our magnifying glasses and get down to life under the soil.