Which BBC programme aired the 1957 spaghetti-tree hoax?

The BBC programme that aired the 1957 spaghetti-tree hoax was *Panorama*.

The three-minute report appeared as an April Fools’ Day joke on the BBC’s current-affairs programme. It used authoritative narration, carefully staged footage, and images of people apparently harvesting spaghetti from trees in southern Switzerland. The presentation was deliberately realistic because spaghetti was still unfamiliar to many British television viewers.

The idea came from BBC cameraman Charles de Jaeger, who remembered a teacher joking that schoolchildren would believe spaghetti grew on trees. *Panorama* editor Michael Peacock approved the concept and provided a small production budget. Broadcaster Richard Dimbleby supplied the authoritative voice-over, helping the fictional report sound like serious journalism.

The broadcast caused genuine confusion. Hundreds of viewers contacted the BBC afterward, asking how spaghetti could be grown or how they could cultivate their own trees. The BBC famously advised them to plant a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best. The other listed programmes—*Blue Peter*, *Horizon*, and *Newsnight*—were not the programme that aired it.