Doherty served for five years in the
Royal Corps of Signals. He appeared as a friend and guest on BBC's ''
Oliver's Twist'' in the episodes "Painting Party" in 2002 "Flash in the Pan" in 2003. He trained as a pig farmer when, early in 2002, he met Michaela Furney, then a
runner for
Channel 4's ''
Jamie's Kitchen'', when filming took it to the
Cumbrian farm where he was working. To enter the farm a sign read "Jimmy's Farm". When
BBC Two followed their efforts with a series of
fly-on-the-wall documentaries, the name stuck. In 2008, Doherty presented a series for BBC2 called ''Jimmy Doherty's Farming Heroes
which aired from July 2008 to August 2008, followed by various other series and single documentaries for the BBC. Notably, Jimmy's Food Factory'', in which he demonstrated the industrial techniques used in the production of processed foods, ran for two series on
BBC One. When the Controller of
BBC One at the time,
Jay Hunt, left to become
chief creative officer at
Channel 4 at the end of 2010, she signed up Doherty to present exclusively for Channel 4. Doherty's last series for the BBC, ''A Farmer's Life for Me'', was broadcast in February and March 2011. Since 18 June 2011, ''Jimmy's Food Factory
airs as ProSieben BBC Spezial – Jimmy's Food Factory'' every Saturday on German TV channel
ProSieben. In 2011, Jimmy's Farm 'Cambridge Sausage' was named in the top 10 sausages in the UK by
The Independent. The sausage contains 93% pork from the farm and the recipe dates back to 1917. In December 2012, Jimmy and Jamie Oliver presented the Channel 4 series ''Jamie & Jimmy's Food Fight Club
. Since 2014, Doherty has co-presented the prime-time Channel 4 series Jamie & Jimmy's Friday Night Feast'' alongside
Jamie Oliver. Doherty and the team ensured conservation was at the forefront of their decisions and created areas at the farm for nature to blossom. As well as a flair for farming Doherty holds a passion for non-native species and, with a great team behind him, the farm applied for zoo status to help endangered species further afield. On 5 October 2016 Jimmy's Farm was awarded its zoo licence from the local authority and Jimmy's Farm & Wildlife Park was born. The first three exotic species they welcomed were
Reindeer,
Tapirs and
Meerkats. In 2016 Jimmy became the youngest ever President of the
Rare Breeds Survival Trust a charity closely linked to his work and passions. In 2019 he became a patron of the
British Beekeepers Association. He is also the patron of the
British Hen Welfare Trust. In May 2019 Jimmy's Farm & Wildlife Park became accredited by the
British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) who represent the best zoos and aquariums in Britain and Ireland that pride themselves on their excellent animal welfare, education, and conservation work. In July 2021 Jimmy's Farm & Wildlife Park became the first recipient of the
Rare Breed Survival Trust's new Rare Breeds Approved Associate accreditation. This has been awarded in recognition of the farm's excellence in education about the importance of Britain's endangered native livestock and equine breeds and its work to conserve their unique genetic characteristics. In October 2023, Doherty rescued Ewa, a
polar bear rescued from the Orsa Wildlife Park, Swedish zoo that closed down in 2022. The polar bear enclosure cost over £1m pounds to construct, and is the largest polar bear enclosure in Europe. Two more polar bears, mother and daughters Flocke and Tala, joined the park from
Nuremberg Zoo, Germany, in March 2024. ==Personal life==