Wildlife On Television

When I was a child, part of what turned me on to the Natural World was the Survival films on television. For reasons that escape me my parents would hardly ever watch the BBC, I think that at some point they had been told that if they were not watching the beeb then they wouldn't need a TV Licence. I know that this was wrong and they got caught twice. However, it was not really until I left home and was able to make my own choices, I discover the films that the BBC made.

There have been periods in my life when I have not had a television, and during those times it was always the wildlife documentaries that I missed seeing the most. During these times I was however busy getting involved in physical conservation work. So while I may have missed seeing some remarkable wildlife films, I did get to see aspects of the natural world that I would not have seen otherwise. For example I was involved in building the first artificial Bat Cave in the UK down in Kent.

Over the years, like so many others, I have been amazed and delighted by the beauty and diversity of the life on our planet. There was a time when I really doubted if we would continue to see the these remarkable films. When the independent television companies decided to axe “Survival” it fell to the BBC to become the only provider of quality content. While some of the imported films were and are worth watching, frequently they lack the quality that has been the standard we in the UK are used to.

Recently though there has been a renaissance in wildlife documentaries on TV here. On a small channel here, Five, they have been making some lower budget but still reasonable quality programmes. Yet the BBC are still leaders in the field and this coming week sees the final chapter in the Life series, with “Life in Cold Blood” I am sure that my American readers will get to see it soon as I have no doubt that it will be aired of Public Television.

With the retirement of David Attenborough, I was worried that there would be a loss from our screens of wildlife television, but the films that have been shown on television over the last couple of weeks shows that natural history will remain as will the quality. Last week, we had Simon King the film maker going to India to try and film a Tiger making a kill. Something never before filmed. While he didn't get the footage the man he was helping finally did after eighteen years of trying. It makes my missed shots pale into insignificance. The dedication should be a lesson to us all.

Then last night I watched a film that was about the wildlife in the Arctic tundra. Before Christmas I had heard the film maker being interviewed and he had been talking about the gyrfalcon. So I was interested to see the film. What was incredible was the previously unseen behaviour of the Arctic wolfs.

Therefore as well as spending my time cooking yesterday, see previous posting, I was lazing about watching wildlife on television. What an exciting life I lead.

Photo courtesy of the BBC

Post Script
Do Not Disturb On Mondays