Wild Isles: The book of the BBC TV series presented by David Attenborough

Product Information

Environmental and sustainability issues have long been reflected in the content we make and broadcast, so it’s important to us that they are also embedded in the way we operate and run the BBC.

Sir David said: “In my long lifetime, I have travelled to almost every corner of our planet. I can assure you that in the British Isles, as well as astonishing scenery there are extraordinary animal dramas and wildlife spectacles to match anything I have seen on my global travels.”a b "Attenborough's Wild Isles shows us our own 'spectacular' nature". BBC News. 2023-03-06 . Retrieved 2023-03-13. Sunday Morning Live will be turning the spotlight on how churchyards, as well as other religious spaces, can make a difference.Countryfile will be showing audiences how to do their bit to help save wildlife with Wild Britain, following on from their hugely successful Plant Britain initiative. And BBC drama series, Doctors, is celebrating the launch of Wild Isles by devoting a storyline to the team rallying to save a wildlife corridor that is under threat of development. Presented by Sir David Attenborough, co-produced by The Open University, the RSPB and WWF, and filmed over three years, the series uses the very latest technology to capture dramatic new behaviour, from battling butterflies to hunting sea eagles and killer whales – revealing a previously unseen wild side of the British Isles. White-tailed eagles hunting geese – first time the whole hunting sequence has been filmed. White-tailed eagles have a two-metre wingspan and are the largest bird of prey in Britain. Formerly extinct in the British Isles, around a dozen now spend winter in Islay. Britain is listed as the worst country in the G7 for wildlife and wild spaces lost due to human activity*, but these eagles are a good example of how the restoration of habitats and the reintroduction of species has enabled us to film behaviours once lost to our isles*. We have more ancient oak trees than the whole of Europe put together [Source: Hebrian Plants, Oxford University]

For Producer Nicholas Gates, a lifelong naturalist, the opportunity to work on a blue-chip series about the wildlife of Britain and Ireland was a huge career goal. Nicholas has worked in natural history television for a decade, on shows ranging from The One Show to Springwatch, to international series for National Geographic and Animal Planet, but he has a particular soft spot for nature “at home” here. Nicholas hopes that this series will surprise the public with the extraordinary wildlife spectacles here in Britain and Ireland, highlight how threatened much of our nature is and encourage people to help restore it for future generations. Outside of his television work, Nicholas is also a published author and keen wildlife gardener. A collection of the finest British and Irish nature writing, organised along 14 themes (birds, four seasons, swimming, islands and coastlines...).In Episode 1 there's a scene where you filmed barnacle geese who come to a Hebridean island in the autumn and are hunted by white-tailed eagles. Can you tell us about how you filmed that scene? The BBC will be inviting local communities to Get Into Nature, be that for their mental or physical health, for their community, for the environment or simply for fun. BBC Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will also be reflecting the focus on nature in their output.

Nicholson, Rebecca (12 March 2023). "Wild Isles review – David Attenborough's last hurrah makes for unmissable TV". The Guardian . Retrieved 15 September 2023. Camerawoman Katie Mayhew said: “Surprisingly the ripe flowers only stayed hot for a few hours during their life cycle and at their hottest they really did smell - you could even feel the heat by touch. Capturing the colour to thermal transitional shots was a complicated task, like filming a puzzle. First, we captured a series of images on a low light colour camera which we then could stitch together to create a very large image. Then we had to capture exactly to the sequence of images with the thermal camera so that the overall stitched images from the colour and thermal would match. These master images could then be transitioned from colour to thermal to take the viewer from what we humans see and what really is going on with the flower.” Filming Feat/Remarkable Behaviour Diverse geology: Cumbria ; Lake District ; Dorset ; Scottish Highlands ; Skye ; Yorkshire Dales ; North Pennines ; Giant’s Causeway, Northern IrelandHopefully the series will encourage the audience to interact with their local wildlife – what are your tips for people so they can do this responsibly? Hilary Jeffkins is a keen naturalist and award-winning wildlife Filmmaker, Producer and Director. After graduating from York St John University with a BSc in Biology she joined the BBC Natural History Unit and worked there for over 25 years. In her early career she produced and developed live programmes, including Heading South, Wild Britain and Bird in the Nest, precursors to Springwatch. She has worked with film crews in Britain and abroad, in the field and in studios to produce a variety of programmes including the Really Wild Show (BAFTA), Wildlife on One, Bill Oddie Goes Wild and David Attenborough’s Life in Cold Blood (BAFTA). This is shameful, but it doesn’t come from nowhere. In January, for the third year in a row, the UK government approved the “emergency” use of a banned insecticide on sugar beet; a single teaspoon of thiamethoxam is enough to kill 1.25 billion bees. Britain’s woodlands may be rare and complex, but a 2020 audit by the Wildlife Trusts reported that the environmental cost of the rail network HS2 had been vastly understated, particularly regarding ancient woodlands, which cannot simply be replaced.

Our aim is to meet the Science Based Targets (SBTs), set in October 2021, to cut our GHG emissions to Net Zero and which are in line with staying below the threshold of 1.5 degrees of global warming. Capturing the whole hunt required a co-ordinated team of specialist long lens camera people and wildlife spotters. The white-tailed eagles ranged over vast areas, so the team had to keep in close communication working in hides positioned at eagle hot spots around Islay. It took several trips and more than 70 days filming. Filming Feat/Remarkable Behaviour After the wonder and majesty, though, you know what’s coming. Attenborough usually doles out the bad news carefully, gradually, before ending each episode on more of a doomsday warning. The idea, I think, is that this makes it more palatable. Celebrate, then hit hard. He throws wonder after wonder at the screen, before gently informing us that, despite the preciousness of hay meadows, 97% of them have been lost in the past 60 years; that, despite the sheer beauty of design that allows a specific moth with a specific proboscis to extract pollen from a specific flower, 60% of the British Isles’ flying insects have vanished in the past 20 years. The team had to make tiny windows in the sides of the flowers to film the structures within. Thermal cameras captured glowing images of plants heating up to lure in the flies and the team could also feel the heat by placing their face next to the plant. It required carefully timed observation, as each plant heats up for just four hours before it starts to wilt the following day. To accompany Wild Isles, through the Spring and Summer across the BBC there is a major focus on nature, designed to deepen audiences’ understanding and inspire them to get involved.Drones have played a critical role capturing the spectacular landscape of the British Isles. Thermal cameras have revealed foxes hunting rabbits at night and captured the extraordinary spectacle of thousands of starlings coming in to roost. Stabilised cameras have allowed us to film orca hunting seals at sea and wild horses battling for their females. Underwater, specially developed technology has brought the sea bed to life with time lapse and captured in intimate detail the lives of plankton. Britain and Ireland have some of the most diverse wildlife and beautiful landscapes on Earth. In this major new landmark series, Sir David Attenborough will celebrate the wonders of the islands that we call home, revealing the surprising and dramatic habitats that exist right on our doorstep. It’s our home, as you’ve never seen it before. Sir David says: “In my long lifetime, I have travelled to almost every corner of our planet. I can assure you that in the British Isles, as well as astonishing scenery there are extraordinary animal dramas and wildlife spectacles to match anything I have seen on my global travels.”