The TV adventurer talks about his latest far-flung series and why he couldn’t do his job without his family
WORDS: KIRSTY NUTKINS
● Wilderness is the most important series I’ve ever made. We explore places like the Congo Rainforest and the Kalahari Desert in Africa – areas of the planet most of us know next to nothing about, but that are fundamentally connected to us nonetheless. They help to shape the weather system and climate on this planet, and we need to take care of them.
● It was a huge physical challenge and I trained hard. I was running around near my home in Devon wearing a 15kg weight! I really didn’t want to be that person who let down the team or undermined the project. Our aim was to capture those places and leave safely, with no-one dragged out on stretchers.
● My most memorable moment from the series was filming high in the Andes. We climbed up this icefield in the clouds and camped overnight. I got up early to go to the loo, before the sun had risen, and the landscape was breathtaking. That image of the moonlight illuminating the mountains will live with me for the rest of my life.
● Our family holidays aren’t quite so adventurous. I’m the kind of person who wants to climb a mountain or see a monastery, but my suggestions are usually voted down! We’ve done plenty of bucket and spade trips and I’ve been buried in the sand more times than most dads.
Watch Wilderness at 9pm on Sunday, BBC2, or catch up on BBC iPlayer
Another Challenge
Japan, West Africa and the Philippines are all on my bucket list and I’d like to travel more in Brazil and Indonesia. It’s an amazing, wonderful planet out there.
Fami
