Naturalist and nature photographer, Chris Packham is set to launch his own nature show, which will be broadcast for two weeks on YouTube after After the BBC scrapped Autumnwatch.
In stark contrast to the multimillion-pound Planet Earth III, which premiered on Sunday night with 97-year-old Sir David Attenborough narrating, 8 Out of 10 Bats, which begins on Monday evening, is an “anarchic” DIY operation that cost just £50,000 and features a diverse roster of teenage and 20-something naturalist presenters.
“It’s like I’ve put a band together,” said Packham. “I feel like Malcolm McLaren and I’m trying to steer the Sex Pistols of wildlife TV.”
According to reports, Packham and his stepdaughter Megan McCubbin, the Springwatch presenter and zoologist, will host the live show alongside new presenters including Indy Greene, 18, a conservationist; Christina Sinclair, a Scottish marine biologist; George Hassall, a wildlife gardener and student; and Kwesia, a wildlife vlogger also known as City Girl in Nature.
Also, the series is expected to showcase wildlife wonders found in Britain, combining short films by leading wildlife camerapeople with live segments, “hilarious props”, audience participation – and the promise of controversy.
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Springwatch and Winterwatch are closely governed by the BBC’s impartiality rules, but Packham, an increasingly outspoken environmental campaigner, is free to be as hard-hitting as he wants on his online show.
The show is also expected to cover environmental controversies including sewage pollution in rivers, protests against the Rosebank oil and gas field and a campaign against the destruction caused by a busway in Cambridgeshire.
Packham said: “Megs and I thought, let’s do everything the BBC can’t do, like get 12-year-olds talking about their bird feeder, make sure we do diversity properly, have a 50/50 split of male/female contributors and give all these young film-makers a foundation to show their wares.
“We can be a bit more controversial, we can do a bit more campaigning, and cover local campaigns where people are struggling.”
Funded entirely by Packham with the promise of financial assistance from an environmentalist friend, the will broadcast from the Dundreggan Rewilding Centre near Loch Ness in the Highlands for its first week, before moving to the British Wildlife Centre in Surrey for its second.
The small team making 8 Out of 10 Bats are all paid equally except Packham, who is unpaid. Packham and McCubbin started an online show, the Self-Isolating Bird Club, during the first Covid lockdown, when it gathered a cult following.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
