IN 1516, Sir Thomas More wrote a book called Utopia, it is about the political system of an imaginary, ideal island nation.

Utopia is mean to represent a 'perfect world' where all is good and perfect. The opposite to Utopia is Dystopia.

Holding onto this Utopian idea, and fast forwarding to 2018, one esteemed wildlife presenter, Martin Hughes-Games, feels television needs to divest itself of what he feels is 'portraying a Utopian world' when it comes to wildlife programmes.

Martin Hughes-Games said: "I feel personally they (television) cannot go on portraying a Utopian world where human beings have no input and involvement.

"It is no good going to hot spots around the world saying humans have no impact.

Somerset County Gazette:

"In India the Tiger population has dropped from 100,000 to 2,226 in 100 years, that is a loss of over 95 per cent.

"The same thing is happening to lions and giraffes.

"We now see these Utopian wildlife programmes and we are not being told about it.

"A programme like Blue Planet Two did tremendous work about the dangers of plastic. I thought they did a brilliant job.

"We cannot go on believing everything is fine and we cannot lull audiences into a false sense of security.

"I think what needs to be done is opening people's eyes about these issues but not just confining it to Natural History programmes.

"I have got a young baby now and I am watching a lot of children's programmes. I saw one the other day which was teaching children about spiders.

"It was really positive and accurate and I thought it was brilliant.

"Much in the same way The Archers raises issues for adults. We need to spread these issues on different platforms."

The different platform which sparked the young Martin's interest in wildlife was indirectly thanks to his father who was a Doctor.

He explained where he grew up there was no vet and people would bring injured crows, magpies, ravens and a jackdaw to his dad for him to try and make them better.

It was as a result of living with all these animals which probably subconsciously started a ball rolling on his path to his love of wildlife.

When he was eight-years-old, Martin won a school award for nature and he still has the trophy.

He used to love going out and discovering different things in the countryside and learning all about the birds and the fishes.+ It must have made an impact as he did later in life get a 1st Class Honours B.Sc. Zoology from Reading University.

On his website, Martin tells the story of when he told his gran he had got his degree. She said: “Well done”, and now which Zoo are you going to work for darling?”

I asked him as he did not get to work in a zoo did he think working on television was just like being in a zoo as people were starring at him all the time.

He laughed and said: "I never thought of it like that. But maybe I am like a dozy lion being looked at by people.

"It is a very good analogy."

His career in television started in 1978 when he joined the BBC Natural History Unit and then moved to BBC Science and Features in 1979.

In 1988, he joined to the Natural History Unit as a series producer and head of development until 2007 where he produced long and short films and series of documentaries.

He is now one of the three presenters on BBC Two’s Springwatch, Autumnwatch and Winterwatch.

He co-hosts the popular BBC programmes with Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan.

Somerset County Gazette:

Speaking about these shows, Martin said: "The show is not meant to be a documentary, it is not made for people to sit down and take notes. It is in essence a comfortable place to be for people who want to do something.

"They can build a pond in the garden to help wildlife. It is a show, it is entertainment."

One of the aspects of the show as it is 'live television' which Martin has found difficult to get used to it having a ear piece in his ear and someone talking to him while he is presenting his segment or doing an interview.

Explaining he said: "I knew all about this when I worked with Simon King on the Watch programmes.

"But it did take me a long time to become relaxed in front of the camera and I needed to be relaxed to make the viewer relaxed.

"It is difficult to have someone talking in your ear telling you what is happening next or to telling you to wind up the interview while you are talking to the camera. I do not think I have ever been comfortable with it."

What Martin has been comfortable doing is being the 'action man' of the show a kind of 21st century John Noakes.

He is very keen on climbing and enjoys being up to his neck in water or hanging from a cliff.

Somerset County Gazette:

Martin has been a qualified rope access technician for past 14 years.

He said: "I love being out and about in a tent. Chris (Chris Packham) would never do it as he is head to toe in Prada (he then laughed).

"I enjoy my role in the programme and it all helps it reach as many people as possible."

Now Martin along with Iolo Williams (a Welsh nature observer and television presenter) are aiming to reach as many people as possible with their tour called Wildlife Road Trip.

It will be arriving at Queens College in Taunton on March 24.

Speaking about how the tour is going, Martin said: "It has been going really well. We have worked well together and Iolo certainly has the gift of the gab and we compliment each other very well.

"The show contains a lot of stories about wildlife.

"A lot of children are coming to see it so it might make an impression of them."

Tickets for Wildlife Road Trip cost £9-£15.

You can book online at bookings.queenscollege.org.uk