WHEN someone regales you with stories of their travels and confrontations with strange animals in all four corners of the globe it can inspire deep jealousy.
That was definitely the case with wildlife TV producer-turned-presenter Nigel Marven – the UK’s answer to Steve Irwin – who gave a fascinating Royal Geographical Society talk at the Brewhouse last Wednesday, complete with superb slides and footage.
His audience, many of them young enough to believe the animatronix dinosaurs in his recent TV series ‘Prehistoric Park’ are real and living in Wolverhampton, remained rapt from start to finish.
The talk, entitled Travels Through Space and Time: Penguins, Polar Bears and Dinosaurs, took us on a journey to all parts of the globe, on land, ice and sea.
We saw excerpts from much of his TV work, including ugly animals – who would have thought a warthog could solicit sighs of ‘aah’ – sea monsters (another trip back in time to the dinosaur age), his work on the TV dramatisation of Gerald Durrell’s My Family and Other Animals, and Giants, in which he was used to provide a sense of scale up against the world’s largest creatures.
The highlights for me were a pair of Siberian tigers feeding, penguins (too cute for words) purloining nesting material from their unsuspecting brethren, polar bears ‘play’ fighting and Marven imitating bait for a great white shark (not for me thanks).
As if to demonstrate his commitment to his work Marven showed us footage of a false water cobra bite that lasted two whole minutes and left his arm gushing blood.
Bringing things closer to home, he used his ‘Micro Safari’ series to show us the wealth of excitement that lies just beyond our own back door ... provided we’re prepared to lie face down on the lawn.
Marven’s work displays a distinct showbiz element with animatronix, computer graphics and staging, so he could be accused of gimmickry, but, as he rightly pointed out, in a broadcasting world where you’re competing with the inanity of reality TV, you have to engage your audience any way you can.
Here was a man few wouldn’t envy, and he took pains to tell us how lucky he feels, his enthusiasm for travel and wildlife abundantly clear.
BY PETE REDFORD
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