 |
Wendy Darke is a British television producer and marine biologist, and the former head of the Natural History Unit (NHU) at the BBC. She was the first woman to head the division in its then-56 year history. [1]
|
Wendy Darke is a British television producer and marine biologist, and the former head of the Natural History Unit (NHU) at the BBC. She was the first woman to head the division in its then-56 year history. [1]
She was born in Gloucester. She grew up in Weston-super-Mare. [2] She attended Broadoak Comprehensive School (now Broadoak Mathematics and Computing College, a grammar school before 1971), [2] then did her A levels at Weston-super-Mare College of Further Education (Weston College), studying geology, biology and chemistry.[ citation needed ]
From the University of Bristol, she gained a joint-honours degree in Zoology and Geology in 1986; [2] her degree involved visiting the Pyrenees, Mallorca, Falmouth and Osmington Mills, Dorset. [2] She completed a three-year Ph.D. in marine sciences at James Cook University, funded by the Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC). [2]
She joined the BBC Natural History Unit in 1991, making nature documentaries. [1] She first served as a camera operator, then director and eventually producer over the following 10 years. [1] Specializing in underwater photography, she swam with elephants in the Andaman Islands. [1]
From 2006 to 2012 she was executive producer for the children's programming section of the NHU, creating programmes such as Deadly (Deadly 60). [1] She became head of the Natural History Unit in 2012, the first woman to take that position. [1]
After departing NHU in April 2016, [3] Darke established her own production company, True to Nature, in Bristol in 2016. [4]
Darke won the Cherry Kearton Medal and Award (Royal Geographical Society or RGS), for cinematography in 2016. [5]
Sir David Frederick Attenborough is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and author. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, the nine natural history documentary series forming the Life collection, a comprehensive survey of animal and plant life on Earth.
Jill Wendy Dando was an English journalist, television presenter and newsreader. She spent most of her career at the BBC and was the corporation's Personality of the Year in 1997. At the time of her death, her television work included co-presenting the BBC One programme Crimewatch with Nick Ross.
Weston-super-Mare, also known as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel 20 miles (32 km) south west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmixon, West Wick, Worlebury, Uphill and Worle. Its population at the 2011 census was 76,143. Since 1983, Weston has been twinned with Hildesheim in Germany.
Andy Byatt is an English wildlife documentary film producer for the BBC Natural History Unit (NHU) in Bristol. His expertise is in the creation of underwater wildlife films. He co-directed Deep Blue, a natural history feature film about the oceans narrated by Michael Gambon. This film was largely put together with highlights from the NHU's internationally acclaimed series, The Blue Planet, of which Byatt was one of the producers, along with Alastair Fothergill and Martha Holmes. His most recent project is Planet Earth an 11-part High-definition TV wildlife series first aired in March 2006.
The BBC Studios Natural History Unit (NHU) is a department of BBC Studios that produces television, radio and online content with a natural history or wildlife theme. It is best known for its highly regarded nature documentaries, including The Blue Planet and Planet Earth, and has a long association with David Attenborough's authored documentaries, starting with 1979's Life on Earth.
Natural World is a strand of British wildlife documentary programmes broadcast on BBC Two and BBC Two HD and regarded by the BBC as its flagship natural history series. It is the longest-running documentary in its genre on British television, with nearly 500 episodes broadcast since its inception in 1983. Natural World programmes are typically one-off films that take an in-depth look at particular natural history events, stories or subjects from around the globe.
Weston General Hospital is an NHS district general hospital in the town of Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England, operated by University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust. As of June 2019, the hospital had 261 beds and around 1,800 clinical and non-clinical staff. It has a part-time Accident & Emergency department, an intensive care unit, an oncology and haematology day unit, and a day case unit. The hospital also has a 12-bed private unit, The Waterside Suite, wholly owned by the hospital trust, with profits being re-invested into the main hospital.
The Grand Pier is a pleasure pier in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, situated on the Bristol Channel approximately 18 miles (29 km) southwest of Bristol. It opened in 1904 and has been Listed Grade II since 1983. It is 366 metres (1,201 ft) long.
Neil Nightingale is a freelance wildlife filmmaker, executive producer and creative consultant with over 35 years experience at the BBC. From 2009 to 2018 he was the creative director of BBC Earth, BBC Worldwide's global brand for all BBC nature and science content.
Weston College of Further and Higher Education is a general college of further and higher education in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England. It provides education and vocational training from age 14 to adult. The college provided education to approximately 30,000 enrolled learners. It is regarded as one of the top FE colleges in the UK, often winning high profile national awards. The college is part of the 9th largest college group in the UK.
Alastair David William Fothergill is a British producer of nature documentaries for television and cinema. He is the series producer of the series The Blue Planet (2001), Planet Earth (2006) and the co-director of the associated feature films Deep Blue and Earth.
Sophie Rebecca Long is an English journalist who works for BBC News, mainly appearing as a presenter on the BBC News Channel.
William Goodchild is a composer, orchestrator and conductor who produces music for film, television and the concert hall.
Nature's Great Events is a wildlife documentary series made for BBC television, first shown in the UK on BBC One and BBC HD in February 2009. The series looks at how seasonal changes powered by the sun cause shifting weather patterns and ocean currents, which in turn create the conditions for some of the planet's most spectacular wildlife events. Each episode focuses on the challenges and opportunities these changes present to a few key species.
Broadoak Academy is a coeducational secondary school located in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, England.
Christopher Eugene Parsons OBE was an English wildlife film-maker and the executive producer of David Attenborough's Life on Earth, widely regarded as one of the finest and most influential of nature documentaries. As a founding member and a former Head of the BBC Natural History Unit, he worked on many of its early productions and published a history of its first 25 years in 1982. Besides television, he was also passionate about projects which helped to bring an understanding of the natural world to a wider audience, notably the Wildscreen Festival and ARKive.
Mike Gunton is a British television producer and a senior executive at the BBC Natural History Unit, the world's largest production unit dedicated to wildlife film-making. In November 2009 he became the Unit's first Creative Director.
Keith Scholey is a British producer of nature documentaries for television and cinema, and a former television executive. He is the joint Series Producer of the Netflix Original Documentary Series Our Planet, and the joint Director and Executive Producer of David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet. He is the Executive Producer of the 2021 BBC / Discovery series 'A Perfect Planet'. He also co-directed African Cats, Bears, and Dolphin Reef with Alastair Fothergill for Disneynature, and is also the executive producer of the series North America for the Discovery Channel.
Julian Hector is a British television and radio producer and executive who is Head of the BBC Natural History Unit. During his career, he has been producer of David Attenborough's Life Stories on BBC Radio 4, producer of the Tigers about the House television series, writer and producer of the Lakes and Rivers episode in the BBC’s Wild Africa series, producer of World on the Move, and instrumental in establishing the BBC's Tweet of the Day. He was described by Sir David Attenborough as ‘one of the most inventive producers in radio’ and during his award of an honorary Doctorate from the University of Bristol was credited with bringing ‘live natural history programming to Radio 4’.
The Winter Gardens Pavilion is a neo-Georgian pavilion located in the English seaside town of Weston-super-Mare. The pavilion was originally completed in 1927 and included extensive gardens, a tennis court and a putting green. Much of the gardens are now covered by the nearby Sovereign Shopping Centre and the garden's eastern wall forms the boundary of the town square.
