A new upstart is entering the big-budget world of wildlife film-making. After the BBC scrapped Autumnwatch, Chris Packham is launching his own nature show, which will be broadcast for two weeks on YouTube.
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.”
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.
The series will 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.
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.
8 Out of 10 Bats will 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.”
The show, funded entirely by Packham with the promise of financial assistance from an environmentalist friend, 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.
Packham said: “My main thrust is making sure all these youngsters have got some space and airtime. A young bloke called Rufus made a film about wall lizards, edited it on his phone and sent it to us. It’s just brilliant. Another film-maker made a minute-long film about what happens to an apple when it falls off a tree. It’s absolutely fantastic and beautifully shot.”
Greene, one of the 8 Out of 10 Bats presenters, said: “We have so much freedom to talk about whatever we like. I love talking about goshawks, so I’ll be talking about goshawks. It’s lovely to have something that doesn’t feel too formal and you can have fun with it. It’s a brilliant, brilliant group of people.”
Sinclair, 29, a marine biologist and wildlife film producer, said she understood why the BBC had its impartiality rules but she was looking forward to publicising crucial environmental campaigns as well as wildlife found in Scotland.
“I wouldn’t use the word ‘radical’ but it is an opportunity to highlight our personal feelings in the areas we are knowledgable about. I can use my knowledge of marine biology and spotlight some important campaigns,” she said.
“There is a green wave. At the same time that young people are becoming disengaged from nature, there is growing awareness that we have to move towards a more sustainable world. We have to help that new generation move into that and give them a bit of hope.”
