Chris Packham's witness statement, Part 2: the broadcaster talks about his career in wildlife film-making

                                                                          

Chris Packham's studies of  kestrels were published in British Birds journal 

At the opening of his defamation trial witness statement (see previous blog), Chris Packham described how, aged 22,  he was about to embark on a higher degree at Southampton University when he had a change of heart and decided to train as a wildlife cameraman. Here he takes up the story.

My camera work gave way to presenting, beginning with the Really Wild Show in 1986 (for which we were lucky enough to win two BAFTA awards).

This led to opportunities on further programmes such as Wildshots, Wild Watch, Go Wild, X-Creatures, Postcards From The Wild, Hands on Nature and Nature’s Calendar. 

By the year 2000, I was running a production company called Head over Heels and making programmes for Animal Planet, National Geographic, ITV and the BBC. 

In 2009, I went on to be a presenter of BBC TV’s BAFTA award-winning Springwatch, Autumnwatch and Winterwatch series, and many other natural history shows including Nature’s Weirdest Events, World’s Weirdest Events, World’s Sneakiest Animals, Cats v Dogs, The Burrowers, Inside the Animal Mind, Operation Iceberg and Secrets of our Living Planet. 

More recently, I have presented Animal Einsteins, Our Changing Planet, Asperger’s and Me, The Walk that Made Me and Inside Our Autistic Minds.

For my television work, I have received further BAFTA nominations and awards.

I have published many books over the years, including factual titles such as Amazing Animal Journeys which recounts the story of the annual migration of animals (from butterflies to whales) and collections of my photography, including 100 Things That Caught My Eye in 2014. 

In May 2016, my autobiography, Fingers in the Sparkle Jar: A Memoir reached number 1 in the Sunday Times Bestsellers List in just two weeks, and it was featured as a Radio 4 Book of the Week.

I have also had papers on kestrels published in British Birds journal.

I would describe myself from a professional point of view as a naturalist, nature photographer, television presenter and author, but I am also a campaigner. 

* To be continued