Wild Isles: The book of the BBC TV series presented by David Attenborough

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Wild Isles is a once-in-a-generation celebration of UK wildlife, but it’s also a stark warning of how much we have to lose. We see the oldest oak tree in Britain, which has been standing for 1,046 years and so predates the Norman Conquest. The chapter about woods proved to be a compelling read, with contributions by Sara Maitland (on how forests have created themes for fairy tales), Robert Macfarlane (the wood wide web, mosses and funghi) and John Fowles (on the spellbounding Wistman's Wood). Wild Isles (working title) is a major new five part natural history series from Silverback Films for BBC One and iPlayer, that aims to do for the wildlife of Britain and Ireland what the Planet series have done for the wildlife of the world. Thermal cameras were used to capture glowing images of the spadix when it was heating up to lure in the flies.

Killer whales hunt for seals in our seas, rare golden eagles scavenge in snowy mountains, puffins are chased by greedy gulls that try to steal their hard-won catch and sinister woodland plants hold unsuspecting insects hostage.In her early career she produced and developed live programmes, including Heading South, Wild Britain and Bird in the Nest, precursors to Springwatch. In The Wild Isles, Patrick Barkham has gathered together a wide array of the very best of British and Irish nature writing, characterized by an arresting diversity of moods and voices.

This beautifully illustrated overview of the wildlife of the British Isles showcases the diversity of our plant and animal life. Each year on the east coast of Scotland, 75,000 pairs of gannets arrive on Bass Rock to nest*, forming the biggest colony of northern gannets in the world. BBC Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will also be reflecting the focus on nature in their output. As an academic consultant on Wild Isles, I have been lucky enough to contribute to the series' production and help ensure that as well as amazing footage, the stories that are told are informed by our current understanding of the ecology of the wildlife of Britain and Ireland. We filmed a remarkable feeding strategy in which the orca appear to go silent as they approach the seals, in an apparent attempt not to scare them off.He was the Executive Producer of a new landmark series for BBC One, The Hunt, which looks at the dynamic relationships between predators and their prey, and Producer of a 3D Giant Screen version of the series, Incredible Predators. Environmental and sustainability issues have long been reflected in the content we make and broadcast, so it’s important to us that they are also embedded in the way we operate and run the BBC. In Spring Orca (also known as killer whales) visit the Shetlands to hunt for seals (Image: BBC/Silverback Films/SCOTLAND: The Big Picture/naturepl. I was very fortunate to travel round the country directing the pieces to camera with Sir David Attenborough.

So thrilling it’s like Top Gun: Maverick … an eagle hunting a barnacle goose on Islay, Inner Hebrides.The team, including world expert macro cameraman Alastair MacEwen, used specially developed lenses, and had to make tiny windows in the sides of the flowers to be able to see the structures within. A segment dedicated to how the common lords-and-ladies pollinates is surprisingly intricate and absolutely stunning. The only time I have seen the flash of a kingfisher was on the River Wye; Britons have been warned repeatedly that, due to runoff from intensive poultry farming, this river is dying.

Presented by Sir David Attenborough, co-produced by The Open University, the RSPB and WWF, and filmed over three years, the series uses the very latest technology to capture dramatic new behaviour, from battling butterflies to hunting sea eagles and killer whales - revealing a previously unseen wild side of the British Isles. Thermal cameras have revealed foxes hunting rabbits at night and captured the extraordinary spectacle of thousands of starlings coming in to roost. Orca - Britain’s largest marine predator, can reach lengths of almost 10 metres and weigh up to 10 tonnes. There's nothing wrong with this anthology, but the very genre doesn't suit for continuous reading, but rater for dipping in and out. Alastair Fothergill, Executive Producer, says: “I have always wanted to make a landmark series that really does justice to our own extraordinary wildlife.We have more ancient oak trees than the whole of Europe put together*, most of the world’s chalk streams flow in southern England and we are globally important for the sea birds. There is nothing like an Attenborough-led nature documentary, and this is likely to be his last on location. Our temperatures range from subtropical in the far south to arctic conditions on the top of the Cairngorms in Scotland. To accompany Wild Isles, through the Spring and Summer across the BBC there is a major focus on nature, designed to deepen audiences’ understanding and inspire them to get involved.