Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Wildlife cameraman and marine biologist who spent decades capturing unique footage of polar bears, killer whales, and other animals in remote, inhospitable plac
On the island
Eight records
Thunder RoadFavourite
I just love this. I love Springsteen as a performer... and Thunder Road is full of that kind of feeling, and there was something about it that spoke to me about look, leave normality behind and get out there and do your own stuff.
Spike's humour just absolutely appealed to me. They still make me laugh even today.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Frank Sinatra and Celeste Holmes
I remember Dad singing this in the kitchen, around the house, and when we were driving places.
I just love this wild theme because I think that's the one that would I'd most like to sit on the shore of my desert island as a sunset going down and have this lovely evocative no words theme going on in the background.
Paul Simon is probably the best singer-songwriter I think around... they also have this faint echo of loneliness in them... And this one just talks about loneliness, and it's very simple.
There's a wonderful new woman in my life, and this one reminded me of her immediately.
I remember just being so pleased when... he joined in with Baker Street by Jerry Rafferty, which I thought for a four year old was pretty good.
it's about change and how it ripples through your life and how you have to move on from some things. Just like the idea of your life being a river, you know, down which you are flowing and eventually into the sea and eventually hopefully on to something new and different.
In conversation
Presenter asks
1:26You've said polar bears are big, sexy, charismatic animals that'll leech you if they get a chance. Is that the perfect combination for a wildlife camera person?
I like big animals also because they're easier to focus on than small things scurrying around in the undergrowth.
Presenter asks
4:02You have said of the cold that it will gnaw away at your soul. Describe that to me.
Well, in a lot of ways the soul, I suppose, in the sense that it certainly got a hold of my soul. I mean, the Antarctic was undoubtedly one of the formative experiences of my life... You begin to just develop an attraction to the place or an attachment to it, which is unlike anywhere else... But then you have to leave it... it's like living your life in two halves, and so it just leaves a big deep impression on you.
Presenter asks
5:34What do you put that drive and success down to?
To be honest, I'd have to go back to when I was growing up as a twin... I had a big issue with not being recognised as an individual in my own right... I think I partly got into diving because you can recognise a good, elegant diver.
The keepsakes
The book
I think I would need volume, so to speak. And also I've love finding out about things. So I think I'd want at least one volume of Encyclopedia Britannica.
The luxury
the idea of singing along with some of those songs that I've chosen would be fascinating.
Presenter asks
20:03What did you understand about yourself after that prolonged period [in Antarctica] that you hadn't before?
It gave me a sense of belonging and my own worth. As the diver, I was the only diver, I was doing something, I was helping people... I just guess I wanted to feel special.
Presenter asks
23:11Is the reason you go to remote places because you feel depression with everyday life, or do you end up having bouts of depression because of extreme circumstances? Is it even important which way round it is?
Well, I have suffered bouts of depression in my life, and I think they've been brought about partly by stress... I think my mother suffered from depression... I did have a very useful counselling session... learned alternative reasons for feeling bad about yourself.
Presenter asks
29:40What are some of the most dangerous circumstances you've been in professionally? When have you had to put the camera aside and think about your own safety?
I was grabbed by a walrus once when I was snorkeling, but I hit it on the head and it let me go. It was only later that I was told that that's how they hunt seals... So it was a good job that they didn't do that. I thought I was a seal, yes, yes.
“I like big animals also because they're easier to focus on than small things scurrying around in the undergrowth.”
“I felt more at home there than I had felt at home.”
“I just guess I wanted to feel special.”
“I was grabbed by a walrus once when I was snorkeling, but I hit it on the head and it let me go.”
“That is the holy grail of filmmakers is to get a new piece of behaviour involving big charismatic animals, and it doesn't come any better.”
“I think I want Thunder Road, because Thunder Road is my personal one. The other ones remind me of people, so I'll be totally selfish and say I want the one that reminds me of me.”