Shetland Marketing

You are here: Welcome to ShetlandMarketing.org » News » Simon King Reveals His Shetland Diaries

Simon King Reveals His Shetland Diaries

Simon King, natural history presenter and Britain's best-known wildlife cameraman, is passionate about Shetland.

As a boy, he was an admirer of Shetland naturalist Bobby Tulloch and - like so many others - was entranced by Hugh Miles' film about Shetland otters. He had the chance to visit Shetland in order to present Springwatch in 2006 and, two years later, he was back. This time, it was for an extended stay and he was accompanied by his wife, Marguerite Smits van Oyen - also a wildlife photographer - and their daughter Savannah, who, previews suggest, will be even more of a star than the puffins, seals and orcas.

The aim was to follow Shetland's seasons and to produce a filmed diary of their stay. The result - Simon King's Shetland Diaries - is in three hour-long chapters. In Radio Times, Simon writes of the "spectacular" summer. "There's almost permanent daylight, the sun is red, the sky is red, and last summer there were 15 days in a stretch when the sea was in this serene, halcyon state of calm". By contrast, the family also experienced the fiercest of winter storms. Entering into the life of the community, Simon joined in Up Helly Aa, the annual fire festival.

The first episode of what promises to be a very special series goes out on BBC2 at 8pm on Thursday 4 February, except for analog viewers in Wales and Northern Ireland.

Published: 01/02/2010

---