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BBC1 DEPLOYS THE SPY CREATURES ONCE AGAIN FOR A NEW SERIES OF THE WILDLIFE DOCUMENTARY…
We were astounded by the first series of Spy In The Wild, where cameras were hidden inside surprisingly convincing animatronic creatures to give us a more intimate view of nature. But the producers haven’t been resting on their laurels, as the show returns this week with a batch of improved Spies that get even closer…
“The technology has reached a point where we can do something more complex, so I think we have a lot more Spies with a degree of authenticity in this one,” explains producer-director John Downer. “And the flying ones give it another perspective… We’ve created loads of birds of different scales that are more accepted than a conventional drone would be.”
“It’s the versatility and the variety of the Spy Creatures,” adds series producer Matthew Gordon. “When we went out and deployed the Spy Turtle, the scientists were saying, ‘When are you going to do it?’ We said, ‘It’s already there’, and they said, ‘Which one is it?’!” The team has gone to great lengths to make their Spies as convincing as possible – to the extent that some were recruited for new jobs after filming was finished. “The Galapagos is, rightly, one of the most protected biosecurity areas in the world,” reveals series producer Rob Pilley. “It took us two years to get permission, not just to film but also to deploy the Spies, because they have a very regimented rule where no one is allowed within two metres of any of the animals. But once we got them on side, they loved the Spy Tortoise so much that he’s now part of their education programme out there. He’s on patrol in the Galapagos!”