Munster grad ‘Dr. Oakley’ ready for Season 11 TV premiere
Dr. Michelle Oakley, star of the hit cable National Geographic Channel series “Dr. Oakley, Yukon Vet,” and her entire family are eager to see this week’s April premiere of Season 11, as their global adventures continue.
Oakley, a 1987 graduate of Munster High School, launched her reality TV career with the series in Spring 2014, and now the Disney+ platform and her flagship cable network Nat Geo have 24 new episodes ready for first broadcast run on Saturday nights at 8 p.m. beginning this month on the NAT Geo Wild network.
In the first one-hour episode of Season 11, Dr. Oakley helps an unhappy cat who has swallowed a piece of string, hampering the digestion track as well as providing the diagnosis and treatment for an expectant reindeer fighting cancer.
The series follows the day-to-day life of both veterinarian and her daughters working in the family’s clinic of the Great North in the Yukon Territory of Canada, and beyond.
Michelle’s mother Georgia Plantinga who lives in Schererville, is eager to see her family in action on screen, helping both animals and humans in need.
Her last time seeing the family in-person was last year in November when she flew to California to her son Scott and his family’s home for Thanksgiving, joined by Michelle, along with firefighter husband Shane Oakley and their three daughters, Willow, Maya and Sierra. Michelle’s newest hobby to relax is playing Pickle ball, which she enjoyed hitting the courts while on her California Thanksgiving visit.
According to daughter Maya, 24, whom I spoke with this week, as well as her Grandma Georgia, much of this Season 11 will be set both at the clinic, and also remote regions around Alaska. Other April episodes include segments about a limping bison and an Alpaca that needs its eye removed. Later in the season, episodes will tackle a rowdy mini mule, the delicate discovery in an eagle’s nest and a pregnant cow.
While filming Season 11 last year, much of Season 12 was also already captured to allow for early editing, since so many episodes were on location.
“There are some great moments for the next season that were shot last summer in Costa Rica, with Michelle and girls witnessing the events of sea turtles hatching on beach and making their way out to the water,” Georgia said.
“They also spent time at a sloth sanctuary.”
Daughter Willow, 18, who graduated from high school last May, joined the family and also Arik Miller, who assists at the family animal clinic, on a chartered ferry boat to visit small towns around remote Alaska to bring their veterinarian services to locations without access to animal medical care.
“While we were visiting this towns, Willow and Arik also rounded up about 20 farrow kittens in need of homes, which we brought back home to care for and find homes for all of them,” Maya said.
“I’m expecting these kitten moments will also be part of the next batch of episodes still in production and editing for Season 12.”
Daughter Sierra, 25, is in her sixth week of veterinarian school in Australia. Mom Michelle flew with her daughter “down under” to get her moved in and settled.
The trip included Michelle spending two weeks in Australia last month which even spanned
the start of the first week of Sierra’s classes.
Sierra is a graduate of St. Francis Xavier University near Nova Scotia and Maya is a graduate of University of Western Ontario. After graduating from high school, Willow took a year off before starting college to be included in the filming of show seasons 11 and 12 and she is now looking at universities around Vancouver.