David Attenborough's latest series Wild Isles has been at the centre of controversy after claims the BBC pulled an episode over fears of backlash from Tory MPs.The famous broadcaster has denied this happened, claiming the Guardian's exclusive was "inaccurate".
But it's now been revealed that a number of location in the new series features serial beauty spots on the edge of Bristol, including Tyntesfield in Wraxall and Prior’s Wood in Portbury.
In the new five-part series. Sir David Attenborough will celebrate the wonders of the British isles, unveiling the surprising and dramatic habitats that exist. Footage was filmed over the course of three years and investigates how the UK’s woodland, grassland, freshwater and ocean habitats support wildlife of all kinds, reports Somerset Live.
READ MORE: Pretty village half an hour from Bristol with an Abbey and loads of pubs
Using the very latest technology, each episode will capture dramatic and new behaviour across the British Isles, from battling butterflies to mighty killer whales on the hunt. The first in the series - which aired last night (March 12) - looks at the unusual Lord and Ladies plant and was filmed at Tyntesfield and at Hutton Woods.
The unique behaviour of the plant was captured on camera and shows how it heats up and releases a foul-smelling scent that is irresistible to flies, tricking them to enter its flower. The plant keeps it hostage before showering the fly with pollen then allowing it to escape.
Crews had to make tiny windows in the sides of the flowers to film the structures within. Thermal cameras captured beautiful glowing images of plants heating up to lure in the flies and the team could also feel the heat by placing their face next to the plant.
Camerawoman Katie Mayhew said: “Surprisingly the ripe flowers only stayed hot for a few hours during their life cycle and at their hottest they really did smell - you could even feel the heat by touch. Capturing the colour to thermal transitional shots was a complicated task, like filming a puzzle.”
The ‘courtship’ of Desmoiselles dragonflies, filmed on the River Isle in Somerset, also features in episode one. In the second episode the badgers and bluebells of Penn Hill Woods in Somerset and Priors Wood in Portbury will feature along with fungi in Tyntesfield.
The toads and leeches of Winscombe ponds feature in episode four alongside the dragonfly roost at the RSPB Ham Wall nature reserve in Somerset. Speaking about the new series, Sir David Attenborough said: “‘In my long life, I’ve been lucky enough to travel to almost every part of the globe and gaze upon some of its most beautiful and dramatic sights.
"But I can assure you that nature in these islands, if you know where to look, can be just as dramatic and spectacular as anything I’ve seen elsewhere. The British Isles are globally important for nature.
"In this series we’ll show you why that is so and celebrate the wonders of these islands that we call home.”
The series is available on iPlayer on will appear on BBC One every Sunday at 9pm.
READ NEXT
