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World on the Move: Great Animal Migrations

Philippa Forrester and Brett Westwood with an elephant
  • Posted at 3:00pm
  • 13 February 2008
  • by SarahDempster-RT
  • 1 comment

I've always had a bit of a thing for BBC Radio 4. Not a romantic sort of a thing, obviously. I've certainly never found myself smiling wistfully in the bath while thinking about, say, Farming Today. Nor have I ever felt the need to inform the station of my appreciation, whether by leaving a nice message on the Feedback answering machine or by sending a series of cryptic notes to Today's Edward Stourton ("The rook flies at midnight. King to f4? HUMPHRYS CAN'T HELP U NOW") before vaulting the security barrier at Broadcasting House and chasing him into the third-floor toilets.

No, this is more a platonic "brain crush" sort of a thing, born of a) enormous admiration for all its wares, even The Westminster Hour, which is terrifying, along with b) a concomitant and curiously reassuring sense of intellectual inferiority. It's the same sort of thing that makes you sit up straight while talking to someone posh on the phone, or tuck your blouse in while watching Simon Schama talking about Victorians on the telly.

But something has changed. I no longer merely admire BBC Radio 4. Thanks to World on the Move: Great Animal Migrations (Tuesday 12 February, 9:00am/9:30pm), I am now actually, properly and profoundly in love with it. Did you hear the first part of this series? Not only is it the largest radio project ever undertaken by the BBC's Natural History Unit, it may well be the nicest documentary ever made.

In basic natural history terms, it's enormous. It's a veritable Kilimanjaro of mammalian import, a Lake Superior of squawk-based significance. Here's the deal: over 40 weeks (40 weeks! That's almost as long as Waterloo Road!), the station will track a vast menagerie of creatures as they pack their tiny animal/insect suitcases, leave a note out for the tiny animal/insect milkman, and head for friendlier animal/insect climes. Over the coming months, then, we will follow the likes of the painted lady butterfly ("these are serious travellers"), the toad ("we'll be helping them across the road") and the barnacle goose ("honk") as they embark on their annual holiday.

Yesterday's episode provided an enthusiastic preamble to the series, a half-hour intro that saw affable hosts Philippa Forrester and Brett Westwood welcome us with a cheery "Come in! Have a sandwich! Are you aware of the current migratory patterns of the Alaskan bar-tailed godwit…?" while providing us with the tools we'd need for the months ahead.

An encouragingly interactive endeavour, the mood was akin to a Girl Guides meet, with Forrester our warm and perky Brown Owl, hopping from foot to foot as she introduced us to the gaggle of animal experts who would be joining us throughout the series ("Jules Howard of Froglife is on the phone!") while sporadically motioning to the World on the Move website - which is, she assured us, "already full of information!"

What a delightful programme this was. Friendly, encouraging and informative, it was enough to have me standing on my patio first thing this morning, magnifying glass and empty ice-cream tub in hand, hoping to come to the assistance of one of the common toads who've found their winter naps interrupted by the unseasonable February heat.

Ah, BBC Radio 4. Will you be my valentine?

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  • Posted on 15 February 2008
  • at 11:44am
  • by partij32

There's a great website too! http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/worldonthemove/ - John - site producer

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