What time is Springwatch on? Hosts, air time for BBC Two series
The fab four are all taking part this year.
Lockdown walks have given many of us a renewed appreciation of nature - and there are few people who know more about nature than the team at Springwatch.
The long-running BBC series had to adapt to the pandemic last year, with the hosts presenting from areas near their homes and Michaela Strachan unable to fly back from South Africa to participate.
Fans will be pleased to hear that all four presenters will be able to take part this time round. However, rather than broadcasting from a central hub, the hosts will be split between three new locations.
Iolo Williams will be braving the Scottish Highlands, Gillian Burke will be taking the show to Northern Ireland for the first time, and Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan will report from Norfolk agriculture project Wild Ken Hill.
It's set to be a series unlike any other, so here's everything we know about Springwatch 2021.
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What time is Springwatch on?
Springwatch 2021 will begin at 8pm on Tuesday 25th May 2021 on BBC Two.
The show will then air live from Tuesday to Friday for three weeks, ending on Friday 11th June.
Springwatch presenters
The fab four are finally reunited this year! Here's a reminder of the nature aficionados:
Chris Packham
Naturalist Chris Packham has been presenting wildlife shows for decades, starting in the 1980s when he memorably hosted BAFTA-winning CBBC series The Really Wild Show.
He has since presented a number of nature shows, including The X Creatures, Inside Out, The Flying Gourmet's Guide and The Living Planet.
He has written several books on his love of the outdoors, including Back to Nature, Chris Packham's Wild Side of Town and memoir Fingers In The Sparkle Jar. He is also heavily involved in conservation work. He is President of five different trusts and societies, and his work earned him a CBE in the 2019 New Year's Honours List.
He is now best-known for co-presenting Springwatch since 2009, as well as sister programmes Autumnwatch and Winterwatch.
Michaela Strachan
Packham's co-host on The Really Wild Show, Michaela Strachan started off presenting Saturday morning television in the 1980s.
She later focused on wildlife shows, memorably hosting Countryfile for ten years between 1999 and 2009, as well as Orangutan Diary and The Great Penguin Rescue.
She also hosted music shows Boogie Box and The Hitman and Her, and even had a brief music career as "Michaela" releasing the singles Take Good Care of My Heart and a cover of Edwin Starr's H.A.P.P.Y. Radio.
She has presented Autumnwatch since 2011, and joined Springwatch when Kate Humble departed in 2012.
Gillian Burke
Unlike her colleagues, Gillian Burke has spent most of her career working behind the camera.
After gaining a passion for wildlife photography as a teen and studying biology at Bristol University, Burke worked as a researcher for the BBC Natural History Unit. She worked her way up to become a producer and director for several series for Animal Planet and Discovery Channel, eventually becoming a voice artist too.
The next step saw Burke move in front of the camera for the first time, when she became a presenter for Springwatch back in 2017, soon branching out into seasonal spin-offs Autumnwatch and Winterwatch.
This has led to more presenting roles, hosting Nature’s Strangest Mysteries Solved and Blue Planet UK in 2019 and narrating Baby Chimp Rescue and Thailand's Wild Side in 2020.
Iolo Williams
The latest addition to the springtime series, Welsh nature presenter Iolo Williams joined Winterwatch in 2019 and subsequently sister shows Springwatch and Autumnwatch.
After gaining a degree in ecology, Iolo Williams spent fourteen years working for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, a job that involved regular media appearances. After making two series of Visions of Snowdonia, Williams left the RSPB in 1999 to work in media full time, frequently presenting for BBC Wales and Welsh Channel S4C.
He soon moved to BBC Two, where he continued making programmes about his native Wales, cementing himself as one of the BBC's key natural history presenters through shows such as The Brecon Beacons, Rugged Wales and Iolo's Natural History of Wales.
He's also written several books in both English and Welsh, including Llyfr Adar Iolo Williams, Wild Places: Wales Top 40 Nature Sites and Llyfr Natur Iolo.
Springwatch 2021 dates: When does the series air?
As usual, the nature series runs for three weeks, airing live from Tuesday to Friday, from Tuesday 25th May 2021 to Friday 11th June.
For a full list, you can watch Springwatch at 8pm on BBC Two on the following dates:
- Tuesday 25th May
- Wednesday 26th May
- Thursday 27th May
- Friday 28th May
- Tuesday 1st June
- Wednesday 2nd June
- Thursday 3rd June
- Friday 4th June
- Tuesday 8th June
- Wednesday 9th June
- Thursday 10th June
- Friday 11th June
Springwatch live cameras: How to watch
You can watch the Springwatch live wildlife cameras through the Springwatch BBC website, BBC iPlayer and YouTube.
The cameras stream live every day from 10am to 10pm until the show ends on Friday 11th June.
Springwatch starts at 8pm on Tuesday 25th May on BBC Two. If you’re looking for something else to watch, check out our TV Guide.
