Dale Templar, Executive Producer of BBC Wales’ Wonders of the Celtic Deep is keen to remind the viewing public that Wales is a coastal nation. Ahead of its broadcast, she was equally keen to tell Hannah Collins that these surprisingly rich waters need to be protected as much as celebrated.
Where did the idea for the series come from – why the Welsh seas and coastline?
The first show that I made was called Land of the Wild. And that, of course, was about the land-based animals in Wales. That was very successful. So there was an opportunity to pitch another landmark Natural History show [to BBC Wales], and once the animals on land have been taken out of the equation, you think, what can you do? You either do a different take on that or you do another set of animals. And it was just so obvious to me that the big challenge would be to film the wildlife in the waters around Wales.
And it is amazing, really. People come to Wales from all over the world to go on holiday. And they tend to go to the Welsh coast, which is absolutely phenomenal: we’ve got beautiful cliffs and dunes and beaches, it’s got everything. So it made perfect sense. Then we had to find out whether there would be enough spaces and animals to film and if we could film because filming underwater is incredibly difficult. So we started doing research and found out very quickly that Wales doesn’t have elephants and giraffes and that type of thing on land, but underwater, we really do have some of the world’s largest and most impressive, what we call ‘charismatic,’ megafauna.
Not only filming underwater, but you had the extra challenge of filming during a pandemic as well. How long did it all take?
Oh, it’s taken about two years. It was a year of filming and pre and post-production, which is still a very long time. And actually, as long as if not longer than many feature films, so is a properly long, long period of time. Within a month or two of going into production the pandemic hit, and then lockdown, which made it a very difficult show to make because every part of Wales had different rules and regulations. And it even got to the point at one stage where we couldn’t go out in any kind of vessel with an engine on it. So we ended up doing some sequences to get around that with kayaks and canoes. We had to be really clever because although we weren’t filming humans, certainly to begin with, and animals can’t get COVID, we were still working within COVID.
I understand this is the first Ultra HD/4K factual programme for BBC Wales?
Yes, it was interesting because 10 years ago, I made the first HD factual programme at BBC Wales, which was called Human Planet. And that was the first-ever landmark series for BBC Wales and the first in HD, and I remember all the hassles and drama there. So this time, I thought, right, let’s give myself more hassle and drama, and make it in Ultra HD! Because that’s the way the industry is going. And I wanted to create a show that in five years time would still look fantastic because TV and film technology keeps moving. Filming it in Ultra HD gave the show the life it deserves because Natural History programmes can’t date in the way that many other shows do.
This might be hard to narrow down but what are your personal highlights from the series?
I think if I was going to pick two sequences… Oh, my goodness. I think the ‘bait ball’ sequence at the end of Episode 3. It’s incredible when you see all these animals coming together, feeding on sardines in a way that you would expect to see maybe off the coast of South Africa – and it’s on your own doorstep. And then I think one of my other favourite sequences is Episode 2. It’s a story about seals who have a sex orgy!
The final episode, Episode 4, explores environmental issues. What are those issues and why did you think it was important to include them?
I think Natural History programming often gets attacked for trying to show the natural world as if everything is all hunky-dory and everything’s great and there are no issues. But I think people really have begun to realise the truth about the natural world, and particularly the marine environment. People expect us, as programme-makers, to address those issues. And in Episodes 1, 2 and 3 there are the occasional nods to the issues – I wanted people to just enjoy the animal stories and love the environment to then be able to go, ‘right, now I’m ready to hear about the challenges facing the environment.’ And that’s where Episode 4 comes along.
Episode 4 is called “Heroes of the Celtic Deep.” And it’s where we look at the human beings who are doing amazing things to try and protect the environment. But we also face head-on the problems facing the natural world, and particularly the marine environment. So, we do overfishing and ways of combating that. We look at climate change, we look at the importance of environments like seagrass that are being planted that suck up carbon dioxide; we look at how protecting animal species can make such a difference.
And we end up with really quite a sad story about a fin whale that’s beached, which could be related to global warming. We look at the whole issue of sea temperatures rising and water levels rising; we go to Fairbourne, which could be the first village to be hit by climate change. That last episode comes out in the week of the COP 26 Conference [United Nations Climate Change Conference].
What are you hoping that viewers will take away from the series overall?
I think there are two things. I think, for Wales, I really do hope this series just magnificently showcases this incredible country’s landscape and just encourages more people to come and enjoy the incredible oceans around Wales to boost tourism and the economy. And I think for people in Wales to be really proud of what we’ve got here because I do think this show will surprise many people.
And as far as the natural world is concerned, and the environment, I’m a great believer that you’ve got to care about the natural world; you’ve got to care about us, as people. Until you do that, I don’t believe you’re really going to affect change. And that’s what I believe these shows do. They make people care, they open people’s eyes, and they make them want to do something about it. And if this series can make one iota of change for one person, it’s actually done its job. But I sincerely hope that this series will impact maybe millions of people. That’s what I hope.
Wonders of the Celtic Deep premiered on BBC Wales on Oct. 13. All four episodes are available for streaming now on BBC iPlayer.
words HANNAH COLLINS