UKTV's Eden to co-produce Penguin series with NHU Africa

News

Pippa Considine

30 September 2013

UKTV's Eden channel is to co-produce The Great Penguin Rescue with NHU Africa.

The six-part series follows wildlife presenter and conservation enthusiast Michaela Strachan on her mission to help save the only endemic penguin species in South Africa. The UK premiere is due to be shown on natural history channel Eden this November.

During the 10 years that Strachan has lived in her adopted home of Cape Town, South Africa, the peninsula’s penguins have been a preoccupation. She joins forces with the South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal (SANCCOB), which rescues late born penguin young every year. The series documents Strachan as she looks after over 750 demanding chicks.

The deal was negotiated by UKTV’s acquisitions and co-productions manager Emma Sparks and NHU Africa's commissioning editor Vyv Simson and ordered by Eden’s general manager Adrian Wills.

Adrian Wills said: "For The Great Penguin Rescue Michaela Strachan for once is not the presenter, but a volunteer with the camera focusing on her hard work and following her as she cleans and feeds penguin chicks abandoned by their parents. It’s obvious she is passionate about saving these enchanting birds."

The Great Penguin Rescue is a NHU Africa production, produced and directed by Alice Clarke and with Vyv Simson as executive producer on the series.

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