Many wildlife scenes in BBC series are faked, an acclaimed cameraman has admitted.
Doug Allan, whom Sir David Attenborough described as the best cameraman he has worked with, confessed that some filming on smaller animals was done on purpose-built sets instead of in their natural environments.
As well as a controversial Frozen Planet scene in which polar bear cubs believed to have been filmed in the Antarctic were actually recorded in a Dutch zoo, Allan said most animals smaller than a baby rabbit were taken to simulated environments for filming.
He told the Cheltenham Literary Festival: “You can’t make a film about mice by just going into a meadow. You need to introduce them to a safely built set in which they will be happy. There’s a lot of skill in doing that.”
But he added that if the BBC were more open about the practice “people would [feel] less deceived.”
Sir David defended the practice in 2011, saying “come on, we were making movies” and that controlled environments were needed so as not to “ruin the atmosphere.”
Allan also tipped Springwatch presenter Chris Packham to replace Sir David when he retires, though he admitted Packham “is not everyone’s cup of tea.”
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