Neil Nightingale (born 6 February 1960NIGHTINGALE, Neil
''Who's Who 2015'', A & C Black, 2015; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014) is a British freelance wildlife filmmaker, executive producer and creative consultant with over 35 years experience at the BBC. His most recent project is ''Shared Planet'' a global series exploring the many ways in which sharing our lives with wildlife can bring real benefits and a brighter future for all of us. From 2009 to 2018 he was the creative director of

BBC Earth BBC Earth is a brand used by BBC Studios since 2009 to market and distribute the BBC's natural history content to countries other than the United Kingdom. BBC Studios is the commercial arm of the public service broadcaster. BBC Earth commercia ...

BBC Worldwide BBC Worldwide Ltd. was the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the BBC, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in January 1995. The company monetised BBC brands, selling BBC and other British programming for broadcas ...

's global brand for all BBC nature and science content. Neil Nightingale

In this role Nightingale led the development and production of new forms of commercial content including feature films, 4D experiences, live events, interactive visitor attractions Giant Screen films, and Digital Projects. He is the co-director of two 3D feature films, ''Walking with Dinosaurs 3D'' (2013) and ''Enchanted Kingdom 3D'' (2014), as well as executive producer of BBC Earth's slate of theatrical and 3D giant screen films, including ''Tiny Giants'' (2014

''Wild Africa'' (2015), ''Earthflight'' (2016

''Incredible Predators'' (2016), ''Earth-One Amazing Day'' (2017) and producer of ''Oceans: Our Blue Planet'' (2018).

Early career

Nightingale attended

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street, Oxford, Broad Street and Parks Road ...

and graduated with a first class degree in Zoology. After working as a freelance science journalist for ''

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a popular science magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organ ...

'', he joined the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

in 1983 as a researcher and assistant producer in a variety of television genres, including current affairs, regional programmes, science and education. His first natural history production credits were for a number of programmes in the '' Wildlife on One'' series. He later moved on to the challenges of engaging audiences with series on fossils and plants as the producer of '' Lost Worlds, Vanished Lives'' and ''

The Private Life of Plants ''The Private Life of Plants'' is a BBC nature documentary series written and presented by David Attenborough, first shown in the United Kingdom from 11 January 1995. A study of the growth, movement, reproduction and survival of plants, it wa ...

'', both of which were collaborations with veteran broadcaster

David Attenborough Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and writer. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Studios Natural History Unit, the nine nature d ...

. In 1995, Nightingale took on the role of Series Editor for '' The Natural World'',

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

's long-running flagship natural history series. Under his editorship, ''The Natural Worlds programmes won awards at every major international wildlife film festival as well as the

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

award for Best Documentary Strand. He went on to produce five episodes of

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

's '' Wildlife Specials'' as executive producer. He was also executive producer of several series in the Continents strand for BBC Two, including '' Wild Africa'' and ''

Wild Down Under ''Wild Down Under'' is a BBC nature documentary series exploring the natural history of the Australasian continent, first transmitted in the UK on BBC Two in September 2003. It was broadcast in Australia under the title ''Wild Australasia'' in F ...

''. In 2003, Nightingale went on to become Head of the Natural History Unit, the largest wildlife film-making production unit in the world,. He led the Unit for 6 years; from February 2003 until June 2009.

Recent career

Under his leadership the Unit developed its reputation for innovative and ambitious natural history broadcasting. He oversaw well-received television series including ''

Planet Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all of Earth's water is ...

'' (2006), '' Springwatch'' (2005), ''

Wild China ''Wild China'' is a six-part nature documentary series on the natural history of China, co-produced by the BBC Natural History Unit and China Central Television (CCTV) and filmed in high-definition video, high-definition (HD). It was screened in ...

'' (2008) and ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'' (2009), as well as the Unit's largest-ever radio production, ''World on the Move'' (2008), which followed migrating animals live, and Breathing Places, an ambitious multimedia campaign which successfully encouraged thousands of people to undertake hands-on activities with nature. He also moved the Unit into the field of feature films with '' Deep Blue'' (2003) and ''

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

'' (2007), both spin-offs from successful television series. Earth is the most successful documentary feature film produced in Britain ever. In January 2009 the BBC announced that Nightingale was to stand down after six years as Head of the Unit to return to programme making. He was succeeded in the role by Andrew Jackson. Nightingale was a co-founder and vice chairman of the BBC Wildlife Fund, a conservation charity established in 2007. Its appeals raised over £3 million for

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

conservation, and it has funded almost 90 projects in the UK and around the world. From 2002 until 2009, Nightingale was a trustee of Wildscreen, a charity which organises the biennial wildlife film festival of the same name in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

. Its

ARKive ARKive was a global initiative with the mission of "promoting the conservation of the world's threatened species, through the power of wildlife imagery", which it did by locating and gathering films, photographs and audio recordings of the wor ...

project aims to create an online database of all the world's threatened species.

Defending criticism

As Head of the Natural History Unit, Nightingale faced down criticism over the issues of viewer deception and value for money for licence fee payers. In 2007, because of a lower than expected licence fee settlement, the BBC announced major cutbacks across its factual production departments, including budget and staff cuts at the Natural History Unit. The cutbacks were highly disapproved of by veteran broadcaster and natural history enthusiast

, a long-time collaborator with the NHU. The following year, Nightingale defended the Unit against accusations of profligacy with regard to the production costs of the '' Big Cat Live'' series. According to newspaper reports, a production team of 94 people was based in a luxury hotel in

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

during three weeks of filming. Film techniques used by the Natural History Unit came under close scrutiny in 2008 following a number of scandals in which other programme-making departments in the BBC were revealed to have 'deceived' viewers. Examples of the use of tame animals (a

red fox The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus ...

in '' The Nature of Britain'') and studio sets (deep sea life in '' The Blue Planet'') to simulate footage from the wild were brought to light. Nightingale rebutted accusations of misleading viewers, arguing that it is almost impossible to film certain sequences in the wild and that the Unit is open about its methods.

Television and film credits

* "''Shared Planet''" (2025) - executive producer * "''Cuba 3D''" (2019) - executive producer * "''Oceans - Our Blue Planet 3D''" (2018) - producer * "''Earth - One Amazing Day''" Feature Film (2017) - executive producer * "''Incredible Predators 3D''" (2016) - executive producer * "''Earthflight 3D''" (2016) - executive producer * "''Wild Africa 3D''" (2015) - director and producer * "''Prehistoric Planet 3D''" - director * "''Tiny Giants 3D''" - executive producer * ''Enchanted Kingdom 3D'' Feature Film (2014) - director and producer * '' Walking with Dinosaurs 3D'' (2013) - director * ''Great Barrier Reef'' (2012) - executive producer * '' One Life'' Feature Film (2011) - executive producer * '' Unnatural Histories'' (2011) - executive producer * '' Birds Britannia'' (2010) - executive producer * '' The Meerkats'' Feature Film (2008) – executive producer * ''

'' (2003) – executive producer * '' Wild New World'' (2002) – executive producer : Episode "Land of the Mammoth" (2002) * '' Wild Africa'' (2001) – executive producer : Episode "Lakes and Rivers" (2001) : Episode "Jungle" (2001) : Episode "Coasts" (2001) : Episode "Deserts" (2001) : Episode "Mountains" (2001) * '' Congo'' (2001) – executive producer * ''Wild Battlefields'' (2002–2003) – executive producer * ''

BBC Wildlife Specials The ''BBC Wildlife Specials'' are a series of nature documentary programmes commissioned by BBC Television. The series premiered in 1995, and 22 specials have been produced to date, with most of the more recent ones consisting of multiple episo ...

'' – executive producer : Episode "Elephants: Spy in the Herd" (2003) : Episode "Gorilla: On the Trail of King Kong" (2002) : Episode "Grizzly: Face to Face" (2001) : Episode "Lions: Spy in the Den" (2000) : Episode "Tiger" (1999) * ''Dive to Shark City'' (1999) – executive producer * ''A Winter's Tale'' (1998) - executive producer * '' Natural World'' – series editor (1996–2001) * ''Restless Year'' (1996) - producer * ''

'' (1995) – producer : Episode "Surviving" (1995) : Episode "Living Together" (1995) : Episode "Flowering" (1995) : Episode "The Social Struggle" (1995) : Episode "Growing" (1995) : Episode "Travelling" (1995) * ''Nature Special, City Trees: Under the Axe?'' (1995) - producer * ''New Guinea: An Island Apart'' (1992) - producer : Episode "Other Worlds" (1992) : Episode "Beyond the Unknown Shore" (1992) * ''Portrait of a Planet'' (1990) – producer * '' Lost Worlds, Vanished Lives'' (1989) - producer * '' Wildlife on One'' – producer : Episode "Lost Lakes of the Pacific" (1996) : Episode "Babies Beware" (1992) : Episode "Parrot Fashion" (1989) : Episode "The Tale of the Pregnant Male" (1988)

References

External links

BFI TV & Film Database - Neil Nightingale Filmography
*
Interview with Neil Nightingale from BBC Training & Development
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nightingale, Neil 1960 births Living people Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford BBC executives BBC television producers British naturalists British television producers