The Earl of Grantham Hugh Bonneville is narrating two wildlife series for Smithsonian Channel.
The Downton Abbey star is leading Wild Tales from the Farm and The Crown’s Ancient Forest, which will air as part of the ViacomCBS’ network’s Wild Wednesdays lineup.
Wild Tales from the Farm, which premieres on November 3, chronicles a year in a quiet corner of Southern England, where dramatic stories of family conflict, romantic betrayal, and fierce rivalries play out among the species living in and around a picturesque organic farm.
The four-part series, narrated by Bonneville, was commissioned by Love Nature in association with Smithsonian Channel and Arte France.
The Crown’s Ancient Forest, which premieres on December 1, is a one-hour documentary hot in the heart of Southern England where a royal forest lies. The doc, hosted by Bonneville, captures a wild and magical place of ancient beauty that’s hardly changed since King William the Conqueror proclaimed it as his hunting grounds some 900 years ago. It will tell a year in the life of the forest, told through the eyes of its most iconic inhabitants: New Forest Pony spring foal, a pair of rare goshawks nesting in the ancient woods and a fallow red deer stag.
It is produced by Big Wave Productions for Smithsonian Channel and Terra Mater Factual Studios.
“An ancient landscape and a contemporary haven for Britain’s wildlife, The New Forest is one of the nation’s jewels,” said Bonneville. “It is a unique and precious environment, brilliantly captured in this enthralling and thought-provoking film.”
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