While he hasn’t necessarily done any of the field work, Ewan McGregor will be narrating his second wildlife show for BBC Scotland in Highlands: Scotland’s Wild Heart. It follows up on his last vocal outing, Hebrides – Islands On The Edge, and this time, as the name gives away pretty clearly, it’ll focus on the impressive landscape and super cool wildlife of the Scottish highlands.
Airing from Wednesday the 11th May 2016, the new series will span four episodes in total with McGregor talking us through every sweeping mountain scene, eagle dive and red squirrel nut hunt. The Hollywood star of Star Wars, Salmon Fishing In The Yemen and Moulin Rouge had his first big breakthrough in Trainspotting, but his more recent efforts as a wildlife narrator are his most up-to-date connection with his homeland of Scotland.
The four episodes are split by seasons with both Spring and Summer already available to watch on BBC iPlayer, following their air dates on the 11th and 18th May 2016. If you haven’t seen the series yet, you should probably get a wriggle on, because they’ll only be available on iPlayer for a limited time.
The filming of the series has taken more than three years to put together with production company Maramedia kicking things off just as Hebrides made its debut in 2013. The team behind the project have compiled more than 300 hours of footage from the area, capturing the changing of the seasons, the annual behaviour of its unique animals and the incredible forces of nature that dominate the Highlands.
There are a lot of very specific survival traits and adaptations that have developed over millennia for the wildlife and the series covers these in all their glory. However, it also factors in the people that live in the region and how they have also had to adapt to the specific conditions of the high and wild lands of Scotland.
With only four episodes to cover the whole breadth and depth of the Highlands, there’s a lot for Scotland’s Wild Heart to fit in. While the Cairngorms National Park’s souring peaks will be a big feature, the series will also look at the lochs north of Glasgow and the massive wedge of wild coastline between Dundee and Inverness.
If you’re a fan of Winter Watch, which is based in the Cairngorms every year, then Highlands: Scotland’s Wild Heart should be one to watch, especially with cameramen Lindsay McCrae and Raymond Besand on the project. Both worked on the show following filming for the upcoming series.
There’ll be lots of your favourite Highlands animals in the mix, including otters, deer, seals, red squirrels, eagles, pine martins, capercaillies, ptarmigans and mountain hares. Add to that some impressive macro-photography, slow motion capture and grand aerial shots, along with lesser known rarities like the timberman beetle, which has antennae five times the length of its body and you’ve got a great new nature documentary to enjoy.
The music for the series was specially composed by Donald Shaw and Simon Ashdown, who also worked on Hebrides. While a CD was created for the previous series, there are no plans at the moment to release the music for Highlands: Scotland’s Wild Heart.
Would like to know what the music is that is played in the programme
Would love to know if I could get the soundtrack or find out who composed the beautiful music
What a shame, the music is good, and very haunting. I would have bought it, if it was available on iTunes. ?
I would totally buy a CD of this music! It’s so beautiful! At least make it available for (paid) download somewhere? PLEASE!