'There will always be moments when you are vulnerable' says BBC wildlife filmmaker before tour comes to Harrogate

Gearing up for his forthcoming UK tour, which will take in the Royal Hall in Harrogate, the popular Scottish wildlife presenter and filmmaker admits to sleepless nights when he first swapped the great outdoors for indoor venues.

"I lost so much sleep over my first tour,” he tells me via Zoom from his family home in the west end of Glasgow where he lives with his wife and children.

"We had a whole evening to fill and I wasn’t sure exactly what to do.

"But I quickly realised people who are there to see you talk about your work are on your side.

"It’s not the best man’s speech when you’re on stage, you’re more the groom.

"My favourite bit is the Q&A with the audience. That’s the joy and pleasure of going on tour."

Over the last incredible 30 years working both behind and in front of the camera, the well-travelled 50-year-old has learnt not to let his enthusiasm put him in danger during his encounters with big cats and polar bears.

"Nowadays I do a mental check of all the possible risks” said Gordon whose latest BBC documentary – Snow Dogs: Into the Wild – will screen this Sunday, December 18.

"When I was younger I didn’t do that.

"There will always be moments when you are vulnerable.

"But I don’t want to put myself in the position of being actually scared for my safety.

"There is a thin line between a good anecdote and a funeral.”

After three decades as one of the UK’s most respected makers of wildlife programmes, Gordon’s passion for the natural world from the Arctic to his birth place on the Isle of Mull is widely admired, as is his very human approach.

Awarded an MBE in 2020 for services to conservation and wildlife film-making, I suggest to the good-natured Buchanan that his most essential quality at all times is honesty.

"When I was first in front of camera, I asked myself “what does a wildlife presenter do?”

"Eventually I decided to just be myself.

"When I am filming I like to convey the experience as it is happening.

“I never plan what I am going to say. "

His forthcoming 30 Years In The Wild tour, which arrives at the Royal Hall in Harrogate on Sunday, April 16, 2023, will offer fans the rare opportunity to discover what has driven Gordon’s Buchanan’s career and what are his most favourite wildlife encounters.

Despite his softly-spoken charisma, this vastly experienced filmmaker is far from sentimental in his viewpoint of nature.

Over the decades, Gordon has seen the impact of climate change and has become a hard-headed advocate of action to tackle it.

"It’s dangerous to be over-sentimental. You have to show the whole truth.

"Bad things happen in the wild. The natural world is red in tooth and claw.

"It’s important to see the blood and guts.

“What I do find difficult to watch is an animal suffering because of what man has done.

"The simple fact is human beings have over run the planet and there isn’t a living thing that hasn’t been affected.”

More information at www.gordon-buchanan.co.uk