BBC nature documentary filmed at Dorset school. For four months during the summer of 2019, cutting-edge night vision cameras and ultrasonic detectors from the BBC were focussed on a greater horseshoe bat roost at Bryanston School near Blandford in Dorset. The remarkable journey into the secret world of one of the country’s most endangered animals will feature in a special documentary ‘Inside the Bat Cave’ to be broadcast on BBC 2 at 9pm Monday, 26th October.
The programme will be hosted by TV presenters, Professor Kate Jones, Lucy Cooke and Ajay Tegala and will provide an unprecedented view of the hidden life of a bat colony, including the birth of pups and their progress towards their first perilous flight outside the roost.
Affectionately known as ‘the Bryanston bats’ by staff and pupils, they are often seen flying in the evening sky around the School. Great care has been taken over many years to avoid any disruption to the roost during any routine maintenance work on the historic buildings where they have taken up residence.
“We were delighted to host the BBC and it will be fascinating to see what really goes on in the roost while everyone at the School goes about their everyday activities,” says Karen Brazier, Director of Marketing and External Communications. “The painstaking preparations for filming by the BBC team was a real eye-opener but, by all accounts, all of the effort has produced a truly unique and amazing insight into the lives of these protected and extraordinary creatures.”
Photo credit: BBC
An image from the BBC’s ‘Inside the Bat Cave’ documentary
TV presenters Professor Kate Jones, Lucy Cooke and Ajay Tegala and a BBC film crew spent 4 months at Bryanston School filming for the ‘Inside the Bat Cave’ documentary