Fergus Michael Edmund Beeley (born 1962)[1] is an English wildlife conservationist and filmmaker. He is best known for his work producing films for BBC Natural World, including "White Falcon, White Wolf"; "The Eagle Has Landed"; "Return of the Eagle Owl"; and "Spectacled Bears: Shadows of the Forest". He joined the BBC Natural History Unit in 1990 and has produced series including Planet Earth: The Future and The Life of Birds in collaboration with David Attenborough.
Fergus Beeley | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1962 |
| Occupation | Television producer |
Early life edit
Beeley was born in Tonbridge, Kent.[2] In 1985, he graduated from the University of Durham (Hatfield College) with a degree in anthropology, earning a 2:2.[3] He completed his thesis with the Pitjantjatjara tribe of Aboriginals in central Australia.[4]
Career edit
Beeley joined the BBC Natural History Unit in 1990 and has produced natural history programmes for television. These include the documentary series Planet Earth: The Future, The Life of Birds and PBS Nature: "Jungle Eagle".
A month before Beeley was due to depart to Ellesmere Island for filming of the documentary "White Falcon, White Wolf", he fell whilst filming high up in the Andes and was flown back to the UK by air ambulance for surgery on a broken ankle. This meant he could not be on location with the crew for filming and had to assist via GPS and edit from his hospital bed.[5][6]
In 2009 Beeley spent a year in the rural Scottish Highlands on Beinn Eighe and neighbouring Loch Maree, filming the documentary "A Highland Haven".[7][8][9]
Conservation edit
Beeley is the creator of a community conservation project called the BLUE Campaign, which encourages anyone with access to a green space to give a piece back to nature to promote biodiversity.[10]
Controversies edit
In July 2017, Beeley was involved in a road rage incident in which he informed a family that he was placing them under a citizen's arrest. Beeley was filmed telling the family to "get ready to die" and that he "wanted them dead". Two claims of assault were made but neither party pursued the matter further.[11][12]
References edit
- ^ "Search Results for Britain records | findmypast.co.uk". www.findmypast.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-05-16.
- ^ "Search Results for Britain records | findmypast.co.uk". www.findmypast.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-05-16.
- ^ "Durham University gazette, 1984/85". reed.dur.ac.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
- ^ Travel, Steppes. "Fergus Beeley". www.steppestravel.com.
- ^ PBS, Irene. "Filmmaker Interviews". www.pbs.org.
- ^ McNeill, Jim (24 August 2007). "Arctic diary: Tracking wolves". www.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ Wollaston, Sam (4 December 2009). "Natural World: Highland Haven and Wonderland". www.theguardian.com.
- ^ Heritage, Scottish Natural. "When Fergus Met Beinn" (PDF). www.snh.org.uk.
- ^ Beeley, Fergus (23 April 2008). "Highland Diary: Remote munro". www.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ Sims, Aaron (20 October 2016). "Chipping Sodbury to pilot national biodiversity campaign encouraging people to help nature by 'doing less'". www.gazetteseries.co.uk.
- ^ "Ex-BBC man Fergus Beeley issues 'I want you dead' threat". BBC. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
- ^ "Man tries to put 11-year-old and his family under citizen's arrest then says 'get ready to die' in bizarre road rage video". The Independent. Retrieved 1 May 2021.