K. Ramya Sree
BBC show Dynasties II is a sequel to Attenborough’s great nature show, following the lives of different dynasties in the animal kingdom. Narrated by David Attenborough, the series shows the secret lives of charismatic, captivating animals as they fight for their families against the odds.
Get caught up in the real-life drama as The Pioneer brings to you an interview with the series’ producer, Simon Blakeney.
Each episode of Dynasties II tells the story of an animal family led by an individual. Asked why it is important to create a natural history series from this perspective, Simon said, “We often tend to look at animals in general terms—what is ‘normal’ for a species—but what working on Dynasties has shown us is that the reality for individual animals is often far from ‘normal’! The challenges that our characters face are specific to the exact situations they find themselves in, and the solutions they come up with often depend as much on the circumstances and experiences that individual has gone through as on the behavioural traits they share with others of their species. Each animal is unique!”
Throughout Dynasties II, we see a lot of heartbreaking moments. The crew spent months shooting, and capturing the lives of these animals.
Giving us some deets about the BTS of the show, he shared, “There were a few hairy moments, but thankfully none with any of our characters. One of our directors had the roof of her room cave in during one of the regular 100mph gales in Patagonia, we had several venomous snakes that came a bit too close for comfort in Zambia, and the crew in Amboseli had to constantly be on their guard to protect their kit (and food!) from the ever-present threat of thieving monkeys!”
Hyenas have quite a negative reputation in the public eye. However, their portrayal in Dynasties II is different. “For many years, hyenas—in a similar way to sharks—have had a bad press in everything from wildlife films to children’s stories. However, there is so much more to their lives than the stereotype of cackling scavengers. What we hope we have shown in Dynasties is not only their sophisticated social lives but also the softer side of their characters, whether that is the care of their vulnerable cubs, the support shown between individuals, or even their love of a refreshing splash in a pool,” he added.
Asked which animal family was the most challenging to film, he responded, “All of the characters in our films presented their own challenges—the cheetah travelled enormous distances during shoots, the hyena’s wetland home meant our filming vehicles could get stuck in deep mud several times a day, and despite their size, simply finding the elephants on the huge, often flooded plains of Amboseli was sometimes an enormous task. However, the environment where the Puma lived presented perhaps the greatest challenge; just keeping up with Rupestre and
her cubs required a pretty resilient team.”
In their research during the shoot, they found that as many as 70%
of cubs may be killed by other predators such as hyenas and lions, but young
cheetahs can also fall foul of threats as diverse as fire, floods, and even birds of prey.
