Mark Strickson: Crocodile Hunter

An article in today's Malaysia Star features an interview with Mark Strickson, the actor who played companion Turlough to the Fifth Doctor. It says that Strickson "was an actor who had appeared in numerous BBC TV productions, including the famous Dr Who series, before he abandoned acting to study zoology when he was 30. The 47-year-old director also has bragging rights about one Steve Irwin, Crocodile Hunter. Recounted Strickson: 'What happened was: I and three other people in an office in London got together a project called The 10 Deadliest Snakes in the World. And it was all in Australia. We went to Australian zoos and universities to find someone who would be able to present this. We wanted somebody who is a good snake-handler and who can talk to the camera. Steve's was one of the tapes that came back, and we thought we would take a risk with this guy. He was either going to be a disaster or he would become something phenomenal. In the end he turned out to be something phenomenal. I think filmmaking has moved on from those first films with Steve. At that time, it was revolutionary. They took the camera off the tripod and it was action. It was what was happening in drama, in NYPD Blue. When I look back at those first films with Steve, they look dated to me. But at the time, they were absolute reality and they changed things. And I think Steve's films have brought a larger audience into natural history. Natural history films were previously very serious and they weren't very popular. In global terms, not many people watched them. A David Attenborough programme got maybe three or four million people on UK TV. But the first Steve Irwin programme got 11 million people! I think what David does is exactly what Steve does. David is really enthusiastic about animals and you can see that when you watch him. Steve is also very enthusiastic. They're basically doing the same things in different ways. But the time was right for Steve. The time was right to go for a bigger audience for natural history."