“I will be stopped at the station, on the train and getting off the train, and I guarantee you that nine out of 10 people will speak about [Inside Our Autistic Minds], and it's been like that since it went out.”
For the two-part documentary, Packham met with four autistic adults as they created short films to try and share the reality of their daily lives with their closest family and friends.
Chris Packham is freshly angry. On the afternoon we speak, he has spent the last few hours protesting at the Government’s announcement of 100-plus new North Sea oil and gas drilling licences, a policy he describes as “a dark day for life on earth”.
Chris Packham combines his background as a naturalist with the latest scientific discoveries to take us back 250 million years to Earth’s last climate change event, which wiped out 90% of species in the worst mass extinction the planet has ever seen.
Chris Packham goes on an emotional walk through the idyllic Hampshire countryside as he contemplates the challenges he has faced in the past.
Strolling along the River Itchen and Itchen Navigation, Packham highlights how important nature is for people’s wellbeing.
During the walk, Packham remembers difficult memories of growing up with undiagnosed Asperger’s Syndrome and reminisces about the walks he had with his father and playing in the fields with his kestrel and poodle companions.
Chris Packham brought his passion and knowledge to two RTS Southern events at Bournemouth University in early March, highlighting the need for greater environmental sustainability in programme production.
In the afternoon, the TV presenter and naturalist spoke to media students about sustainable TV production. In the evening, he talked candidly about his life and TV career – and how he copes with the effects of Asperger syndrome.
In the afternoon, the TV presenter and naturalist spoke to media students about sustainable TV production, while in the evening he talked candidly about his life and TV career – and how he copes with the effects of Asperger Syndrome.
“If you have a voice, you’ve got to use it for good,” the presenter claims emphatically. “I find myself restraining my contempt with my peers who don’t use their position creatively.”
Celebrities who express support in private, but refuse to speak out publicly, are neglecting the responsibilities and privileges their position gives them, he believes. “I just think, what do you do with your public platform? Apart from enjoying the limelight and collecting the money, what do you stand up for?
After beginning her career as a shorthand typist, a chance encounter led Willcox to make the leap into sound, an interest of hers since the age of 13.
Now, after over 30 years working on programmes such as Springwatch, the British Grand Prix, and Children in Need, Willcox is an authority in her field.
