May 2004
East Quantoxhead was the BBC's location for filming on May 11th 2004. The Natural History of Britain will be shown on BBC 1 this Autumn, and East Quantoxhead will be the focus for part of the first programme.
The series, presented by Alan Titchmarsh, will show how the landscape we see today is the product of millions of years of geological, climatic and human change. It will trace our natural history, from the birth of Britain 3 billion years ago, to the Ice Age, onto Britain becoming an island, through to how our natural resources shaped our industrial age.
On May 11th East Quantoxhead was descend on by a film crew, together
with number of Students from Richard Huish 6th form college and
some locals from Nether Stowey and Holford. We all had to walk up
and down the Beach looking for fossils.
On hand were Local Expert Derek Briggs (North Petherton) and Roy Shepherd from Southamton University and the regional BBC presenter, Amanda Parr, together with the production team from Bristol. We had a fascinating afternoon and learnt a lot about fossils and how a TV programme is filmed.
The series will be made up of 8 x 60 minute films. Each film will be made up of two parts; 50 minutes of network programming changing to 10 minutes of regional programming around the UK, to highlight evidence of each theme in each region. Viewers will see how the evidence of this dramatic history and change lies all around us. For many, it will be the first time they have learnt how Britain was once boiled in lava, buried under tropical swamps, swept by desert sands, crushed by enormous glaciers, released by warm seas and forested from top to toe. The whole aim of the series is to enthuse people about the landscape and natural history that surrounds them and to encourage the viewers to get out and explore.
