Terry Nutkins
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Terence Paul Nutkins (12 August 1946 – 6 September 2012) was an English naturalist. He appeared in the UK children's programmes Animal Magic, The Really Wild Show, Brilliant Creatures and Growing Up Wild.
Early life
Nutkins was born in 1946 in Marylebone, London, and spent most of his childhood there.<ref name=Guardian2006>Template:Cite news</ref> His parents' house overlooked Marylebone station.<ref>Britain By Bike, episode 6 - The Scottish Highlands, BBC, 2010</ref> He skipped school to spend time with the elephants at London Zoo. At the age of 12, Nutkins went to work in the West Highlands of Scotland,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the naturalist Gavin Maxwell having written to London Zoo requesting help from two young assistants to look after otters that he was keeping as pets and studying at his remote home at Sandaig near Glenelg. Nutkins was initially hired for a summer placement, but did not return home and with the permission of his parents he spent several years working and living with Maxwell.<ref name=tele/>
Maxwell became Nutkins' legal guardian,<ref name=tele/> and in a BBC Radio 4 documentary Nutkins described living with Maxwell as a "peculiar existence, in virtual isolation, with a man who was as charming as he was difficult, and whose depression led to severe mood swings".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Maxwell wrote several books during Nutkins' time there, including the hugely successful Ring of Bright Water in 1960.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
At the age of 15, Nutkins lost part of two fingers to one of the otters, named Edal.<ref> Template:Cite book</ref> In the "United Kingdom" episode of the BBC's programme Deadly 60, Nutkins stated that the otter became aggressive in response to the scent on a jumper that he had been given by a woman that Edal had already attacked and bitten. Edal tore at Nutkins' boot, then attacked his right hand as he reached down, severing the end of his middle finger. As he attempted to control the otter with his other hand, the otter bit his other middle finger and twisted away, severing the end of the other finger.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Nutkins revisited the site of the cottage he shared with Maxwell on the BBC's Countryfile programme in 2010.<ref name=tele>Template:Cite news</ref>
Career
In the 1980s, Nutkins was co-presenter of the BBC children's television series Animal Magic with Johnny Morris, whom he describes as his second mentor after Maxwell.<ref name=Guardian2006/> The show featured various animals including memorable segments with a sea lion named Gemini that Nutkins had hand-reared from infancy. Animal Magic's run ended in 1983 and a year later Nutkins was asked to put together a new animal series, which resulted in The Really Wild Show which he presented from 1986 to 1993. In 1999, he inherited a large portion of Johnny Morris's estate.<ref>"Johnny Morris cut family from will" – The Independent, 17 November 1999</ref>
Nutkins was part of a consortium which bought and later sold Fort Augustus Abbey on the shores of Loch Ness.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2004, he appeared on Living TV's reality television show I'm Famous and Frightened!. In April 2009, Nutkins co-presented and narrated My Life as an Animal, a BBC Three programme where young professionals and media personalities lived life as animals for four days, sharing living areas, food and sleeping with several farm and zoo animals. Nutkins made an appearance on the BBC's Winterwatch programme (a spin off from Springwatch) talking about how otters had survived the harsh weather in January 2012.
Nutkins was a beekeeper and a member of the British Beekeepers' Association.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A stone carving of Nutkins was unveiled at the Royal Horticultural Society Show in Tatton Park in 2010.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Personal life and death
Nutkins was married. He had eight children.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Nutkins died on 6 September 2012, at the age of 66.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He had been receiving treatment for nine months for acute leukaemia.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He died at his home in Glenelg, Scotland.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Bibliography
- Pets (Factfinders) (with Marshall Corwin) BBC Books (1989) Template:ISBN
Audio book narration
- The Really Wild Animal Tape Listen for Pleasure (1995) Template:ISBN
- Animal Magic: A Jungle Story Listen for Pleasure, (1997) Template:ISBN
References
External links
- [https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 0638323
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