One of the most prolific wildlife film producers of our time, Andrew Buchanan was not initially interested in natural history on entering the television industry. Pursuing his primary interest, drama, he worked as location manager on everything from Crime and Punishment to Doctor Who. Joining the BBC's Natural History Unit (NHU) by luck rather than by design, Andrew was 'spotted' by top producer John Sparks who needed a Bristol based team member with a drama background for his new series, The Discovery of Animal Behaviour. Combining dramatic reconstruction with wildlife footage the series, aired in 1982, was the start of Andrew's long and successful career in wildlife filmmaking.
Throughout the 1980s Andrew balanced his work between dramatic pieces and natural history films, collaborating on many pieces for The Natural World strand. In 1984 he became 'organiser' of Attenborough's epic series The Living Planet, researching locations and assisting on various expeditions.
1991 saw him becoming the first full time member of the NHU's commercial arm, BBC Wildvision, producing a variety of programmes for both the BBC and external broadcasters. He moved to Partridge Films in 1993 to work on the development and production of wildlife films and when the company merged to form United Wildlife he became the Head of Development.
Over his career Andrew has been the executive producer on over 320 programmes and has had a big hand in encouraging young people in the wildlife filmmaking industry. He claims to be most proud of his children's television work, citing the animated series Henry's Amazing Animals (1996) and Animal Alphabet (1998) as memorable examples.
Andrew then became Deputy Head of Granada Wild with special responsibility for popular wildlife programming for international viewers and is now Executive Producer at Parthenon Entertainment.
View the oral history of Andrew Buchanan The Discovery of Animal Behaviour: Natural Mysteries (1982) | Assistant Producer |
| The Living Planet: New Worlds (1984) | Unit Manager |
| The Living Planet: Sweet Fresh Water (1984) | Unit Manager |
| The Living Planet: The Building of the Earth (1984) | Unit Manager |
| The Living Planet: The Making of The Living Planet (1984) | Unit Manager |
| Islands in the African Sky (1994) | Production |
