TV series The Hunt has scooped two awards at the prestigious BAFTAs. The haul of awards included two BAFTA Craft awards for Best Photography in a Factual Programme and Best Original Music and was nominated for a TV award for Best Specialist Factual programme.
The critically acclaimed BBC nature documentary series was made in partnership with The Open University. The series took a unique perspective on how predators track their prey and gave audiences a revealing looking at how both change their behaviours, refine their skills and ultimately adapt to cope with the challenges they face to survive.
Dr Caroline Ogilvie, Head of Broadcast and Partnerships at The Open University, said, “To receive such recognition from the judges at BAFTA is absolutely fantastic. It is testament to our contribution to programming and the quality of the content that our students have access to. The Hunt not only engaged millions of viewers but was particularly relevant to OU students studying ‘The biology of survival’ module. Our academic team, Dr Vicky Taylor and Dr Miranda Dyson worked closely with the production team throughout and we are delighted to have been involved with such an outstanding series.”
The Hunt also recently won Best Natural History Programme of Series at the Royal Television Society West of England Awards and the 2015 Thomson Reuters Award for Communicating Zoology, awarded by the Zoological Society of London.
The 45 year partnership with the BBC
The Open University has a unique partnership with the BBC that began in 1971. The aim has always been to widen access to educational programmes and inspire a desire for learning. The co-produced programmes act as the first step towards a learning journey guiding people towards the OU’s free resource OpenLearn. The programme content is also used exclusively in OU degree courses as part of the blended learning approach the OU is synonymous for.
Academic consultants
As a co-producer, the OU provides an academic consultant who provides regular input into the production process including advising on research topics, possible angles, scripts, etc. You can find about Dr Vicky Taylor and Dr Miranda Dyson’s experience as academic consultants on The Hunt here.
Image is copyright of Silverback Films and BBC
