With the temperature dropping once again and the frost returning in our gardens, there couldn’t be a better time for Winterwatch – BBC Two’s long-running nature docuseries – to come back for its 11th season.
Chris Packham is leading the presenting pack for the first Watch series of 2023 and this month, the show will be focusing on a very active wild badger sett in the heart of Edinburgh Zoo.
Meanwhile, the Winterwatch team will also be checking in on its live cameras, which are positioned across the marshland and farmland of northwest Norfolk.
After a year away from the show and its spin-offs, Gillian Burke is back on the hosting line-up, joining Iolo Williams in Edinburgh while Michaela Strachan spends her second winter in Norfolk’s Wild Ken Hill with Packham – but who are they and where have we seen them before?
Here’s everything you need to know about the Winterwatch presenters ahead of its return tonight.
Chris Packham
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Chris Packham is a TV presenter and naturalist who is best known for hosting the BBC’s Springwatch series. He has been part of the presenting teams on the BBC Two show and its spin-offs, Autumnwatch and Winter, since 2009.
He has also appeared on Celebrity Mastermind, Blue Planet Live and Animal Einsteins, as well as presenting his own documentary, Chris Packham: Asperger’s and Me, and CBBC’s The Really Wild Show from 1986 to 1995.
Michaela Strachan
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Broadcaster and singer Michaela Strachan rose to fame in the 1980s for hosting Good Morning Britain, Wide Awake Club and Boogie Box before joining Chris Packham on The Really Wild Show.
She was previously a regular reporter on Countryfile and has presented Digging for Treasure: Tonight, Extreme Conservation, Orangutan Diary and the Springwatch shows, including Autumnwatch and Winterwatch.
Strachan briefly pursued a music career, releasing two hit singles: 1989’s HAPPY Radio and 1990’s Take Good Care of My Heart.
Gillian Burke
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Producer and presenter Gillian Burke previously worked at the BBC’s Natural History Unit before moving into presenting, hosting Springwatch and its spin-offs, Nature’s Strangest Mysteries: Solved and Thailand’s Wild Side.
She was previously a producer on shows for Animal Planet and the Discovery Channel, and while Burke stepped away from the Springwatch shows in 2022 due to scheduling difficulties, she is back for the upcoming season of Winterwatch.
Iolo Williams
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Welsh ornithologist and TV presenter Iolo Williams is best known for hosting a number of nature programmes for the BBC, including Iolo’s Pembrokeshire, Iolo: A Wild Life, Iolo’s Snowdonia and Iolo’s Great Welsh Parks.
He also hosts Welsh-language shows on S4C and has appeared on Springwatch since 2010. In 2019, he joined the presenting line-up of Winterwatch.
Winterwatch returns tonight at 8pm on BBC One, with episodes airing every weeknight.
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