Walk on the Wild Side (TV series)
2009 British TV series or programme
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Walk on the Wild Side is a 2009 British comedy sketch show shown on BBC One. It involves the overdubbing of voiceovers to natural history footage, to give the appearance of the animals doing the talking. Celebrity guest voices are also included in each episode, with the exception of the pilot episode.
| Walk on the Wild Side | |
|---|---|
| |
| Genre | Comedy Entertainment |
| Written by | Various |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Caroline Wright |
| Producer | Mark Lucey |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production companies | BBC Worldwide (production) BBC Earth (natural history footage) |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC One |
| Release | 15 August 2009 – 6 November 2010 |
A second series began airing on BBC One on 18 September 2010.[1]
Cast and writers
| Voiceover | Series | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Jason Manford | 1–2 | 2009–2010 |
| Steve Edge | 1–2 | 2009–2010 |
| Sarah Millican | 1–2 | 2009–2010 |
| Rhod Gilbert | 1 | 2009 |
| Jon Richardson | 1–2 | 2009–2010 |
| Pal Aron | 1–2 | 2009–2010 |
| Isy Suttie | 1–2 | 2009–2010 |
| Harriet Carmichael | 1–2 | 2009–2010 |
| Gavin Webster | 1–2 | 2009–2010 |
| Jason Byrne | 2 | 2010 |
Manford, Edge, Richardson, Webster, and Suttie all write the series as well as providing voiceovers. Alex Horne, Alistair Griggs and Ian Manford write the series with them.
Episodes
Series One (2009)
| # Episode | Featured animals | Guest Voiceover(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pilot | Field mouse, marmot, shark, dolphin, crocodile, frilled lizard, gibbon, badger, flamingo, chameleon, vulture, penguin, panda, giant tortoise, polar bear, seal, tiger, giraffe, zebra, meerkat. | None | 28 March 2009 |
| 1 | Elephant seal, meerkat, panda, penguin, gorilla, marmot, shark, fox, black bear, puffin, badger, elephant, proboscis monkey, snowy owl, beetle, ant, crab, ostrich, pangolin | Stephen Fry | 15 August 2009 |
| 2 | Koala, chameleon, marine iguana, anteater, giraffe, bat, ostrich, marmot, gorilla, badger, meerkat, camel, shoebill, shark, caterpillar, sage grouse. | Rolf Harris | 22 August 2009 |
| 3 | Porpoise, white mouse, spoonbill, black heron, iguana, meerkat, walrus, penguin, giant tortoise, badger, rabbit, crab, frog, seal, shoebill, skunk. | Barbara Windsor | 29 August 2009 |
| 4 | Frilled lizard, marine iguana, camel, duck-billed platypus, mudskipper, barn owl, shoebill, puffin, anteater, elephant, chipmunk, chameleon, marten, lemur | Richard E. Grant | 5 September 2009 |
| 5 | Lion, cheetah, shark, penguin, rhinoceros, emperor tamarin, antelope, flamingo, swan, tiger, capybara, owl, giant tortoise, puffin, giraffe, ant, vulture, mandrill. | Tom Jones | 12 September 2009 |
| 6 | Sea eagle, fox, shark, polar bear, lion, leopard, tiger, peacock, starfish, puffin, iguana, wolf, crab, meerkat, shoebill, deer, lizard, sea otter, mandrill, barn owl, penguin, seal, camel, frog, red-capped manakin. | Ozzy Osbourne and Sharon Osbourne | 19 September 2009 |
Series Two (2010)
| # Episode | Synopsis | Guest Voiceover(s) | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tensions run high in the natural world as a young lion cub called Malcolm is lost at Giraffestonbury. | John Goodman | 18 September 2010 |
| 2 | A vulture tries out a saucy joke; two Geordie chimps have a close encounter with aliens; An evil cloned giraffe threatens to "kiss your mum". | Jason Byrne | 25 September 2010 |
| 3 | Alistair and Arnold the very British airmen; Sid the monkey's conscience plays a joke on him; Keith the dolphin farts through his blowhole | 2 October 2010 | |
| 4 | Two parent petrels fake giving their son a fish; showering beavers conversation is derailed by their mate obsessed with his wife's affair; camel Queen awards a knighthood; a heron repeatedly pretends it's nighttime, then daytime; Monkey Mastermind | John Humphrys | 16 October 2010 |
| 5 | Chester MacArthur's Guide To Wood-whittling; Finbar Finnegan's Fancy Feet; a hyena police chase | 23 October 2010 | |
| 6 | A chimp who can't remember if he left the front door unlocked; opera-singing storks; squirrel Henry Edwardson's memoirs of being a jobbing actor | The Three Tenors | 30 October 2010 |
| 7 | Midsafari Murders; Animal Casualty; a bear after his stag night | John Humphrys | 6 November 2010 |
Music
The show often uses music for comic effect, and it has used a range of contemporary music as well as popular music from the past. Artists featured include: Toto, Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Marvin Gaye, The Pussycat Dolls, Barry White, Shaggy, Lulu, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Robbie Williams, Tinie Tempah, Bon Jovi, Radiohead and Adam and The Ants.[2]
See also
- La vie privée des animaux, a French TV show created in 1990 by Patrick Bouchitey.
- When Nature Calls with Helen Mirren, a 2021 American adaptation of the series
