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S41E5

WILDHEART

Premiere: 1/18/2023 | 0:29 |

Immerse yourself in Scotland’s wild highland landscape and meet its long-lived forest keeper, a magnificent Scots pine tree. As one of its longest living species, this ancient tree has witnessed the nation’s history across 500 years.

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About the Episode

Few beings have lived to see a 500-year sweep of history – and at a time of such unprecedented change. This is the remarkable biography of a noble Scots Pine tree, ancient, gnarled, and weather worn. It stands in the Scottish Highlands, exactly where it landed as a tiny seed some five centuries ago – and where it greeted a young Mary, Queen of Scots, who was then just a child herself. It becomes the heart of a magnificent highland wilderness, home to eagles and wolves, strutting capercaillies and feisty red squirrels.

Buzzworthy Moments:

Crowned at just nine months old, Mary Queen of Scots was hidden as a child in the Scottish Highlands. With her maid, she would have been among the first to witness the birth of Wildheart in the 1500s.

Capercaillies, birds that live and breed amongst the Scots pines, have an intimate relationship with the tree. The male birds’ bizarre popping call summons females, but first they must compete for the right to mate exclusively with all the hen capercaillies.

The only aquatic songbird in the world, dippers can dive beneath the surface to harvest insect larvae and tiny fish. A pair’s brood of chicks is ready to fledge, but an unseasonal downpour transforms the benign river into a raging torrent. The parents need to coax the chicks out of the nest as quickly as possible to get them to safety. They do so by offering tasty morsels to draw them out of the nest.

Noteworthy Facts:

The world around the Scots pines is complex and diverse. The highlands are home to 172 insect species, 200 fungi species and a rich array of birds and mammals.

Red squirrels spend 90% of their time in the treetops. With double-jointed ankles and small sharp claws, they are expertly adapted to climb and leap among the branches.

The Timberman is Scotland’s longest beetle. It spends four years in a larval stage beneath the surface of the tree’s bark. Its adult lifespan will only last a third of the time it spent beneath the bark.

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PRODUCTION CREDITS

WILDHEART

NARRATED BY
THOREN FERGUSON

WRITTEN AND PRODUCED BY
NIGEL POPE

PHOTOGRAPHY
LINDSAY MCCRAE
JUSTIN PUREFOY
FERGUS GILL
PETE BARDEN
NEIL ANDERSON

ORIGINAL MUSIC
FRASER PURDIE

PRODUCTION TEAM
EMMA GILCHRIST
THOMAS SKINNER

MEDIA MANAGER
JAMES ALLAN

LOCATION PRODUCER
DECLAN HEALY

FILM EDITOR
PETE BARDEN

DUBBING MIXER
ADAM WOOD

ONLINE EDITOR
DAVID LEISHMAN

REENACTOR
SAMUEL GILBERT-DAVIES

SPECIAL THANKS
CLANRANALD TRUST FOR SCOTLAND
RSPB SCOTLAND
NATIONAL TRUST FOR SCOTLAND
JOHN MUIR TRUST

DISTRIBUTION SUPPORT PROVIDED BY ORF

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER FOR MARAMEDIA
JACKIE SAVERY

FOR NATURE

SERIES EDITOR
JANET HESS

SENIOR PRODUCER
LAURA METZGER LYNCH

SUPERVISING PRODUCER
JAYNE JUN

ASSOCIATE PRODUCER
JAMES F. BURKE

LEGAL COUNSEL
BLANCHE ROBERTSON

DIGITAL LEAD
DANIELLE BROZA

DIGITAL PRODUCER
AMANDA SCHMIDT

SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR
KAREN HO

AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT
CHELSEY SAATKAMP

BUDGET CONTROLLER
JAYNE LISI

ONLINE EDITOR
STACEY DOUGLASS MOVERLEY

RE-RECORDING MIXER
JON BERMAN

ORIGINAL EPISODE PRODUCTION FUNDING PROVIDED IN PART BY
The Hite Foundation

ORIGINAL SERIES PRODUCTION FUNDING PROVIDED IN PART BY
Corporation for Public Broadcasting 
Arnhold Foundation
The Fairweather Foundation
Kate W. Cassidy Foundation
Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III
Kathy Chiao and Ken Hao
Charles Rosenblum
Sarah and Sandra Lyu
Filomen M. D’Agostino Foundation
Lillian Goldman Charitable Trust
Gregg Peters Monsees Foundation
Koo and Patricia Yuen
Arlene and Milton D. Berkman
Sandra Atlas Bass

SERIES PRODUCER
BILL MURPHY

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
FRED KAUFMAN

A PRODUCTION OF MARAMEDIA LTD. AND THE WNET GROUP IN ASSOCIATION WITH ARTE G.E.I.E.

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