# The Really Wild Show

The Really Wild Show is a long-running British television show about wildlife, broadcast by the BBC as part of their CBBC service to children. It also runs on Animal Planet in the US.
The show was broadcast each year from 21 January 1986. In April 2006 the BBC announced that the show would be axed that summer, and as such the last episode was shown in May 2006, giving the show a run of 20 years.
However, in July 2017, it was announced that the BBC were in talks with Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan to bring the show back.
The theme tune used was extracts taken from the start and end of the track ELLOVEE-EE by Tony Sherman.

## Presenters

Presenters have included:
* Janice Acquah (1996–1999)
* Steve Backshall (2004–2006)
* Nick Baker (1996–2006)
* Nicola Davies (1986–1990)
* Sue Dawson (1990–1993)
* Eils Hewitt (2002–2004)
* Terry Nutkins (1986–1993)
* Chris Packham (1986–1995)
* Michaela Strachan (1993–2006)
* Howie Watkins (1993–2000)
* Dominic Wood (2001)
* Chris Lambert (Co-host, 1997–2000)
* Roy Wild (future)

### Table

| Year | Main Presenter(s) | Main Presenter(s) | Main Presenter(s) | Co-host |
| 1986 | Nicola Davies | Terry Nutkins | Chris Packham | N/A |
| 1987 | Nicola Davies | Terry Nutkins | Chris Packham | N/A |
| 1988 | Nicola Davies | Terry Nutkins | Chris Packham | N/A |
| 1989 | Nicola Davies | Terry Nutkins | Chris Packham | N/A |
| 1990 | Sue Dawson | Terry Nutkins | Chris Packham | N/A |
| 1991 | Sue Dawson | Terry Nutkins | Chris Packham | N/A |
| 1992 | Sue Dawson | Terry Nutkins | Chris Packham | N/A |
| 1993 | Howie Watkins | Michaela Strachan | Chris Packham | N/A |
| 1994 | Howie Watkins | Michaela Strachan | Chris Packham | N/A |
| 1995 | Howie Watkins | Michaela Strachan | Chris Packham | N/A |
| 1996 | Howie Watkins | Michaela Strachan | Nick Baker | N/A |
| 1997 | Howie Watkins | Michaela Strachan | Nick Baker | Chris Lambert |
| 1998 | Howie Watkins | Michaela Strachan | Nick Baker | Chris Lambert |
| 1999 | Howie Watkins | Michaela Strachan | Nick Baker | Chris Lambert |
| 2000 | Janice Acquah | Michaela Strachan | Nick Baker | Chris Lambert |
| 2001 | Janice Acquah | Michaela Strachan | Nick Baker | Dominic Wood |
| 2002 | Eils Hewitt | Michaela Strachan | Nick Baker |
| 2003 | Eils Hewitt | Michaela Strachan | Nick Baker |
| 2004 | Steve Backshall | Michaela Strachan | Nick Baker |
| 2005 | Steve Backshall | Michaela Strachan | Nick Baker |
| 2006 | Steve Backshall | Michaela Strachan | Nick Baker |

## Transmission guide

| Series | No. of editions | Aired |
| 1 | 7 | 21 January 1986 – 4 March 1986 |
| 2 | 9 | 30 December 1986 – 24 February 1987 |
| 3 | 9 | 5 January 1988 – 1 March 1988 |
| 4 | 10 | 24 January 1989 – 28 March 1989 |
| 5 | 8 | 13 February 1990 – 29 March 1990 |
| 6 | 12 | 8 January 1993 – 2 April 1993 |
| 7 | 12 | 5 January 1994 – 23 March 1994 |
| 8 | 12 | 4 January 1995 – 22 March 1995 |
| 9 | 10 | 4 January 1996 – 21 March 1996 |
| 10 | 13 | 2 January 1997 – 27 March 1997 |
| 11 | 13 | 6 January 1998 – 31 March 1998 |
| 12 | 13 | 5 January 1999 – 30 March 1999 |
| 13 | 11 | 4 January 2000 – 14 March 2000 |
| 14 | 12 | 2 January 2001 – 20 March 2001 |
| 15 | 13 | 5 April 2002 – 2 July 2002 |
| 16 | 12 | 29 April 2003 – 15 July 2003 |
| 17 | 13 | 6 April 2004 – 29 July 2004 |
| 18 | 15 | 3 April 2005 – 3 July 2005 |
| 19 | 15 | 24 April 2006 – 18 May 2006 |
The Really Wild Roadshow
| Series | No. of editions | Aired |
| 1 | 9 | 29 January 1991 – 26 March 1991 |
| 2 | 10 | 28 January 1992 – 31 March 1992 |

### Specials

| Entitle | Date | Synopsis |
| The Really Wild Dinosaur Show | 27 December 1990 | |
| South Africa | 23 March 1994 | |
| Tigers Special | 5 April 1999 | |
| UK Wild 2000 | 2 January 2000 | From a hot air balloon Michaela encourages children on the UK to track, log and document wildlife, with reports from Nick Baker and Howie Watkins. The introduction sequence was changed from its normal show title to 'UK WILD 2000!' |
| Primates Special | 21 March 2000 | |
| Thai Elephant Special | 27 March 2001 | |
| Antarctica Special | 5 April 2002 | |
| China Bears Special | 2 January 2003 | |
| Circus Special | 22 July 2003 | |
| Reef Special | 6 July 2004 | Michaela goes to the exotic location of Malaysia where she takes a splash to investigate the coral reefs. As well as finding out what threatens this underwater paradise Michaela goes in search of hammerhead sharks. |
| Pride Special | 27 December 2004 | Michaela enjoys exclusive access to the set of Pride, a family film about a group of lions. |
| Tasmania Special | 10 July 2005 | Nick travels to Tasmania to check out a mystery disease that is threatening the future of the island's most famous animal, the Tasmanian Devil. He works with wildlife experts and scientists as they investigate the tragedy surrounding this creature and battle to save it from extinction. |

### Compilations

* Wildest Hits 1 – series compilation: 10 editions from 17 April 2000 – 28 April 2000
* Wildest Hits 2 – series compilation: 10 editions from 9 April 2001 – 20 April 2001

## Awards

The programme has been nominated for several BAFTA awards, and won three:
* 1987 – Won BAFTA TV Award: Best Children's Programme (Factual)
* 1988 – Won BAFTA TV Award: Best Children's Programme (Documentary/Educational)
* 1990 – Won BAFTA TV Award: Best Children's Programme (Documentary/Educational)
* 1994 – Nominated for BAFTA TV Award: Best Children's Programme (Factual)
* 2002 – Nominated for BAFTA Children's Award: Best Factual
* 2003 – Nominated for BAFTA Children's Award: Best Factual

## Ratings (CBBC Channel)

Figures come from BARB
    Saturday 2 March 2002– 60,000 (7th most watched on CBBC that week)
    Sunday 17 March 2002– 40,000 (9th most watched on CBBC that week)
    Saturday 16 March 2002– 30,000 (10th most watched on CBBC that week)
    Saturday 4 May 2002– 30,000 (4th most watched on CBBC that week)