Award-winning wildlife and natural world broadcaster, conservationist, photographer and writer Chris Packham CBE will give BAFTA’s prestigious lecture on 21 January 2020 at London’s Barbican Centre
London, Wednesday 18TH December 2019: The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has today announced today that Chris Packham CBE will deliver the next edition of the prestigious BAFTA Television Lecture. BAFTA’s television lecture is the highlight of the charity’s year-round programme of television industry events, and is also open to the public.
Each year, BAFTA invites one of television's leading figures to give their personal view on creative excellence in television and their vision for the future. Previous speakers include Jane Featherstone, Armando Iannucci, Lenny Henry, Liz Warner, Lorraine Heggessey, Paul Abbott, Peter Bennett-Jones, Stephen Fry and Tim Hincks. The Lecture strives to drive debate around creativity in broadcasting, in line with BAFTA’s charitable mission to bring the very best work in film, games and television to public attention and support the growth of creative talent in the UK and internationally. We do this by identifying and celebrating excellence, discovering, inspiring and nurturing new talent and enabling learning and creative collaboration.
Chris Packham CBE said: “I am honoured to be asked to deliver the BAFTA Television Lecture. There is no more important time to be asking what more the TV industry can do to inspire behaviour change and to protect our natural world, and I’m grateful to BAFTA for the opportunity.”
Hannah Wyatt, Chair of BAFTA’s Television Committee, said: “Chris Packham is a highly respected presenter and naturalist and, throughout his career, he has played a pivotal role in increasing the public’s understanding of the natural world through his informative documentaries and campaigning work. We are delighted that he is delivering the BAFTA Television Lecture, where BAFTA aims to provide a platform for debate around excellence in broadcasting.”
Chris Packham has presented many acclaimed and popular natural history programmes throughout his career spanning over 30 years and has been widely celebrated for his work.
Packham’s early presenting roles include the multi-BAFTA-winning children’s programme, The Really Wild Show (1986-1995), as well as Nature Detectives (1994-95) and The X Creatures (1998).
More recently, Packham fronted popular BBC factual series Springwatch (2009-2018), which was awarded the BAFTA Special Award in 2011. He also embarked on a groundbreaking expedition to the Arctic for BBC Two’s Operation Iceberg (2012), which won the BAFTA for Factual Series at the 2013 British Academy Television Awards.
In 2014, Packham highlighted the mass slaughter of migrating birds with a video and social media campaign titled Malta: Massacre on Migration. Following the production, he was voted Conservationist of the Year in the Birders’ Choice Awards.
Chris Packham was also awarded the Wildscreen Panda Award for Outstanding Achievement in 2016 in recognition of his significant contribution to wildlife filmmaking, conservation and the public’s understanding of the environment.
More recently, Packham explained what it was like to live with Aspergers in the BBC documentary Chris Packham: Aspergers and Me, which won two BAFTAs in 2018 and which was also nominated for Single Documentary at BAFTA’s Television Awards in the same year.
Packham’s other TV credits include Autumnwatch (2008-2019) The Burrowers (2013), Inside the Animal Mind (2014), The Wonder of Animals (2014), Weird Wonders of the World (2015-16) and Blue Planet Now (2019).
Public tickets for the BAFTA Television Lecture on Tuesday 21 January are available to book from Friday 20th December via www.bafta.org/whats-on/.
Video highlights, a podcast and a transcript from the event will be available on BAFTA Guru, BAFTA’s online learning channel (www.bafta.org/guru). Recordings of previous Television Lectures are available now.
BAFTA recognises that the screen industries represent a great opportunity to protect the planet and, since 2011, BAFTA has chaired the TV industry’s collaborative project on environmental sustainability, albert. The project works to eliminate the negative environmental impact of the production industry, alongside supporting content makers in all genres to effectively engage audiences on the topic.
Find out more about albert and the number of projects on offer to the industry at www.WeAreALBERT.org
For further information and interview requests please contact:
For accreditation, photography, press releases and transcripts visit: www.bafta.org/media-centre
About BAFTA
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) is a world-leading independent arts charity that brings the very best work in film, games and television to public attention and supports the growth of creative talent in the UK and internationally. Through its Awards ceremonies and year-round programme of learning events and initiatives – which includes workshops, masterclasses, scholarships, lectures and mentoring schemes in the UK, USA and Asia – BAFTA identifies and celebrates excellence, discovers, inspires and nurtures new talent, and enables learning and creative collaboration. For advice and inspiration from the best creative minds in working in film, games and television, visit www.bafta.org/guru. For more, visit www.bafta.org.
