Wendy Darke
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Wendy Darkeis a British television producer andmarine biologist,and the former head of theNatural History Unit(NHU) at theBBC.She was the first woman to head the division in its then-56 year history.[1]
Early life
[edit]She was born inGloucester.She grew up inWeston-super-Mare.[2]She attended Broadoak Comprehensive School (nowBroadoak Mathematics and Computing College,agrammar schoolbefore 1971),[2]then did her A levels at Weston-super-Mare College of Further Education (Weston College), studying geology, biology and chemistry.[citation needed]
From theUniversity of Bristol,she gained a joint-honours degree in Zoology and Geology in 1986;[2]her degree involved visiting thePyrenees,Mallorca,FalmouthandOsmington Mills,Dorset.[2]She completed a three-year Ph.D. in marine sciences atJames Cook University,funded by theScience and Engineering Research Council(SERC).[2]
Career
[edit]BBC
[edit]She joined the BBC Natural History Unit in 1991, makingnature documentaries.[1]She first served as a camera operator, then director and eventually producer over the following 10 years.[1]Specializing in underwater photography, she swam with elephants in theAndaman Islands.[1]
From 2006 to 2012 she was executive producer for the children's programming section of the NHU, creating programmes such asDeadly(Deadly 60).[1]She became head of the Natural History Unit in 2012, the first woman to take that position.[1]
After departing NHU in April 2016,[3]Darke established her own production company, True to Nature, in Bristol in 2016.[4]
Darke won theCherry Kearton Medal and Award(Royal Geographical Societyor RGS), forcinematographyin 2016.[5]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^abcdefBrown, Maggie (5 January 2014)."BBC's Wendy Darke: 'Heart racing makes compelling television'".The Guardian.ISSN0261-3077.Retrieved15 July2017.
- ^abcdeBristol, University of."Wendy Darke | Graduation | University of Bristol".www.bristol.ac.uk.Retrieved15 July2017.
- ^Foster, Patrick (7 April 2016)."ITV set to announce defection of BBC drama chief".The Telegraph.Retrieved15 July2017.
- ^"Wendy Darke launches new company True To Nature!".www.naturalhistorynetwork.co.uk.Retrieved15 July2017.
- ^RGS
