Page 83 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #12
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                                          TELEVISION  BOOKS  FILM  ONLINE  PUZZLES                                                                  Christmas
                                                                                                                                                      special
                                                                                                                                 Unaware that Sandleford
                                                                                                                                         Warren has been
                                                                                                                                 destroyed, Hazel and his
                                                                                                                                     gang survey the view
                                                                                                                                    from Watership Down.















































         BBC


                       Thefamousrabbitsaremakingareturn


                       This 46-year-old tale of adventure is reimagined for a new generation.


                                                                  challenge, particularly when the 1978        While the bloodshed is toned down,
      TV               WATERSHIP DOWN                             animation is indelibly burned on our       the female roles – a minority in the
                       BBC ONE, DUE TO AIR AT XMAS. SEE RADIO TIMES
      choice                                                      collective memories – uncomfortably        novel – are dialled up. Clover, a hutch
                       Hear the names Fiver, Bigwig, Hazel        brutal yet widely adored as a tragic,      rabbit, has a more significant part and
                       and Captain Holly and a chord is           beautiful portrayal of courage and         Strawberry, a member of Cowslip’s
                       struck with many a 40-something            adventure in an English countryside        ‘cult’, has been made a doe.
                       who grew up with Richard Adams’s           replete with teeth and claws.                “You become very attached to the
                       tale of a plucky band of rabbits             “We know how strongly people             characters, particularly Hazel, who
                       fleeing Sandleford Warren in search         feel about Watership Down, and we          is trying to make his way in the
                       of pastures new. This Christmas,           don’t shy away from the dark themes        world and become a leader, and goes
                       we meet those legendary characters         Adams explores in the novel,” says         about it with real humility,” says
                       again, in a two-part animation for         series producer Georgia Dussaud.           Georgia. “Leadership using wit and
                       BBC One, voiced by the likes of James      “We are interpreting his story as an       intelligence over force and ego is a
                       McAvoy, Nicholas Hoult, Gemma              action adventure with an underlying        theme of the novel that feels highly
                       Arterton and Ben Kingsley.                 context. So we see the death, we see       relevant to the world we live in today,
                         Adapting an intensely loved classic      the brutality – but it’s not gratuitous.   as does a respect for nature and other
                       from page to screen is always a            It’s suitable for a family audience.”      living beings.” Sarah McPherson






            December 2018                                                                                                                  BBC Wildlife   83
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