Rolf Harris
A champion of animal welfare, Rolf Harris was involved in Animal Hospital at the outset. Read about his career.

Jamie Darling
Jamie Darling has been reporting for the programme for four years and relishes the opportunities to travel abroad. Read his biography.

This is Sam Coburn's third year of working in the Animal Hospital team, and Sam Hughes joined us this year from BBC's The Weakest Link. They are both kept very busy around RSPCA Harmsworth, chatting to clients about their pets, finding stories and features, following up operations and procedures and ensuring that the filming schedule is running smoothly. Every spare moment is spent researching features that will send reporter Jamie Darling and a film crew to an animal sanctuary or to cover an important event in the animal calendar.

Sam Coburn's favourite story so far is the Sarajevo Update. She did all the research for this feature about the new rescue centre run by vet Mustafa Mrkulic and after many telephone calls she has built up a close rapport with Mustafa and the volunteers at the centre. Sam Hughes is particularly fond of the Donkey Sanctuary feature she researched because it was "a happy success story".

Both Sams agree that an essential part of their work involves building up relationships with clients, contributors and organisations. Also, they must have a thorough understanding of any story or feature they research, as they will be constantly asked about facts by the producers and directors when it comes to editing the piece and writing the scripts.

This is Natalie's second series of Animal Hospital as a director. She began her career in television by doing work experience and recommends starting off at the bottom of the ladder. "It isn't very appealing but you learn an awful lot. I was a production secretary and a researcher before I became a director. Something else I would recommend for those who would like to become a director is watching a lot of films and documentaries and thinking about how they are put together."

The six Animal Hospital directors each have two main duties. One is to cut the clinic stories in the edit suite on location at RSPCA Harmsworth, and the other is to direct 'out and about' stories and then cut them when they get back from filming. When directing, Natalie can't miss a thing! She must be aware of everything that is happening and try to capture as much of the story as possible on camera.

Before she goes into the edit suite with either Dave or Steve the two Animal Hospital editors, Natalie must have logged every inch of the rushes (film on the tapes) so that she knows exactly who said what and did what when. She will also have a good idea of what she wants in the final cut and what she definitely does not want to be included. Natalie enjoys watching her stories take shape and she must make sure that it is a neat film that will make complete sense to viewers.

Animal Hospital has two PSC (Portable Single Camera) crews that travel around the country to film call-outs with the RSPCA Inspectorate and any other stories that may crop up.

When a call comes through from the RSPCA call centre for Tony, Roger and one of the Animal Hospital directors to follow, a PSC crew gets straight onto the road. At this stage, they may only know the location of the scene and which RSPCA Inspector or ACO is involved. More information is gathered by telephone en route.

Traffic can be a big problem. Good timing is essential and it's always best to arrive before the Inspector or ACO so that Tony and the director can meet the contributor, recce the area and work out how to film the animal without interfering with the RSPCA's work. Roger must also assess the level of noise at the scene and work out the best way of recording the sound: boom or radio mic.

This year, John is working from the production office at Harmsworth and is in charge of looking after everyone on the team. He must be prepared for anything and everything that comes up, and is often people's first point of contact.