Programme Information

Wildest Dreams Ep 1/7

Wednesday 22 July

7.30-8.30pm BBC ONE (Title change 8 July)

• Feature

Nick Knowles (fifth from left) with the wildlife enthusiasts

Wildest Dreams pits nine amateur wildlife enthusiasts against each other in one of the natural world's greatest and most dangerous arenas – Africa – as they compete for the prize of landing a job at the BBC's prestigious Natural History Unit.

Nick Knowles and award-winning wildlife film-maker James Honeyborne are joined by a team of specialist experts who not only judge the competitors but also keep them safe in a hostile environment.

For the hopefuls – including a factory night-shift worker with a passion for wildlife photography and an ex-fast-food restaurant manager who spends her weekends tracking otters – the adventure starts on day one with an assignment to film elephants from the water.

Armed with cameras, local guides and expert advice from elephant specialist Dr Kate Evans, the teams have to first master their transport – an unstable canoe called the mokoro. Only one of the rookies – James – manages to film an elephant, but he takes a huge risk by standing up in the wobbly vessel. The water they are surrounded by is full of hippos and crocodiles so if they capsize they could become lunch.

Moving to the Kalahari Desert in search of a smaller subject – the meerkat – doesn't make the challenge any easier as the wannabes come face to face with weather at its most extreme. A year's worth of rainfall falls in less than four days during massive electrical storms. The campsite – a dried riverbed – floods in the middle of the night and Nick has to lead the evacuation.

Nick says: "We've just had a storm of biblical proportions." And James Honeyborne comments: "Inside my tent is like being inside a shower cubicle – and even for the Kalahari, you can say this is an extreme weather event."

With the meerkats mission a washout, the next challenge is to track rhinos on foot – aided by Tswalu reserve manager Gus Van Dyk.

Judged by Nick and James, the weakest team is singled out and given One Last Chance – a solo task tracking lions.

For one individual, their dream of being a wildlife film-maker is shattered when the judges send them home.

BR/LS2

Desperate Romantics Ep 1/6

Tuesday 21 July

9.00-10.00pm BBC TWO

• www.bbc.co.uk/desperateromantics
• Feature (interview with Aidan Turner)
• Feature (interview with Samuel Barnett)
• Press pack

John Millais (Samuel Barnett), Fred Walters (Sam Crane), Dante Gabriel Rossetti (Aidan Turner) and William Holman Hunt (Rafe Spall) are Desperate Romantics

Rebellious, talented and charismatic, three young men – The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood – are on a mission to change the world of art. This lively new drama for BBC Two, starring Aidan Turner, Rafe Spall, Samuel Barnett and Sam Crane and written by Peter Bowker, is all about the personal lives and work of the Brotherhood.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Holman Hunt and John Millais declare their irreverent genius to the Victorian artistic establishment as frequently and as loudly as they can. Unfortunately for them, only one man seems to be listening. Fred Walters is a shy hanger-on who ingratiates himself with the Brotherhood by locating the "perfect model" – flame-haired Lizzie Siddal, a hat-shop assistant. Though none of them quite yet realise it, she is soon to be the most famous model in Britain.

Fred immediately falls in love with Lizzie, but he cannot compete with Rossetti's charisma and self-belief. Lizzie, meanwhile, begins to model first for the hard-working and pugnacious Hunt.

The boys' adventurous, anti-establishment style and choice of subject matter and model brings them to the notice of brilliant and influential art critic John Ruskin. Encouraged by Ruskin's interest, and still smarting over their rejection by the Royal Academy, the boys decide to mount an exhibition of their own. One step away from anonymity and poverty, they invite Ruskin in the hope of securing his approval, which is vital to launching them into a world of fame and fortune.

As they work towards each painting becoming a masterpiece for their make-or-break exhibition, the group find themselves distracted by poverty, hunger, jealousy and lust.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti is played by Aidan Turner; William Holman Hunt by Rafe Spall; John Millais by Samuel Barnett; Fred Walters by Sam Crane; Lizzie Siddal by Amy Manson; and John Ruskin by Tom Hollander. Desperate Romantics also stars Jennie Jacques as Annie Miller and Zoë Tapper as Effie Ruskin.

RN