Neil Nightingale - Recent Career

Recent Career

Under his leadership the Unit developed its reputation for innovative and ambitious natural history broadcasting. He oversaw well-received television series including Planet Earth (2006), Springwatch (2005), Wild China (2008) and Life (2009), as well as the Unit's largest-ever radio production, World on the Move (2008), which followed migrating animals live, and Breathing Places, an ambitious multimedia campaign which successfully encouraged thousands of people to undertake hands-on activities with nature. He also moved the Unit into the field of feature films with Deep Blue (2003) and Earth (2007), both spin-offs from successful television series. Earth is the most successful documentary feature film produced in Britain ever.

In January 2009 the BBC announced that Nightingale was to stand down after six years as Head of the Unit to return to programme making. He was succeeded in the role by Andrew Jackson.

Nightingale was a co-founder and vice chairman of the BBC Wildlife Fund, a conservation charity established in 2007. Its appeals raised over £3 million for endangered species conservation, and it has funded almost 90 projects in the UK and around the world.

From 2002 until 2009, Nightingale was a trustee of Wildscreen, a charity which organises the biennial wildlife film festival of the same name in Bristol. Its ARKive project aims to create an online database of all the world's threatened species.