Douglas Botting
Encyclopedia
Douglas Botting is an English explorer, author, biographer and TV presenter and producer. He wrote biographies of naturalists Gavin Maxwell
and Gerald Durrell
(the former also being a personal friend). He was the inspiration behind and writer of the BBC
comedy show The Black Safari, a role reversal comedy show with Africans touring England. He has also featured in numerous other BBC programming, including Under London Expedition exploring the London sewerage, as part of the BBC2 nature series The World About Us. He has written numerous World War II and early aviation
books for Time Life Books
. Botting took part in the first balloon flight over Africa, with Anthony Smith
.
for the King's African Rifles
in Kenya
, as part of his National Service
. He went on to study English at St Edmund Hall, Oxford University, during which time he undertook a pioneering exploration of the little-known island of Socotra
in the Indian Ocean. His first book - Island of the Dragon's Blood is an account of this trip.
During Oxford and post-Oxford years, he volunteered and worked in a variety of positions, including as a paramilitary ambulance unit member during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution
, as a private tutor to the Crown Prince
of Nepal
, as a worker in a leper colony
in Biafra
, and as a trainer for ex-head-hunter tribes undergoing re-training in the Venezuela
n rain forest.
However, Botting chose documentary film
making, and investigative journalism
as his career. As a BBC Special Correspondent to the former USSR he reported news events like the first cosmonauts' homecoming, and Fidel Castro
's state visit, and was the first person from West of the Iron Curtain
since the Russian Revolution of 1917
to travel voluntarily among the nomadic reindeer tribes of Arctic Siberia
and the Gulag
. He went on to make documentary films for organisations like National Geographic, BBC, Time Life
and Royal Geographical Society
.
Among Botting's other occupations is that of writing - Botting wrote a series of Time Life Books on World War II, early aviation and maritime vessels. His foray into investigative journalism includes several other World War II books, including the best-selling Nazi Gold: The Story of the World's Greatest Robbery - And Its Aftermath. His back to back biographies of Gavin Maxwell
and Gerald Durrell
have also earned him praise.
He is the father of Anna Botting
, newsreader. His former wife is the broadcaster and company director Louise Botting
CBE.
while in university, and was part of the world's first balloon over Africa, the first British balloon
to fly across the High Alps
, and the first vessel ever to voyage by inland waterways from the Amazon
to the Caribbean
via the unexplored rain forests of the Casiquiare and Orinoco
.
Other projects include:
Gavin Maxwell
Gavin Maxwell FRSL, FIAL, FZS , FRGS was a Scottish naturalist and author, best known for his work with otters. He wrote the book Ring of Bright Water about how he brought an otter back from Iraq and raised it in Scotland...
and Gerald Durrell
Gerald Durrell
Gerald "Gerry" Malcolm Durrell, OBE was a naturalist, zookeeper, conservationist, author and television presenter...
(the former also being a personal friend). He was the inspiration behind and writer of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
comedy show The Black Safari, a role reversal comedy show with Africans touring England. He has also featured in numerous other BBC programming, including Under London Expedition exploring the London sewerage, as part of the BBC2 nature series The World About Us. He has written numerous World War II and early aviation
Aviation
Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...
books for Time Life Books
Time Inc.
Time Inc. is a subsidiary of the media conglomerate Time Warner, the company formed by the 1990 merger of the original Time Inc. and Warner Communications. It publishes 130 magazines, most notably its namesake, Time...
. Botting took part in the first balloon flight over Africa, with Anthony Smith
Anthony Smith
Anthony Smith is, among other things, an explorer, author and former Tomorrow's World television presenter. He is perhaps best known for his bestselling work The Body , which has sold over 800,000 copies worldwide and tied in with a BBC television series, known in America by the name...
.
Short biography
Botting was born in south London. Having witnessed the London Blitz first-hand, he went on to make documentaries and write historical records of World War II and aviation. Botting got an early flavour of travel when he worked as an infantry subalternSubaltern (rank)
A subaltern is a chiefly British military term for a junior officer. Literally meaning "subordinate," subaltern is used to describe commissioned officers below the rank of captain and generally comprises the various grades of lieutenant. In the British Army the senior subaltern rank was...
for the King's African Rifles
King's African Rifles
The King's African Rifles was a multi-battalion British colonial regiment raised from the various British possessions in East Africa from 1902 until independence in the 1960s. It performed both military and internal security functions within the East African colonies as well as external service as...
in Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, as part of his National Service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
. He went on to study English at St Edmund Hall, Oxford University, during which time he undertook a pioneering exploration of the little-known island of Socotra
Socotra
Socotra , also spelt Soqotra, is a small archipelago of four islands in the Indian Ocean. The largest island, also called Socotra, is about 95% of the landmass of the archipelago. It lies some east of the Horn of Africa and south of the Arabian Peninsula. The island is very isolated and through...
in the Indian Ocean. His first book - Island of the Dragon's Blood is an account of this trip.
During Oxford and post-Oxford years, he volunteered and worked in a variety of positions, including as a paramilitary ambulance unit member during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution
1956 Hungarian Revolution
The Hungarian Revolution or Uprising of 1956 was a spontaneous nationwide revolt against the government of the People's Republic of Hungary and its Soviet-imposed policies, lasting from 23 October until 10 November 1956....
, as a private tutor to the Crown Prince
Crown Prince
A crown prince or crown princess is the heir or heiress apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The wife of a crown prince is also titled crown princess....
of Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, as a worker in a leper colony
Leper colony
A leper colony, leprosarium, or lazar house is a place to quarantine leprous people.-History:Leper colonies or houses became widespread in the Middle Ages, particularly in Europe and India, and often run by monastic orders...
in Biafra
Biafra
Biafra, officially the Republic of Biafra, was a secessionist state in south-eastern Nigeria that existed from 30 May 1967 to 15 January 1970, taking its name from the Bight of Biafra . The inhabitants were mostly the Igbo people who led the secession due to economic, ethnic, cultural and religious...
, and as a trainer for ex-head-hunter tribes undergoing re-training in the Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
n rain forest.
However, Botting chose documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
making, and investigative journalism
Investigative journalism
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, often involving crime, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years researching and preparing a report. Investigative journalism...
as his career. As a BBC Special Correspondent to the former USSR he reported news events like the first cosmonauts' homecoming, and Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
's state visit, and was the first person from West of the Iron Curtain
Iron Curtain
The concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...
since the Russian Revolution of 1917
Russian Revolution of 1917
The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917...
to travel voluntarily among the nomadic reindeer tribes of Arctic Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
and the Gulag
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
. He went on to make documentary films for organisations like National Geographic, BBC, Time Life
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
and Royal Geographical Society
Royal Geographical Society
The Royal Geographical Society is a British learned society founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences...
.
Among Botting's other occupations is that of writing - Botting wrote a series of Time Life Books on World War II, early aviation and maritime vessels. His foray into investigative journalism includes several other World War II books, including the best-selling Nazi Gold: The Story of the World's Greatest Robbery - And Its Aftermath. His back to back biographies of Gavin Maxwell
Gavin Maxwell
Gavin Maxwell FRSL, FIAL, FZS , FRGS was a Scottish naturalist and author, best known for his work with otters. He wrote the book Ring of Bright Water about how he brought an otter back from Iraq and raised it in Scotland...
and Gerald Durrell
Gerald Durrell
Gerald "Gerry" Malcolm Durrell, OBE was a naturalist, zookeeper, conservationist, author and television presenter...
have also earned him praise.
He is the father of Anna Botting
Anna Botting
Anna Elizabeth Botting is a British news anchor with Sky News, a broadcasting network based in the United Kingdom. She currently presents Sky News at Ten, Sky News at Eleven and Sky Midnight News from Monday to Thursday...
, newsreader. His former wife is the broadcaster and company director Louise Botting
Louise Botting
Elizabeth Louise Botting CBE was presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Money Box programme between 1977 and 1992. After her broadcasting career, she became one of the first female directors of a FTSE-100 company, through her appointment to the board of CGNU...
CBE.
Explorations
Botting is an accomplished explorer in his own right. He undertook a systematic explorations of SocotraSocotra
Socotra , also spelt Soqotra, is a small archipelago of four islands in the Indian Ocean. The largest island, also called Socotra, is about 95% of the landmass of the archipelago. It lies some east of the Horn of Africa and south of the Arabian Peninsula. The island is very isolated and through...
while in university, and was part of the world's first balloon over Africa, the first British balloon
Balloon
A balloon is an inflatable flexible bag filled with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. Modern balloons can be made from materials such as rubber, latex, polychloroprene, or a nylon fabric, while some early balloons were made of dried animal bladders, such as the pig...
to fly across the High Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
, and the first vessel ever to voyage by inland waterways from the Amazon
Amazon River
The Amazon of South America is the second longest river in the world and by far the largest by waterflow with an average discharge greater than the next seven largest rivers combined...
to the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
via the unexplored rain forests of the Casiquiare and Orinoco
Orinoco
The Orinoco is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes called the Orinoquia, covers , with 76.3% of it in Venezuela and the remainder in Colombia...
.
Filmography
- The Forgotten Island (SocotraSocotraSocotra , also spelt Soqotra, is a small archipelago of four islands in the Indian Ocean. The largest island, also called Socotra, is about 95% of the landmass of the archipelago. It lies some east of the Horn of Africa and south of the Arabian Peninsula. The island is very isolated and through...
) (2-part series BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
TV) - Festival in Kano (Northern NigeriaNigeriaNigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
) (BBC TV) - The Surf Boats of Anomabu (GhanaGhanaGhana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
) - Beauty for Ashes (Uzuakoli Leper Colony, Eastern NigeriaNigeriaNigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
) (Gateway Films/Methodist Mission) - Kenya Mountain (medical and missionary work in KenyaKenyaKenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
) (Gateway Films) - Balloon Safari (ZanzibarZanzibarZanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...
) (4-part series BBC TV) - Maytime in Muscovy (BBC TV)
- Siberia (BBC TV)
- Greville Wynne Spy Trial (Moscow) (BBC TV News)
- Shadow in the Clouds (History of Airships) (BBC TV)
- The Italia Tragedy (BBCTV)
- Balloon Over the Alps (BBC TV)
- Three Men in a Balloon (BBC TV)
- The Great Balloon Race (BBC TV)
- The Under London Expedition (BBC TV)
- The Black Safari (BBC TV)
- The Last Great Journey on Earth (from the Amazon to the Caribbean by hovercraftHovercraftA hovercraft is a craft capable of traveling over surfaces while supported by a cushion of slow moving, high-pressure air which is ejected against the surface below and contained within a "skirt." Although supported by air, a hovercraft is not considered an aircraft.Hovercraft are used throughout...
on inland waterways) (BBC TV) - 50 Years of the RAF (BBC TV)
- Gavin Maxwell (BBC Scotland)
- Socotra Revisited (comprehensive Hi-8 coverage of Socotra nearly 40 years after Botting's first film report on this island, Mosaic Pictures, London)
- Sex Appeal (TV documentary series, with Kate Botting)
Other projects include:
- The Fateful Impact (6-part animation series on the history of environmental change and conservation around the world, with Mosaic Pictures)
- Toto the Otter (children's TV animation series, with Mosaic Pictures)
External links
- Official Site
- A book review of the other Durrell biography, and how the two are related