Mark Strickson’s acting career beyond
Doctor Who has mainly been small one off parts, but he has carved
a successful career for himself as a TV producer and director. A degree
in Zoology which he obtained while living in Australia with his first
wife led to a career in natural history programme making for satellite
and terrestrial TV. It was Mark, returning to his Australian experiences,
who first brought Steve Irwin to the attention of British viewers.
In an interview about his Irwin connection,
he had this to say:-
'What
happened was: I and three other people in an office in London got
together a project called The 10 Deadliest Snakes in the World. And
it was all in Australia. We went to Australian zoos and universities
to find someone who would be able to present this. We wanted somebody
who is a good snake-handler and who can talk to the camera. Steve's
was one of the tapes that came back, and we thought we would take
a risk with this guy. He was either going to be a disaster or he would
become something phenomenal. In the end he turned out to be something
phenomenal. I think filmmaking has moved on from those first films
with Steve. At that time, it was revolutionary. They took the camera
off the tripod and it was action. It was what was happening in drama,
in NYPD Blue. When I look back at those first films with Steve, they
look dated to me. But at the time, they were absolute reality and
they changed things. And I think Steve's films have brought a larger
audience into natural history. Natural history films were previously
very serious and they weren't very popular. In global terms, not many
people watched them. A David Attenborough programme got maybe three
or four million people on UK TV. But the first Steve Irwin programme
got 11 million people! I think what David does is exactly what Steve
does. David is really enthusiastic about animals and you can see that
when you watch him. Steve is also very enthusiastic. They're basically
doing the same things in different ways. But the time was right for
Steve. The time was right to go for a bigger audience for natural
history."
'What
happened was: I and three other people in an office in London got
together a project called The 10 Deadliest Snakes in the World. And
it was all in Australia. We went to Australian zoos and universities
to find someone who would be able to present this. We wanted somebody
who is a good snake-handler and who can talk to the camera. Steve's
was one of the tapes that came back, and we thought we would take
a risk with this guy. He was either going to be a disaster or he would
become something phenomenal. In the end he turned out to be something
phenomenal. I think filmmaking has moved on from those first films
with Steve. At that time, it was revolutionary. They took the camera
off the tripod and it was action. It was what was happening in drama,
in NYPD Blue. When I look back at those first films with Steve, they
look dated to me. But at the time, they were absolute reality and
they changed things. And I think Steve's films have brought a larger
audience into natural history. Natural history films were previously
very serious and they weren't very popular. In global terms, not many
people watched them. A David Attenborough programme got maybe three
or four million people on UK TV. But the first Steve Irwin programme
got 11 million people! I think what David does is exactly what Steve
does. David is really enthusiastic about animals and you can see that
when you watch him. Steve is also very enthusiastic. They're basically
doing the same things in different ways. But the time was right for
Steve. The time was right to go for a bigger audience for natural
history."
