Image: BBC/Plimsoll Studios/Ondrej Prosicky/Adobe Stock
By Jon Donnis
Love is rarely straightforward, whether you are human or an animal, and a new BBC Christmas special is setting out to explore just how much the two have in common.
Love Naturally, a one-hour programme coming to BBC One and iPlayer this Christmas, looks at the extraordinary ways animals find partners, maintain relationships and deal with the complications that come with them. Narrated by Bill Nighy, the special brings together natural history and romantic comedy, with Richard Curtis, the writer and director of Love Actually, co-writing and executive producing.
The programme travels around the world to examine some unusual approaches to courtship. A male polar bear faces a 60-mile trek across the Arctic in search of a mate, while a female king penguin has the difficult task of identifying a potential partner's call among 80,000 birds.
Other animals have their own ways of making an impression. A tiny peacock spider in Australia relies on an elaborate dance to attract a female, while a male pufferfish off the coast of Japan spends a week building a geometric structure two metres wide.
Finding a partner is only part of the story. Love Naturally also looks at what happens when relationships become more complicated, from same-sex relationships among bighorn sheep to a young wolf whose father threatens to disrupt her budding romance. Albatrosses, meanwhile, provide an example of partnerships that can last for decades.
The programme draws on familiar romantic comedy territory, including jealousy, family interference, separation and second chances, although the animals face their own particular challenges. Behind these stories is a broader question about the nature of love and how it developed.
Produced by Bristol-based Plimsoll Studios, part of ITV Studios, Love Naturally takes a different approach to the usual Christmas romantic comedy. Rather than following fictional couples through a series of misunderstandings, it looks to the natural world for examples of attraction, companionship and heartbreak.
Love Naturally will air on BBC One and be available on BBC iPlayer this Christmas.
Richard Curtis said: “I have always loved animal documentaries, and this was a wonderful opportunity to dive into the word of animals and romance at Christmas and around the world. I was amazed at the variety and humour and passion that we found - from Antarctica to the North Pole, it turns out that, in the animal kingdom, love actually may be all around.”
Jack Bootle, Head of Commissioning, Specialist Factual, BBC, said: “Christmas on BBC One is all about bringing people together, and Love Naturally feels like a great way to celebrate something that connects us all. It has spectacular wildlife, extraordinary behaviour, warmth, humour and some genuinely great love stories.
“Working with Richard Curtis and Plimsoll, we’re bringing the language of the romantic comedy to natural history and discovering that first dates, grand gestures, jealous rivals, family dramas and heartbreak certainly aren’t unique to humans. It’s funny, surprising and full of heart.”
Love Naturally will air on BBC One and iPlayer this Christmas.
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