Although I normally film all my programmes myself, I was fortunate on this production in having two very experienced cameramen -- Rod Clarke and Kevin Flay -- join me to help with the macro photography of the small creatures of the desert. Filming the golden mole was one particular challenge that Kevin helped with.

These tiny moles are completely nocturnal and quite rare, so the chance of us seeing and filming one in the wild was very slim indeed. All one ever sees of the moles are the tiny tracks they leave behind in the morning after a night's foraging out on the dunes. Our only option was to collect moles and try to film them behaving naturally in captivity. To help us, we employed a scientist who had recently been studying golden moles for his Ph.D. The special traps he set were successful, and after a week, we had two tiny moles living in sand pits in our studio. But trying to film the moles proved extremely difficult. Although naturally blind, the moles were very sensitive to any sounds or vibrations or indeed any light we tried to illuminate the sets with. Night after night, Kevin and assistant Dan Reese stayed up hoping to catch the elusive moles on film.

The moles stayed permanently underground, not once showing their heads. Termites, put out to feed the moles, scurried off the set. Yet the moles were obviously feeding on some of them -- perhaps in the shadows undetected.



In the eerie red glow of the subdued set lighting, all one ever saw of the moles was a movement of the sand as they swam below the surface. The slightest movement anyone made stopped the moles in their tracks for hours. But eventually, Kevin's patience paid off. After a week of sleepless nights, the moles started coming to the surface, and by the end of the shoot, they were completely habituated to quite bright lights, noise and movement in the studio. About three inches long and looking something like a miniature golden hamster, they were one of the most delightful creatures I have ever seen and filmed. It was with great sadness that, after filming them, we returned them to the wilds, to the every place we had found them.

For years I’d dreamt of visiting the country, a land of spectacular harsh beauty and wide open spaces. The commission to film and produce one of the Edens had turned that dream into reality for me.

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