♪♪ -From the islands to the Highlands, Scotland's landscape is the perfect place for a wild escape.

Some well-known faces are heading into unfamiliar territory for an immersive experience they'll never forget.

Ready to be re-wilded?

-[ Growls ] [ Both laugh ] -That is... -Isn't this amazing?

-...stunning.

-Good God, this is beautiful.

-Oh, sorry.

-No, no, that's all right.

-I wasn't apologizing to you.

[ Both laugh ] -I am Hamza Yassin, born in Sudan and now living and working as a wildlife cameraman in the Scottish Highlands.

And I'll be their guide.

Put your thumb with your fingers and rub like that.

-Uh-huh.

This -- This is a wind up, right?

-No, I promise.

[ Chuckles ] [ Whispers ] Okay.

Some of them are up already.

-Oh, my God, look at that.

Martin.

Martin.

Martin.

There, there, there, there, there.

Right in front of us.

We'll use the time we have to get to know each other better.

-So we were skinny-dipping, and then all of a sudden, a tourist boat full of Norwegian Christians came round.

There was absolutely nothing we could do.

-No.

And find reflection in unexpected places.

-At what point do you stop and say, "Actually, it's about me"?

-If I do, you know, keep appearing as myself, who's gonna believe me when I'm pretending to be somebody else?

-Together, we'll discover the wonderful wildlife found across this beautiful land, as we escape to the wilderness.

-Oh, you beauty.

-[ Gasps ] Sorry.

-What is it?

-It's a bee.

-Give me a five, Ben.

Give me bloody five.

-Man, that was amazing.

-On this trip, I'm joined in Ardnamurchan by a man who topped the charts in the 1980s, until hedonism and fame became all too much.

-I tried to buy a plane, but the man in the airport wouldn't let us in because we'd forgotten to put on our shirts.

-Do tell me more!

And he subsequently swapped pop stardom for the parish pulpit.

It's the Reverend Richard Coles.

-There's something quite... holy about it for me.

-But Richard's visit to Scotland is one tinged with sadness.

-To lose the love of your life, it's like you've kind of lost a leg and an arm.

-I'm hoping his time here will afford him some comfort.

-Being in a landscape, getting up close to nature just being nature, there's solace in it.

It's sort of magical.

-It will be a wonderful journey together, guaranteed to make the spirit soar.

-♪ All things bright and beautiful ♪ -♪ All creatures great and small ♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Ardnamurchan is not only a remote peninsula on the west coast of Scotland, it's also my home.

I fell in love with its rugged and lush landscapes and its amazing array of animals, and I think Richard will, too.

♪♪ I've arranged to meet him at the most westerly extremity of mainland Britain, below the impressive Ardnamurchan lighthouse.

♪♪ -Hello, Hamza.

-Hello, hello, hello, and welcome.

-Thank you.

-How are you doing?

-I'm really, really good.

It's wonderful to be here -- a place I've read about and heard about and never been to until today.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-Well, welcome to the West Coast.

How was your journey up?

-It was awful.

-Was it?

-Yeah.

-No.

-Yeah, they didn't have my favorite sandwich on the train.

-[ Laughs ] -It was that bad.

♪♪ ♪♪ -Now that you're in my territory, what would you like to take from this trip?

-What I want to do with the rest of my life, Hamza -- I'm nearly 60, and this is now formed as a life wish -- I really want to look at the world through the eyes of somebody who knows it and can show me things and tell me about them, because I get ever more curious about the wildlife and the flora of where I go, but I don't know anything.

-Yeah, okay.

-And so I would really like you to kind of give me a guide to what I'm looking at so I can understand it better.

-We've got an amazing Atlantic rainforest here.

-I didn't even know there were such things.

-Yeah, exactly, and I guarantee you, you're gonna be blown away when you see it.

-Oh, that'd be wonderful.

♪♪ How much of the environment is shaped by what's happening out there?

And how much is shaped by what's happening out there?

-Well, I want to say a lot of it is shaped by what's out there, 'cause we've got the Gulf Stream coming through that keeps us warm and frost-free for most of the year, and that allows for different species of wildlife and plants to thrive in this particular habitat here.

♪♪ So, what animals are you looking forward to seeing the most?

-Giraffes.

-Giraffes.

Well, we might -- we might be short on that, but I can give you red deer, stags and hinds, hopefully.

Uh, pine martens.

-Oh, lovely, I love them.

-Hopefully a few whales, dolphins, whatever we can spot along the way.

♪♪ But before we do anything, it would be rude of us not to climb the 152 steps and take in the view from the lighthouse.

I tend to get dizzy going up here.

-I'm not surprised.

Imagine doing this every day.

-Yeah.

Certainly be a lot fitter.

♪♪ Welcome to the top of the lighthouse.

-It certainly is.

-It's a good hike up here, isn't it?

-But it's worth it.

Look at that view.

Amazing.

♪♪ The last time I was up here, took a little boat out to Staffa and it was such a beautiful day.

And I was with some friends, so we went skinny-dipping.

-Yeah.

-So we were skinny-dipping, and then all of a sudden, a tourist boat full of Norwegian Christians came round.

There was absolutely nothing we could do.

-No.

-Fortunately, they were Norwegian Christians and not freaked out by Anglo-Scottish nudity.

-[ Laughs ] I don't know if Richard telling his story is a mere coincidence, because what I've got planned first is pretty similar.

Except I promise we'll be in wetsuits.

Now, you see that island up there?

The long, thin one?

-Yeah.

-That's Coll.

And to the north end of it is the Cairns of Coll, which I'll be taking you to.

It looks like the Caribbean on a sunny day.

White sands, blue water, a beautiful place.

It may not be the sunny day I'd hoped for, but we set sail anyway from my home village of Kilchoan for Coll.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -The Cairns are a group of uninhabited islands that lie an hour due west of Ardnamurchan.

Rich in wildlife, both above and below the waters, my plan is to take Richard on a snorkeling safari there.

These are all the Cairns of Coll.

-Yeah.

-It's an amazing habitat for wildlife.

Gray seals and common seals live here.

So, these are all common seals.

They look really cute.

Their faces look like pups.

-Yeah.

-And the gray seals have a big Roman nose.

Oh, look at that gannet.

Oh, just cruising.

White-tailed eagle.

White-tailed eagle.

That big bird there.

-And that eagle, what's he after?

-He'll eat everything.

-Yeah.

-And the big white tails, they're more of a vulture than a hunter.

So, they're scavengers.

So November especially, and mid-summer, I call them the eagle with the red bum, because they pick up a lot of placenta.

So when the common seals are giving birth... -I see.

That's an easy meal.

-That's an easy meal.

So as they pick it up and they eat it, their white tail becomes red.

There's an otter.

That's an otter.

-Where?

-That's an otter, not a seal pup.

There, see?

Right on the edge.

Right on the edge.

Right on the edge there.

-Yeah, got him.

Oh, it's beautiful.

-Look at him.

[ Chuckles ] It's nice to see that.

-I love otters.

-Yeah.

We're gonna hit ground.

We're gonna hit the ground.

We're gonna hit the ground.

There you go.

There we go.

That's us.

[ Chuckles ] -It's another world, isn't it?

It's a kind of habitat.

It's like in five minutes, we saw a white-tailed eagle, we saw cormorants, gray seals.

-Common seal.

-Common seal.

-An otter.

-And an otter.

Oystercatchers.

[ Oystercatcher squawking ] I love that sound.

Oystercatcher is my favorite bird.

-Why?

-Because, where we go in Kintyre, they live just in front of the house.

And so that sound for me is a sort of, "Hello, here we are."

-Right.

-And also, I like the way they look like head waiters.

-Smartly dressed.

Yeah.

Snorkeling here allows you to see one of Scotland's living underwater landscapes, a journey through which offers a truly immersive encounter.

♪♪ ♪♪ -Just inches away from you, there's a whole new world happening which you never see.

The kelp forest was just so beautiful.

-Whoo-hoo!

♪♪ -I discovered a new species of seaweed, and then I realized it was your hair.

[ Both laugh ] ♪♪ Slightly feels almost supernatural, like you've gone through the wardrobe into Narnia.

There's this whole other world that you didn't know was there, but was just waiting.

♪♪ What is it for a fat old man like me to glide through the world?

It's wonderful.

♪♪ I'm naturally quite a timid person, but I've resolved at some point that I would always take an opportunity if an opportunity presented itself, and it's daft not to.

Of course you should do that.

-Richard is no stranger to Scotland, having spent many a happy holiday on the southwest coast with his partner, David.

-David and I, we were in Kintyre.

And it was a beautiful night, and it was about midnight, and he said, impulsive creature, "Why don't we go out on the paddleboards?"

And I went, "Eh, all right."

-Oh, amazing.

-So we did, and he was absolutely right because it was just perfect.

There was no one around.

The sea was like glass.

So we went out on our paddleboards, and as we went along, he went, "Look."

And a seal had come and joined us and swam alongside us.

And then he popped his head up and looked at us and checked us out.

And then it just swam with us for a few minutes, just keeping us company.

-How romantic.

-So there was something so... not human exactly.

-Yeah.

-But it was talking to us.

It was relating to us.

That's what I mean.

Beautiful.

♪♪ -On our return to Ardnamurchan, we make our way to where Richard will be staying -- the tiny village of Kilmory.

♪♪ What a day.

-What a day!

I'm hungry.

-Yeah, me too.

I've got some local venison and bread.

-Fantastic.

That sounds exactly what I want to eat.

-Can you do me a massive favor?

-Yeah.

-Can you cook?

'Cause I can't cook to save my life.

-Yeah, of course.

No, I love cooking.

-Perfect.

-That'd be my pleasure.

I do love a lie-down on a -- on a couch.

I really do.

[ Lighter clicks ] Did you see the instructions, Hamza?

-Yeah.

-Does it make sense?

-Eh?

-Does it make sense?

-Ish.

Why is there smoke coming out the bottom?

As I aim to keep the cottage from burning down, Richard gets to grips with the venison sausages.

♪♪ See, now that I've done that, it might just be pushing the air back out, but I don't know.

♪♪ Shh.

Don't tell the reverend.

♪♪ -[ Chuckles ] -Richard, fire's going!

-Oh, well done.

-Yeah.

Took a bit of time, but I did it.

-Well done.

I knew you could -- I knew you had it in you, Hamza.

-Yeah, well, you know, just like that.

♪♪ This looks absolutely amazing, Richard.

-Well... -Thank you.

-...it's a little-known traditional dish... -Uh-huh.

-...of sausage, eggs, baked beans, tomatoes, and toast.

-[ Chuckles ] -But these sausages are venison sausages.

-Yes.

Now, do you like cooking?

-I love cooking.

-You do?

-Yeah.

The first "MasterChef" I did... -Yeah?

-...I got knocked out by little Jimmy Osmond.

-[ Chuckles ] Okay.

-I did a Queen of Puddings, but his chicken pot pie saw it off.

-I've got a question... -Yeah?

-...that's been kind of like in the back of my mind.

What's fame like for you?

When did you realize that you're famous?

Is it when you started The Communards or... -Fame is not a steady state.

-Mm-hmm.

-It's a changing situation that reflects your currency in the culture at that time.

So when we're in this big, successful pop band, of course, that was, you know, quite big and international, and it meant that we were literally chased by kids down the street sometimes.

-[ Chuckles ] Okay.

-And in those days, pop music was a very well-rewarded enterprise.

So, you know, you're young and you're stupid, and you've got lots of money, and it's all a bit daft, but very enjoyable.

I think the first time around, I was really very much in Jimmy Somerville's shadow, who was the singer, a brilliant singer and very charismatic person.

-Yeah.

-I was just the kind of weird-looking one who played the piano.

-Right.

-And this time round, if people have any recognition at all... -Yeah.

-...it's for me rather than for me being in a band.

-Yes.

-So that's a bit different.

Fame in life can be very tricky, actually.

And obviously I pursue it because I'm full of egotism, and it feeds my vanities, so, obviously, I like it.

I have some things about it I don't like so much.

-Like what?

-I think it's difficult for other people around you.

Sometimes I would come in kind of full of myself, 'cause I'd done something and I enjoyed it and it went well, and I'd be kind of buzzing around and saying and this happened and that happened, and then David would just remind me that he had wormed the dog, and that maybe me talking about having met Sylvester Stallone wasn't really of enormous use to him at that moment.

-He brought you back down to Earth?

-Absolutely.

-It's been a lovely day.

And as our first night draws to a close, I leave Richard to enjoy his cottage and my fire-making prowess, naturally.

♪♪ ♪♪ The morning of day two finds Richard in fine form.

-My glorious jimjams, kind of tartany-themed for Scotland.

And look at this.

So, this is the view.

Here's Doris looking at me.

Hey, Doris.

♪♪ -As Richard acquaints himself with the locals, I get my gear ready for today's first activity.

I want him to experience a centuries-old tradition.

So we've come to the middle of the peninsula to a forest lying on the Ardnamurchan estate for a bit of red deer stalking.

♪♪ But our perfect shot will be with my camera rather than a rifle.

[ Whispering ] On the other side of this forest, there's a clearing where the stags come out to feed.

Some of them are in the forest already, so I'm hoping we can sneak through nice and quietly.

And the wind's in our favor at the moment.

It's coming from the north, so it's taking our scent away.

Um, any questions?

-[ Whispering ] I'll just be quiet and not jump around.

-That would be a good idea.

That'd be good.

♪♪ ♪♪ So, can you hear that?

-Water.

-Water.

We're gonna use the water to mask our sound.

So, if we're quiet in the water, we should be okay.

-Okay.

♪♪ ♪♪ -Poo.

That's deer poo.

So exactly what we're looking for.

But it's quite old.

It's slowly decomposing.

-So, how old is that poo?

-Probably about a week, maybe a bit more.

Because it's beginning to be compacted, whether that's due to rain, slugs, whatever.

But we'll find some fresh stuff, hopefully along the way.

-Great.

-Great, isn't it?

Always got to talk about... every now and then.

♪♪ I can see a few of them up there.

♪♪ Yeah, there's four stags there.

They're lying down.

Can you see them?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

What are they doing?

-They're just chewing the cud, basically.

♪♪ Okay.

Some of them are up already.

-Where are they?

-Have a look.

♪♪ -Oh, God.

Look at them.

-Isn't it cool?

-It's really cool.

I love these cheeky ones.

Just showing their antlers, but not themselves.

-Yeah.

-It's like a...you.

-Basically.

-One of the reasons why I love being in a landscape in the natural world is that, to me, it's the wonder of creation and that this is not just a kind of random distribution of atoms and molecules and so on.

There is something about it which is so beautiful.

That has such integrity.

-Okay.

-And it makes me want to respect it, I think, and also feel humble in front of it, but properly humble in front of it.

-Yeah.

♪♪ -There's something quite... holy about it for me.

♪♪ -That's a female.

That's a hind.

-Oh, there's a baby.

-And the baby's following, yeah.

So if you have a look, there's another one.

There's a third one coming.

-Oh, yeah, look at that.

I'm getting all excited.

-That's a family group.

-Yeah.

♪♪ Believe it or not, I'm a bit of a mummy's boy.

Imagine that.

-Same, same.

-And we're very close.

She makes me laugh.

She's not well now.

She has dementia.

-Right.

-And it's tough to watch, uh, your parents decline.

But, of course, that's in the nature of things.

-Right.

-And I admire her resourcefulness and just her endurance in putting up with debilitation.

-Yeah.

-And she's always had a rather grounded view of the world.

-Okay.

-She watched me on "Strictly", and she said I looked like a walrus that had been tasered.

[ Both laugh quietly ] Enjoy them.

Hang on to them.

They're really precious, and they don't last forever.

♪♪ -Richard, there's a whole herd right at the top of the hill.

-Oh, yeah, I got them.

-You got them.

You have kind of like four stages in a stag.

A hill stag, which is a small, little pointy one.

But then you get to a Royal.

A Royal stag has 12 points.

Then you get to an Imperial stag, which is 14 points, and then 16, it's a Monarch.

Over time, they develop more and more antlers, because when it comes to the rut, that's when they start fighting and they need them.

-A friend of mine who lives in Arran, there's a hillside opposite him where stags will rut, and he says when they're in rut, you can smell... -Absolutely.

-...these, like, pheromones come billowing off the hillside, and hear them.

♪♪ -They're peeing on themselves, so their back legs are just covered in pee, and they stink.

Whereas to us, it's a bad smell.

To the females, it's like us wearing cologne.

-Blue Stratos, here I come.

[ Chuckles ] ♪♪ -[ Normal voice ] Whoa!

Whoo!

-[ Normal voice ] Oh, my word.

Look at that.

-Look at this.

-Oh, my God.

Look at that.

-It is cool.

Isn't that cool?

-It's still got a bit of flesh there, hasn't he?

-Yeah.

-But he's obviously been -- How long has he been there, do you think?

-Oh, he's been here for the summer.

Can you see how it's, like, starting to go green here?

Algae.

-That is an Imperial.

-Imperial.

14.

-Heavier than I thought.

-Isn't it?

-Imagine walking around with that on your head all day.

-Then that's why, you see, their necks are so strong.

The older stag, they become completely tough.

-And actually a bit of weight behind that.

That's quite a weapon, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-It's beautiful, too.

So, if this was still attached to the living body, how high would it stand?

-Oh, uh... If I was a stag, my back would probably be about yay high.

-Yeah.

-And then this is where my antlers will be, here.

Roughly like this.

Which, to me, if I'm standing up, he's basically face to face to me.

-Gonna take a picture of you with your antlers.

-Absolutely.

-It's a little bit "Wicker Man", I have to tell you that.

-[ Laughs ] Look at these.

-Oh, look at that.

-See that little tiny nib?

-There.

-Yeah.

-Is that another one coming?

-That's one going back.

-Oh.

-So this shows you that this stag is actually on his way down, and eventually he'll just have one big, long one, pointy, and then pointy here, and they're the dangerous ones.

It goes through all of this.

So a lot of stags, you see them with pierced sides.

It will be the oldest stag that's just got the one point on one side, one point on the other.

-Never pick a fight with an old man.

-That's been a pretty successful stalk.

But I wish Richard had gotten a little closer to a stag with a bit more flesh on its bones.

So, to make up for it, I'm taking him to see a very special but shy resident that should, if we're lucky, offer up a tantalizing encounter.

♪♪ The pine marten can be a fickle guest, but can be enticed to pay a visit by a peanut and egg-laden table.

-Hamza, how can you tell the difference between a stoat and a weasel?

-I don't know.

-A weasel's "weasely" identified, but a stoat's "stoatally" different.

[ Both laugh ] -Once found all across Britain, the pine marten was hunted almost to extinction.

Thankfully, it's recovered a little from that dramatic decline.

But this nocturnal species is still incredibly rare and elusive.

-[ Whispers ] Richard, Richard?

-[ Whispers ] Yeah.

-I think there's a pine marten coming.

-Where?

-I think it's just over there.

-Oh, yeah.

-He's gonna come around the corner.

-Oh, it's much bigger than I thought they were.

I would have thought that was an otter if it weren't -- It's got the tail, but it's the size of an otter.

-Everyone thinks, like, they'll be the size of a stoat or a Weasel.

-Yeah, tiny.

-Yeah.

-No, they're huge.

-Beautiful creatures, aren't they?

Look at him.

♪♪ -They can climb the trees due to their claws.

They have a good bite onto them, but they can also judge distance and leap.

So nothing can really beat them in the trees.

-So they've got a bit of kind of squirrel aptitude as well.

-Yeah, exactly.

[ Normal voice ] The pine marten is a cat-sized member of the weasel family.

Its dark brown fur covers its long body except for each animal's uniquely shaped yellow bib.

[ Whispering ] It's coming to the window.

It's coming to the window.

-Oh, my goodness.

I could touch it.

♪♪ It's sort of magical.

♪♪ ♪♪ -It's the last day of our time together in Ardnamurchan, and I'm on my way to see Richard at his cottage.

I'm very glad he spent time with me here.

I can imagine it's been a bittersweet return, as I know Scotland has such an important place in his heart.

♪♪ -So, I'm retiring next year.

And David, my partner, and I had found somewhere we really liked, actually, on the west coast, Kintyre Peninsula.

-Right.

-But then he got ill and he died.

And so, all of a sudden, I'm on my own.

And I thought, I don't know if I can do it on my own, actually.

So instead I'm moving in the opposite direction.

I'm moving south.

-Okay.

-The reason to be actually near the sea, but also to be near people I know.

It's about people.

-Right.

Okay.

-But I find every time I come here, I'm almost heartsick with longing to live here.

-Is that because David, your partner, passed away and you think you could have enjoyed it with him?

-It was our plan, you know.

So, we had an idea about what we were gonna do, and we would come up every year and we'd sort of try to do a bit of it and see how it went, and it was great, that's what I really wanted to do, but it did require him, and not just because it was him, but also if I was on my own, I don't know how... could I do it on my own?

I don't know.

So "I don't know" is the short answer, but I'm still gonna come up as much as I can.

-I know this is gonna sound like a... kind of like a dumb question, but do you miss him?

-I do.

I really miss him.

Partly because he was the love of my life.

And to lose the love of your life means you've -- It's like you've kind of lost a leg and an arm, and you kind of can't do what you normally want to do, and you kind of limp around, and that's not gonna get better, right?

-No.

-Um, there's a tricky one about, you know you have to face forward.

You know there's life to live.

And you know that also means leaving them behind a bit.

And I feel a bit torn about that.

-What's your coping mechanism?

-I tell you, one way is nature.

Being in a landscape, getting up close to wild animals, getting up close to nature just being nature, there's solace in it, and it's because we're part of a natural cycle of things.

-We are.

-We live, we grow.

If we're lucky, we thrive.

If we're luckier, we fade and we die.

That's just how it goes.

-That's right.

-And there's a lesson in that for all of us, I think.

And sometimes I find that really helps, just understanding that we're just part of this cycle.

♪♪ I stand here and I look out at this extraordinary, beautiful view across the sea to the islands, and it reminds me that our individual dramas, vivid though they are, are part of a wider story.

And the way to deal with the tribulations of life is to acquire a sort of perspective.

And for me, I feel that most powerfully in a landscape like this.

-Look at that view!

-Look at that view.

-Do you know the islands?

Can you tell what the islands are?

-I can tell with huge confidence what the islands are.

-Okay.

-Eigg.

-Yes.

-Muck.

-Muck.

-Barbados.

-[ Laughs ] -Zanzibar.

-Barbados.

Yeah.

-There, in the distance, are the Isle of Wight.

-Isle of W-- Well, you're 50% there.

50%.

♪♪ I've got something special planned for Richard.

I know he's interested in flora, so I'm taking him to a magical place.

Scotland's ancient Celtic forest at Glenborrodale, home to some of the rarest rainforest on Earth.

♪♪ ♪♪ -Look at this, though.

This is a bit Jurassic Park, isn't it?

-It is, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-It is beautiful.

♪♪ -Temperate rainforests like this occur in only a handful of places around the globe.

♪♪ -All of a sudden, you're kind of out of time and place, aren't you?

It's got a timeless feel to it.

And this habitat, Hamza, is unchanged from... -Probably the last ice age.

-Really?

-Yeah.

There's a green belt that goes around the north of the world.

-Yeah.

-And that green belt, this is a continuation of it.

The species might change throughout the way from, like, northern Canada to Scotland to Norway and Russia, but it's all part of the same thing.

♪♪ We're in the canopy now.

♪♪ -It's like a fairy-tale forest, isn't it?

It's kind of like witchy trees and gnarliness.

♪♪ -Well, it's actually kind of weird that it's starting off the trees coming up.

It's going back into the ground and coming back up again, and it's just sprouting these beautiful parts here.

-Look at this, like a kind of whole little forest, isn't it, in miniature.

-Yeah.

-You know, this reminds me of... Don't judge me.

-Uh-huh.

-...when I used to make models when I was a kid, I used to get stuff like this to make miniature trees from.

You look closely at them, they look the same sort of structures, don't they?

Yeah.

See, moss, to me, as someone who's a custodian of a medieval building, means that's the north side, which is where all the remedial work needs to be done because it's darker, wetter, and mossier, because south-facing buildings get more benefit.

-North is in that direction.

So we should be seeing, and I think you're absolutely right, that there's more moss and lichen on this side than compared to this side.

See, I never knew that.

Every day's a school day when out with Richard Coles.

The sheer amount and abundance of species here are unique to any other ecosystem in Europe, making Scotland's rainforests so precious.

-What I want to know, is this moss good news or bad news?

-It's good news because the moss has got loads of things growing on it, but it's also got lichen growing in it.

And lichen is a great indicator for good, clean air.

You're not gonna get lichen growing in the middle of a city very easily.

-Beautiful as well.

Look at that.

-It is.

It's tactile.

-And the colors are lovely.

-I want to get out these midges.

Come on, let's keep going.

You love the midges, don't you?

-I really love the midges.

They're my favorite things.

♪ All things bright and beautiful ♪ -♪ All creatures great and small ♪ ♪♪ -You're all right?

-Yeah.

I nearly lost my trousers.

-[ Chuckles ] Look at that view.

-Oh, my God, look at that.

-That is... -Isn't this amazing?

-...stunning.

♪♪ I'm tempted to quote the '80s band Big Country, who said, "In a big country, dreams stay with you like a lover's voice on the mountainside."

And I can see it.

I've always liked that line.

There is something about the grandeur of this landscape isn't it, that makes your soul rise, I think.

-For sure.

-It's so beautiful.

It's so...majestic.

♪♪ You've kind of struggled on your way up.

You've come through darkness, shade, and uncertainty, and you find yourself all of a sudden coming out into the light.

There's an irresistible narrative in that, for me.

Anyone who has tried to struggle their way through life, through adversity to seek illumination would find that resonant.

It is so bloody beautiful.

-Isn't it?

-When I was at the end of my 20s, the beginning of my 30s... -Yeah.

-...I just wanted everything, really.

The stupidest thing I did was buy a speedboat in Ibiza.

But, Hamza -- -Why?

I'm giggling at it now.

-Because I could.

-Right.

-But I've no idea what happened to it.

I think it's still there, rusting.

-So did you just tie it up to a pontoon and leave?

-The only thing I remember from that summer in Ibiza was that we were barred by a global car rental company for life.

So, we went -- you know, we went to Ibiza.

It was the summer of love.

We were up all night.

We were taking lots of drugs.

We were dancing the night away.

We had a wonderful time and there was very little restraint, 'cause we didn't need it, and I bought a speedboat.

I tried to buy a plane, but the man in the airport wouldn't let us in because we'd forgotten to put on our shirts.

So, that was stupid.

If I saw my own CV, I'd think it was the work of a fantasist.

It doesn't seem real somehow, but it did happen.

But I think it's quite surprising that I find myself, at the age of 59 and a half, standing on top of a mountain on the Ardnamurchan peninsula, above the canopy of an Atlantic rainforest, talking to a Sudanese-born naturalist, that seems quite odd, too, really.

-It does when you put it like that.

For sure, it does.

-So maybe life continues to surprise us.

And that's great, isn't it?

I don't want -- I want life to be surprising.

♪♪ -I heard... -[ Gasps ] -...that you absolutely love these.

-This, to me, is what the Rheingold was to Alberich.

-Really?

-And it seems so appropriate, standing on the top of a crag overlooking water with the sun out, that I've got a lovely golden Tunnock's caramel wafer.

Good health.

-Cheers.

♪♪ ♪♪ -As we make our way down from the tree canopy back across the peninsula, I catch a glimpse of something in the tall grass at the roadside.

So we make an impromptu pit stop for, hopefully, the close-up encounter Richard has been missing.

-[ Whispering ] There's a stag just over this little knoll.

I want to get you close to him so you can see him.

So we're just gonna go around this little bit here.

I'm gonna be faffing around with the camera.

You stick your binoculars up straight away and enjoy it, because as soon as he clocks us, he's not gonna feel comfortable, and he's gonna go.

Yeah?

♪♪ [ Whispering ] Okay.

You'll see his antlers pop up every now and then.

♪♪ There, there, there, there, there.

♪♪ He's lying down and all you see is the antlers moving.

That's it, that's it.

That's his antlers.

♪♪ ♪♪ There he goes.

He's off.

♪♪ -Beautiful thing.

-Oh.

-[ Normal voice ] He's a young stag.

And that's all it took was that little tiny bit of movement from us.

As soon as he clocked us, he was off.

Is he back?

He's trying to see what we're up to.

[ Chuckles ] He's very inquisitive.

Oh, you see that head bow?

-Yeah.

-That's him not happy.

So it's like a little mini head bow and a foot stomp.

And that's kind of like a, "Hey, what are you doing in my territory?"

-He's coming to have a look.

-Yeah, he's just coming to check us out.

-Wow.

He was a lovely thing.

-It's a lovely beast, isn't he?

-I still feel that, by rights, he should recognize my holiness and come and feed from my hand.

-[ Chuckles ] And with that brief but beautiful encounter, Richard's time in Ardnamurchan draws to an end.

All that's left is to find a sheltered spot on the beach and reflect on our time together.

-Who wouldn't want to be here, Hamza?

You know, it's an extraordinary wealth of beauty and fascination in this part of the world.

It's lovely.

Sit on a beach with a fire, listen to the sea coming in, check out the marine life, the bird life, the fauna, the flora.

That's a pretty full experience for me.

-If you had to tell someone about this, what would you tell them?

-I mean, in a way, part of me, selfishly, wouldn't really want to tell anyone about it, because, you know, the beauty of this place is, to a certain extent, contingent on... the relative scarcity of human beings, isn't it?

-That's right.

-But of course, you also want people to connect with it and to get from it what we get from it, what I get from it.

Yeah.

Nothing can touch this for me.

And I think that I could find real contentment and joy here.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-You should have two homes.

I think one up here, enjoy your love for Scotland.

And one down south.

-I'm not giving up my villa in Barbados, darling.

-[ Laughs ] -I wish I had.

No.

One of the things you learn when you suffer a bereavement is that life is short.

Don't hang about waiting for it to happen.

And I would not think -- You know, I'm 60 next year.

With a bit of luck, I might have another 30 springs, and I'd love to spend some of them in the west of Scotland.

-Yeah.

-And I can do that.

So, I should just get my act together.

One of the reasons why places like this appeal to me so much is because I live a very civilized life.

-Yeah.

-Feeling that there are sort of formal rules that we have to always cleave to.

And sometimes, I don't want to do that.

Running around beaches and jumping in the sea with nothing on -- that would work for me.

-Right.

I promise you, if you come back next time, we'll go skinny-dipping.

-Yeah.

Let's do it.

-Okay.

-Roger that.

Do you want a bit of hot cocoa, by any chance?

-I'd love a bit of hot cocoa.

-Good.

I'm glad.

I've got two things -- hot cocoa and something to take home for you to remind you of our amazing experience with that stag.

So, all antlers fall off every year.

And that's one I found up on the hill to take home with you.

-Thank you.

-You are most welcome.

-That's such a great thing to remember this trip by.

-Well, there you go.

-I'm very touched.

Thanks.

-Slàinte.

-Slàinte Mhath.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪