In a new series, Animal Impossible, presenters Tim Warwood and Adam Gendle risk life and limb to discover the truth about animals. By Team Viva
Do cats always land on their feet? Could a squid sink a ship? Is spider silk really stronger than steel? Endlessly curious presenters Tim Warwood and Adam Gendle risk life and limb to discover the truth about animals in a new series — Animal Impossible. In a fresh take on natural history filmmaking, the intrepid pair conducts audacious stunts, including a nerve-wracking swim with a great white shark, to find answers. However, they find more than they expected, discovering a whole host of strange and remarkable truths about the animal kingdom. Locations include Namibia, South Africa, Morocco, Germany, UK, USA, Canada, Costa Rica, Guyana and China. Excerpts:
Why did you want to be involved with Animal Impossible?
Tim Warwood: I have to be careful about how I answer this as my wife might read it. But basically, it was a great opportunity to meet some incredible animals up close and personal, while travelling the globe. It’s a no brainer to be honest. And to do it with my best mate was too good to be true. I also like to be the person that regals facts and stories so the whole series provides me with loads of ammo.
Adam Gendle: Same as Tim really! I’ve never had the opportunity to see wildlife like that and travel to so many incredible places. It seemed like the job of a lifetime. Being able to share it with my best mate makes it all the more special even if I did have to look at him in a skin-tight zorb suit in the bull’s episode.
What’s going to surprise people most about it?
Tim: So each episode has that one single fact which we set out to discover the truth behind. But we learn plenty of other facts along the way. I think I find some of those just as amazing. In the ‘can you fool a sniffer dog’ for example, I can’t believe that dogs can be taught to sniff out of USB sticks!
Adam: I think it might surprise people that they’re watching a wildlife show without wildlife experts presenting it. That’s one of things that makes it more exciting and fresh. We’re not experts at all but we get to experience these incredible animals and react to them in the same way anyone watching at home would. They’ll definitely be surprised by some of the facts we find out along the way too.
How was it like working with your best mate on this series?
Tim: Terrible. I did this show to get away from my wife but ended up being forced to spend the whole time with him (laughs). It’s all good. It’s great to have Gendle there. Sometimes when the experts are telling us that everything will be ok, even though I know they are the experts with all the experience, all you need to hear is — ‘it will be alright mate’ — from your best friend.
Adam: It was brilliant. We’ve known each other all our lives and had some incredible times but I think this year has been on another level. It’s great to have your best friend there just so you can say ‘can you believe we’re doing this’. In the moments where we’ve both been petrified, the other one always makes a joke to relax the other, which works most of the time.
Who was the most accurate at predicting which facts were true or false?
Tim: Me. I am generally the cleverest of the two of us. I am the worst timekeeper though. And I always lose stuff.
Adam: Me! Maybe it was pretty even but yes, Tim does lose everything. He lost about seven metal water bottles over the whole series. I kept one the whole time so I’m better than him (laughs).
What all did you discover?
Tim: I think the sniffer dog one. You can’t fool a sniffer dog. Also, the cat one. Cats always land on their feet. In fact, quite a few of them. And obviously sharks are mindless man-eaters. That’s a big one as many people in the world are scared of sharks. So hopefully on the quest to prove that one wrong, we can help a few people with their fear of the deep.
Adam: Definitely Sharks are mindless man-eaters and Piranhas can strip you to the bone. Mainly because I was the one putting my body on the line with the challenges for those ones. I got a bit obsessed with sharks in general and followed every shark channel on Instagram.
Which animal fact outcome surprised you the most?
Tim: The spider silk vs steel fact on paper is the one which you think to yourself. ‘No way is that real’... The learning we did on that journey is bonkers. I like the fact that spiders produce seven different types of silk on average by seven silk glands. A single spider does not possess all seven glands but has at least three if it is male (dragline, attachment and swathing silk) or four if it is female. The additional one is for egg sac silk. They use different silk for building different parts of the web. Guess what? They never actually run out of silk. Also, keep your eye out for what the cichlid fish does in Germany. It looks like a goldfish but it can blow your mind.
Adam: Yes, I have to agree with Tim on that one. The spider silk thing was nuts and everything I learnt about spiders over the course of that episode was pretty incredible, especially because I was terrified of them to begin with. If we talk about cichlid fish, I was blown away by how smart they are. Although most cichlids are found at relatively shallow depths, several exceptions do exist. The deepest known occurrence is Trematocara at more than 300 m (980 ft) below the surface in Lake Tanganyika, African Great Lake.
You did a lot of stunts on the show. Which one was the scariest?
Tim: Personally, going in the corral with a bull was pretty sketchy. I wasn’t keen on that at all. But overall, probably watching Gendle climb into the water with a Great White Shark was the scariest. It was beyond ridiculous. I held my breath for 20 minutes.
Adam: Scary for you! How do you think I felt? Yes, the great white shark was something I’ll never forget. When I watched the show, the whole thing came back to me, the nerves of waiting and the excitement of being in the water, and of course the relief of not being bitten in half.
(The series premieres on October 5 at 9 pm on Sony BBC Earth.)