Molly Dineen's The Ark on DVD

sooty mangabey

sooty mangabey

Well-Known Member
The Ark, the fly-on-the-wall series made by Molly Dineen in 1993, is to be released on DVD in August. The Ark detailed London Zoo at the time of one of its periodic moments of financial collapse.

Those who saw this at the time of its initial broadcast will, I am sure, concur that it is as good as it gets - certainly it knocks spots off the recent ITV series about London Zoo.

Now - how about Zoo 2000 with Jermey Cherfas, or Anthony Smith's Great Zoos of the World?
 
The recent I.T.V. series on London Zoo and also the B.B.C. series "Zoo" made in 1999/2000 were most enjoyable and certainly did a lot to promote the good name of the Zoological Society of London, Molly Dineen's four part documentary came in for criticism as it showed the zoo in a sad light at a time when it was facing closure resulting in quite a few animals and staff members finding themselves surplus to requirement. Even though this series was made on a shoe string budget it did win awards and for anyone who has not seen it and is interested in London Zoo I would say the purchase of this D.V.D. would be worth every penny as it certainly captured the mood of the zoo at this time of great uncertainty. The sadness of the orangs, birds and indeed Thi the elephant being rounded up for pastures new, long serving loyal keepers being made redundant, the stomach churning Cilla Black "Blind Date" for the giant pandas Bao Bao and Ming Ming, the formation of the reform group resulting in the zoo's Director also finding himself surplus to requirement, the snotty hatchet man who appeared to be enjoying every minute of making the cut backs and last but by no means least, Clinton Keeling who appeared to be as happy as a pig in muck stirring it for the zoo's council, marvellous.
 
Excellent news! Do you have any release details?

I must admit with BBC DVDs I hold my breath til I actually own them-the Alas Amith & Jones and Harry Enfield ones have been put back so many times it's not funny.
 
Apparently it's due for release on 22nd August.

It's being released by the BFI (not the BBC) so I'd imagine it will go ahead as planned, their remit tends to be releasing "important/relevant" films rather than making a massive profit -I think releases are either subsidised or cross-subsidised.

I'm looking forward to this as, per an old Independent review, in parts it contains some subtle subtext/comments on the political and social issues of the day. It sounds a great documentary, not just a great zoo documentary -miles away from the (admitedly usually enjoyable) fluff we tend to get nowadays.
 
Shorts said:
It sounds a great documentary, not just a great zoo documentary -miles away from the (admitedly usually enjoyable) fluff we tend to get nowadays.
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I believe the idea was to make a simple documentary on 'life at the zoo' but they found the Zoo was in crisis mode when filming started, so filmed it all too. The animals almost took a back seat compared to the Human dramas being played out!
 
TARZAN said:
The recent I.T.V. series on London Zoo and also the B.B.C. series "Zoo" made in 1999/2000 were most enjoyable and certainly did a lot to promote the good name of the Zoological Society of London, Molly Dineen's four part documentary came in for criticism as it showed the zoo in a sad light at a time when it was facing closure resulting in quite a few animals and staff members finding themselves surplus to requirement. Even though this series was made on a shoe string budget it did win awards and for anyone who has not seen it and is interested in London Zoo I would say the purchase of this D.V.D. would be worth every penny as it certainly captured the mood of the zoo at this time of great uncertainty. The sadness of the orangs, birds and indeed Thi the elephant being rounded up for pastures new, long serving loyal keepers being made redundant, the stomach churning Cilla Black "Blind Date" for the giant pandas Bao Bao and Ming Ming, the formation of the reform group resulting in the zoo's Director also finding himself surplus to requirement, the snotty hatchet man who appeared to be enjoying every minute of making the cut backs and last but by no means least, Clinton Keeling who appeared to be as happy as a pig in muck stirring it for the zoo's council, marvellous.
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Having watched the series today (off work sick, but every cloud has a silver lining:)) I've got to say that the above is a good summary of it. It's packed with great characters and is both a great documantary and a great zoo documentary. Highly recommended if you've never seen it.
 
Shorts said:
Having watched the series today (off work sick, but every cloud has a silver lining:)) I've got to say that the above is a good summary of it. It's packed with great characters and is both a great documantary and a great zoo documentary. Highly recommended if you've never seen it.
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I'm pleased you liked it, and also pleased that London Zoo is in a lot better shape than what it was then,although sad that keepers Frank Wheeler and Jim Robson along with Clinton Keeling and Josephine the dear old horn bill are no longer with us.
 
TARZAN said:
although sad that keepers Frank Wheeler and Jim Robson along with Clinton Keeling and Josephine the dear old horn bill are no longer with us.
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If I remember rightly, Frank Wheeler sort of emerged as the 'star' of the programmes, with his candid and insightful comments on the Zoo's plight at the time.

I knew Frank( he was also nicknamed 'Lurch' though I never found out why!) during an earlier period at ZSL. He had a very comprehensive knowledge, entirely self taught, and was a very engaging character.
 
I will have to get this one.
Just occasionally you see something that sticks in the memory - and having watched this series when it was first broadcast I can clearly remember the mood which has already been described and some of the scenes, including Clinton Keeling asking pointed questions at the meeting and a keeper (I think it was Frank Wheeler) spoon feeding a sick koala. Do I remember correctly that it also included Jomie the gorilla being introduced to Zaire and the other females and mating with one of them?

Alan

PS just checked on Play.com, apparently it will be released on 29th August.
 
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gentle lemur said:
I will have to get this one.
Just occasionally you see something that sticks in the memory - and having watched this series when it was first broadcast I can clearly remember the mood which has already been described and some of the scenes, including Clinton Keeling asking pointed questions at the meeting and a keeper (I think it was Frank Wheeler) spoon feeding a sick koala. Do I remember correctly that it also included Jomie the gorilla being introduced to Zaire and the other females and mating with one of them?

Alan
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I think the gorillas were featured in the B.B.C.One series broadcast in 1999/2000 not in The Ark.
 
TARZAN said:
I think the gorillas were featured in the B.B.C.One series broadcast in 1999/2000 not in The Ark.
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Think you are correct there. It showed Jomie mating Diana(an experienced female from Bristol) almost immediately they were introduced. If he hadn't become ill and died I'm sure they could have bred from them at that time.

'The Ark' series may have featured the departure of the Orangutans though?
 
I thought it had to be that way around as by the time Jomie arrived, the Orangutans had long gone.
 
gentle lemur said:
a keeper (I think it was Frank Wheeler) spoon feeding a sick koala.
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You are correct he was been helpped by one of the zoo's vets,who he also told off for not cleaning her hands after cleaning up the rear end,before she started feeding the Koala again!!To think this person is now a director at a UK Zoo,how times change!!!
 
zoogiraffe said:
You are correct he was been helpped by one of the zoo's vets,who he also told off for not cleaning her hands after cleaning up the rear end,before she started feeding the Koala again!!To think this person is now a director at a UK Zoo,how times change!!!
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Wow, that penny didn't drop when I watched it (then again I was ill at the time:)).
 
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