Chester Zoo "OUR ZOO"

Well I don't think over five million is a bad viewing figure these days, in the days of only three channels it would have been a lot higher, especially as it went out at 9 p.m. on a weekday evening. I think it should also be remembered that the show was produced to appeal to a far greater audience than members of Zoo Chat and the Independent Zoo Enthusiasts Association, I repeat my suspicion that an animal welfare group's petition, who were very opposed to the animals being used in the show could have influenced the B.B.C.'s decision not to go ahead with a second series which would have probably infuriated the antis all the more as even more animals would have been needed to be included than what was were used series one.
 
You may be right..but I also happen to believe that it wasn't very good(as you can tell!),and I suspect some influential people at the Beeb agree with me.The "Life of Pi" film proved that very convincing things can be done with CGI..if it was really worth it - I don't think the BBC thinks it is, quite frankly.
 
I also suspect the logistics of filming the next few years of Chester's history would have been very tricky:

1. They got away with a stable, a penguin pool and an aviary as settings for the animals. To have built sets for the growing zoo would cost a fortune.

2. The First Series covered a period of barely 6 months, so characters didn't need to age. If a Second Series had covered (say) 1932 to the outbreak of war how would they have 'aged' June?
 
Tim Brown said:
Well we are all different I suppose.. but Im rather tired of these "wasnt it all a laugh when Bobby the monkey ate the vet`s cigarettes"-type books and any television programmes based on the same..Ive seen/read rather too many of them and spent too much of my life trying to get folks to take zoos seriously to forgive such lightweight "entertainment".At least in this book June Mottershead has tempered her views towards her dad`s philandery (vis a vis her previous book) but overall £4.99 is about right for the current one.Television is dominated by frivolous,inconsequential nonsense..there are channels full of nothing else,so when it came to one of my favourite places and a lifelong love, I was dissapointed,to say the least ,to find "Our Zoo" to be so poorly written and predictable(not to mention inaccurate).
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What were the inaccuracies in the book (I appreciate the tv version was one long sequence of inaccuracies!) ? On George's philandering are you suggesting that it wasn't as bad as portrayed in Reared In A Zoo?
 
Ooo,there`s quite a few howlers, and its a few weeks since I read the book now,but apparently London Zoo was started by Sir Stamford Raffles purely to house his own private collection and Chester had a Tasmanian Devil once that had stripes on its back and looked like a dog (YES, I KNOW).Presumably because,in the T.V. series, George M. manages to keep his hands off a whole bevy of beauties, the book stays away from that particular recurring theme in "Reared In a Zoo" (as far as I recall).
 
I've just checked the list of nominees for the 2015 National Television Awards. Our Zoo has not been nominated.
 
Enjoyed and highly recommend both the 'Our Zoo' drama and the book

I really enjoyed both the ‘Our Zoo’ drama and the book. They told the important and interesting story of how my favourite zoo, Chester Zoo began and what a struggle it was for the Mottershead family. As June stated in the book the story did have to be adapted for the BBC drama but I'm pleased George's vision and the battle to get the zoo open were depicted well and also the significant contribution the other family members played. I do think it shouldn't be forgotten that Chester Zoo today wouldn't be here unless it had been for the Mottershead family. I was lucky to meet June and I think she just really wanted people to be made aware of how incredibly hard her mother, sister and grandparents had worked and the roles they played to get the zoo established as well as her father. I discovered the book ‘Our Zoo’ was not written until after the drama when the ghost writer Pepsy Dening was asked by Big Talk to help June with a book. They had under two months to put the book together. Considering this, I think they did an amazing job and I learnt lots of interesting snippets about the zoo’s history from it.
 
OurZooFan said:
I really enjoyed both the ‘Our Zoo’ drama and the book. They told the important and interesting story of how my favourite zoo, Chester Zoo began and what a struggle it was for the Mottershead family. As June stated in the book the story did have to be adapted for the BBC drama but I'm pleased George's vision and the battle to get the zoo open were depicted well and also the significant contribution the other family members played. I do think it shouldn't be forgotten that Chester Zoo today wouldn't be here unless it had been for the Mottershead family. I was lucky to meet June and I think she just really wanted people to be made aware of how incredibly hard her mother, sister and grandparents had worked and the roles they played to get the zoo established as well as her father. I discovered the book ‘Our Zoo’ was not written until after the drama when the ghost writer Pepsy Dening was asked by Big Talk to help June with a book. They had under two months to put the book together. Considering this, I think they did an amazing job and I learnt lots of interesting snippets about the zoo’s history from it.
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It borrows hugely from June's original book "Reared in Chester Zoo" and whilst there is a lot of 'updated bits' I got the feeling it was rushed out to ride on the back of the series since the "Reared in Chester Zoo" book is now out of print? Anyone here read both?
 
Prefer 'Our Zoo'

I found 'Our Zoo' to be a really enjoyable read and did prefer it to Janice Madden's 'Reared in Chester Zoo'. They are bound to be similar as both had the same sources for their information. I'm grateful to June Mottershead, who is now in her late eighties, for all the effort she must have put in to trying to remember and source material about Chester Zoo's history to ensure that its early history and such an inspiring story was recorded.

Most of the 86 reviews on Amazon are very positive and give it a rating of 5 stars:

[ame=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Our-Zoo-June-Mottershead/dp/1472226356/ref=pd_bxgy_d_h__img_y]Our Zoo: Amazon.co.uk: June Mottershead: 9781472226358: Books[/ame]
 
OurZooFan said:
I found 'Our Zoo' to be a really enjoyable read and did prefer it to Janice Madden's 'Reared in Chester Zoo'. They are bound to be similar as both had the same sources for their information. I'm grateful to June Mottershead, who is now in her late eighties, for all the effort she must have put in to trying to remember and source material about Chester Zoo's history to ensure that its early history and such an inspiring story was recorded.

Most of the 86 reviews on Amazon are very positive and give it a rating of 5 stars:

Our Zoo: Amazon.co.uk: June Mottershead: 9781472226358: Books
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I might have to buy it then! :D
 
I have just finished reading "Our Zoo" and, a few quibbles notwithstanding, I really enjoyed it. My main quibble was the incorrect spelling of the county of Westmorland throughout, but there were several "continuity" errors (such as near the end when Oswald the penguin suddenly became the late Charlie when tugging on Fred Williams's trousers [page 264]) too. I was also taken aback when the Polar Bear pool was described on page 263 as being "about two metres deep", when in the previous paragraph (page 262) the Sealion pool was said to be 200 feet long and 12 feet deep. Presumably the metric intrusion did not come from June herself as I suspect she uses such measurements as often as I do.
 
So grateful to the BBC for the series and the book 'Our Zoo'

Yes in 'Our Zoo' there were a couple of errors but only minor ones and it certainly didn't stop me from thoroughly enjoying the book. When I met June, I also spoke to her son George who had said that they would have liked a little more time as I mentioned in my last post as the ghost writer and June were only given two months to get the book written. However, they were both thrilled that such a skilled writer had helped, June tell her story.

I did love finding out more about Shavington, the zoo before Chester, and also about Lizzie's parents, who were sheep farmers in Westmorland, who helped them buy Shavington as well as obtain a mortgage to enable them to buy the Oakfield. I enjoyed reading about the rich eccentric spinsters and aristocracy who visited the zoo and how they supported it during the early years. Also how the Mottershead's worked from dawn until dusk, never turning away visitors even on June's 21st birthday. It was wonderful to read about the different animal personalities, particularly Mary the chimp who sounded so special and shared such a close bond with June; as well as Oswald the penguin who would follow Fred, June's husband, everywhere. It's such a pity the BBC footage of Oswald following Fred around the zoo, which was played as an intermission has been lost.
I'm so grateful to the BBC that the series 'Our Zoo' was made and the book was written and June was able to share her precious memories. This could easily have been an opportunity which could have been lost and a story that could have been forgotten, which would have been very sad as it is so inspirational and has resulted in one of the best zoos in the world.
 
swampy1967 said:
the viewing figures for the programme were as follows,

ep1 5.17
ep2 5.31
ep3 5.21
ep4 4.81
ep5 5.56
ep6 5.66.
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The BBC has announced that Match of the Day and Match of the Day Two , combined audience of 9 million, or average of 4.5 million each, has been commissioned for another three years.

The average audience for Our Zoo is 5.25 million, yet it was not renewed. The number of viewers increased for the last three episodes. I think it was on on the wrong day and at the wrong time.
 
bongorob said:
The BBC has announced that Match of the Day and Match of the Day Two , combined audience of 9 million, or average of 4.5 million each, has been commissioned for another three years.

The average audience for Our Zoo is 5.25 million, yet it was not renewed. The number of viewers increased for the last three episodes. I think it was on on the wrong day and at the wrong time.
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Covering football is a lot cheaper than making a drama, particularly one which is unlikely to have much appeal in overseas markets.

Alan
 
gentle lemur said:
Covering football is a lot cheaper than making a drama, particularly one which is unlikely to have much appeal in overseas markets.

Alan
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The BBC have paid £204 million for the right to show highlights packages of the next three years' Premiership matches. The production costs will be on top of this - and I doubt very much that there will be any opportunity to claw any of this back by selling the programmes on to overseas broadcasters.

I'm not sure how much Our Zoo cost to make, but I doubt whether it was anything approaching this cost!

However, the comparison is not, perhaps, wholly valid: that £204 million will bring in - what? about 100 hours of programming, at least? - appealing to a very different market, and fulfilling a very different function.

And Match of the Day doesn't have the might of the Captive Animals Protection Society campaigning against it!
 
sooty mangabey said:
However, the comparison is not, perhaps, wholly valid: that £204 million will bring in - what? about 100 hours of programming, at least?
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I would estimate it's closer to 500 hours over the 3 years, compared to 6 hours for a drama series which is not repeated.

Alan
 
I miss 'Our Zoo' and I'm sad that for whatever reason it hasn't been renewed. I think it told a story worth telling about an amazing zoo and how it very nearly didn't happen. My family really enjoyed the series.

I'm sad CAPS created such a fuss and the Daily Mail decided to write an article about this just days before the series started as that can't have helped. It's ironic as Chester Zoo has done so much to improve animal welfare and for conservation. The animals involved in the series looked very well cared for and content. A vet was with them whenever they were on set to ensure they were OK. I think these animals were probably much happier than thousands of dogs and cats who live miserable lives as pets in this country.
 
But there are two main problems with a second series:

1. Building the set would be incredibly expensive (Series 1 could cope with a penguin pool and an aviary!)

2. How do you 'age' the character of June?
 
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