PRIMATES | BBC One, BBC Studios
PRIMATES IS THE DEFINITIVE PORTRAIT OF A HUGELY CHARISMATIC FAMILY OF ANIMALS, TO WHICH WE ALL BELONG.
Episode 1, Secrets of Survival, 2020.
Primates is a BBC Studios production that broadcasted April 26th, 2020 and follows groups of our closest relatives from around the world. For us, most importantly, we get to see DRILLS!
From silverbacks in the Congo, to the newly described Tapanuli orangutan of Sumatra, Primates is a culmination of two years of filming to bring rare, if ever seen before images, to a global audience. This includes efforts on Bioko Island from Justin Jay and Drill Films to capture images of wild drill monkeys.
Drills appear in episode one as we get to know an old male who is past his prime living on the coast of Southern Bioko.
If you are a UK resident then Primates can still be viewed on BBC’s iplayer
Other Projects
Monkeys of Bioko
Smithsonian Channel
July 29th, 2020 the documentary Monkeys of Bioko will air for US audiences on the Smithsonian Channel. Drill Films and Gulo Films Productions worked on Bioko Island for a combined 12 months to create this first ever look at wild drills in their natural habitat. Monkeys of Bioko is the Smithsonian Channel’s version of Lost Kings of Bioko which aired in Europe late in 2019.
Lost Kings of Bioko
NDR Naturfilm
Off the coast of Central Africa lies an isolated island, covered by primeval rainforest and surrounded by dark ocean waters, inhabited by a greater variety of species than nearly any other place on Earth. This terra incognita is called Bioko. The ruler of this realm is one of the world's least known primate species, the drill. This film explores their secret lives and their island home which includes the nesting grounds of various sea turtles and the rugged caldera….
Planet Earth III
BBC Natural History Unit
In episode 4, Freshwater; we see the rock climbing gobies of Bioko undertake one of the most amazing migrations of the animal Kingdom.
Filmed for the first time by Justin Jay and Tania Escobar Orihuela, this sequence showcases this tenacious species of fish as they navigate the waters of their island home.