Explorer and marine biologist, Doug Allan, is setting out on a tour of talks on his adventures in the depths of the ocean.

He is visiting the Swindon Arts Centre on Tuesday, November 3, and at the Civic Centre in Trowbridge on Thursday, November 12. 

Doug was born in 1951 in Dunfermline, and began diving in 1968 before studying marine biology at Stirling University in Scotland. After graduating, he worked as a pearl diver, dive instructor, commercial diver and biologist in the Red Sea before making his first trip to Antarctica in 1976 as diving officer on a British research station.

Over the next ten years he spent five winters and eight summers down south, where he developed his eye for both still and moving images.

He changed direction in 1986 to become a full time freelance photograper and documentary film-maker, specializing in extreme habitats both above and underwater. He concentrated in the wildlife of the polar zones, particularly penguins and leopard seals in the south and polar bears in the north. He's been involved with over 60 films and series in his career, and has made more than 50 trips to the poles shooting for Discovery, National Geographic, BBC and many others, filming for series like “Planet Earth”, “The Blue Planet” and “Frozen Planet”.

His awards include four Emmy’s, five BAFTA’s, four Wildscreen Pandas and recognition at Jackson Hole and Missoula Film Festivals. He has twice won the underwater category in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year and was awarded the Royal Geographical Society’s Cherry Kearton Medal for his wildlife images. He has three Honorary Doctorates in recognition of his camerawork and was awarded the Polar Medal in 1983 for his work with BAS, and a bar in 2012 for his filming in both poles.

We catch up with him before his tour begins.

How did a boy from Dunfermline become an Arctic photographer?

My first passion was diving, which I started at school. That led to a marine biology degree, but on graduating in 1973 I decided I didn’t want to be in what I termed ‘science at the sharp end’ so I cut loose and simply looked for excuses to dive. Two years later I read an article in a dive mag written by someone who’d just been a scientific diver in the Antarctic. I tracked down the address for the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), applied to them and in 1976 was heading south to one of their research bases on a year’s contract as diver. Best move I ever made! What inspired you to become a wildlife cameraman?

Still pictures were a way to show people what the Antarctic was like. Movies in a way were a natural progression. I got my break by already having extensive experience of working in extreme environments, in the cold topside and underwater. The Antarctic was also much less accessible to film makers twenty years ago than it is today yet it was familiar territory to me. I met David Attenborough when he visited our research base in January 1981. I helped the film crew and had my eyes opened to the business of wildlife filming.

The bottom line was that it encompassed so much of what I enjoyed – diving, photography, adventure, travel, scientific knowledge, creativeness. It also seemed like a lot of fun.

So looking back, how do you feel about where you’ve ended up?

Wildlife camera people are in a very privileged position because we’re asked to go to lovely places, to capture the beauty and behaviour and bring it back. The down side, however, is the very real price to be paid socially. You need a very understanding family because most years you will be away between 6 to 8 months of the year. It can be hard mentally getting the balance.

You film wildlife in the harshest environments on earth - why the fascination?

Extreme polar filming isn’t for everyone, it’s not exactly comfortable with your extremities freezing while you’re waiting for the perfect shot. But the poles are amongst the greatest wildernesses left on the planet and are home to some of the most charismatic animals. Wildlife filmmaking demands a tenacity and willingness to be on your own for long periods which suits my personality. To witness the behaviour I want, I have to develop a high level of closeness with my subject, so I’ll camp out rather than stay in a hotel. We spend a long time in the field; every minute on screen takes around one week’s filming on location and shoots can last from 3 weeks to 9 months. And yes, it can be hard to maintain interest on long shoots; when I was alone filming snow leopards I had two sightings in 13 weeks. But it’s worth it for those close moments of intimacy when they happen.

What is the most dangerous animal you have ever filmed?

Walrus can be difficult and unpredictable underwater. One grabbed me while I was filming in the Arctic waters north of Baffin Island. It came up from directly below without warning, put its front flippers firmly round my upper legs.

I hit it hard on the head and luckily for me it immediately let go and swam off. That’s how they catch unwary seals, but usually they hold on to them and drown them.

It would also be hard to beat the occasion in the Antarctic when a three metre long Leopard seal swam up to me, opened its jaws wide in a threat display, then took the whole of the front end of my camera’s lens into its mouth.

I could hear the scrape of the seal’s teeth on the lens, and looking down the viewfinder I was able to able to focus on its tonsils. It held that position for about five seconds, then opened its jaws and swam off.

Where is the most dangerous place you have ever filmed?

The most potentially dangerous place is on the frozen sea ice, which is a very hostile and unstable habitat, especially when it begins to break up in early summer. There are cracks and shifting ice, easy to get cut off from the land, yet that’s when many of the marine mammals are coming back and when you need to be on the ice to film them.

Most satisfying moments of filming?

Watching the polar bear cubs come out of their den for the first time on Kong Karl’s Land filming for Planet Earth, that was wonderful because we’d been there for weeks before we found a den and we thought we might fail completely. The first time I ever was close to a big whale, when I did Right Whales in Argentina way back in 1989. This female was so friendly that she ended up pushing me through the water on the end of her rostrum. while I gently rubbed her head. To be in the presence of a friendly fifty tonne whale and look it straight in the eye – just sheer magic.

What is the most incredible place you have ever filmed?

The high slopes of Everest were amazing – not only because of the spectacular views but also for the sheer emotions and physical exhaustion involved. At 7300m there is so little oxygen that the slightest effort leaves you breathless. But at the same the light has a piercing clarity and you really do feel like you’re near the top of the world.

What is the most unusual place you have had to film?

In Bolivia is the Salar do Uyuni, an area of thousands of square kilometers of dried salt. A white salty desert, dotted with rocky island covered with cacti. And there’s even a hotel made entirely out of blocks of salt. A totally strange place to film.

Which do you prefer - filming in the heat or in the cold?

I guess I’m more “at home” in cold environments rather than hot ones. I used to work in Antarctica and it was there I began to learn the survival techniques about how to manage in the extremes. After all the years I’ve had filming in cold locations, it’s satisfying that all those techniques are now second nature. I can concentrate on the filming in situations where others would be more concerned about their survival.

What is your favourite animal?

It’s hard to say between polar bears and killer whales. But if forced to choose, it would be the bears. I’ve made around 25 trips to film different bits of polar bear behaviour. Every time I watch a bear, I learn something new.

What is the funniest incident you have been involved with while filming wildlife?

I was taking photographs at a penguin colony in winter, when the temperature was very low and it was windy as well. My face was very cold, and my nose was running a lot. I was bending over the camera when a drop of semi liquid snotty stuff dropped out of my nose and right onto the shutter button of the camera. It immediately froze solid, and with this ice snot there I just couldn’t squeeze the button to take a picture. I had to retreat to my tent to thaw things out (and get a handkerchief for my nose!)

What is the one animal you have not yet filmed that you would most like to?

I’ve done gorillas and chimpanzees and they were fascinating. I’d love to do orang utans in Sumatra.

What is better – filming above or underwater?

I like the challenges of both. Underwater you need to get in close and use wide angles because the visibility is often poor. That makes for exciting filming of big fish or mammals. But it’s often cold and frustrating because the subjects can so easily swim away from you. Topside with long lenses needs a different kind of field craft but the satisfaction is the same when you finally come away with images that show the beauty or novelty of an animal behaving naturally.

What is the longest you’ve had to wait before capturing an animal on film?

I waited eight weeks in the Himalayas in Ladakh in India before I saw a snow leopard and was able to film it.

What is it about working in extreme conditions that attracts you?

I guess at heart I like the challenge. There’s always been a physical element to what I’ve liked doing, a kind of edginess. Extreme conditions make for high emotions. It’s not like I’m an adrenaline junkie, and I don’t like bullshit, but there’s a huge satisfaction in bringing back pictures from difficult situations.

Can you describe what it’s like being underwater with a humpback whale?

The secret is to be patient, take the time to develop a relationship with the individuals, spend maybe the first couple of encounters just at the limit of vis so she gets to know you. But then if it’s inclined to friendliness, you can move in. Eye to eye, only a couple of metres apart, you completely realise how much she’s weighing you up. Play your cards right in terms of body language and she’ll relax. Then just more patience and the chances of seeing behaviour will follow. There’s no greater compliment an animal can pay you than be chilled in your company so you should be reciprocally grateful. Exciting, humbling, it’s a wonderful privilege.

What was the coldest it got during your filming?

I did minus 30 C and 20 knots of wind at the South Pole earlier this year. That’s the equivalent of minus 55 C. Definitely chilly on the fingers.

How does the extreme cold affect filming?

The extreme cold shortens the life of batteries so it’s important to have a good supply. It can mean that lubrication grease in the lenses can freeze and become very sticky, so the focus becomes stiff. LCD displays on the cameras stop working. Touching metal parts of the camera and lenses mean frost nipped fingers.

How long do these programmes take to make? You must be very patient!

The rule of thumb is that a camera person a week in the field will bring you one minute on the screen in the finished programme.

Are you frustrated on some trips when the animals are slow to appear?

When you aim high with ambitious films, you have to accept there will be failures or no shows. I enjoyed the company of great mountain people, but at one point in the shoot was also a week alone in one of the remotest but most majestic parts of the world. Wonder far exceeded frustration.

Global warming - fact or fiction?

Absolute fact - the patterns of weather around the world that used to be reasonably predictable from year to year are definitely getting more erratic. The melting of the sea ice in the Arctic is happening sooner, and the summers are warmer than they used to be. The sea ice in the Arctic is a crucial habitat for several seal and whale species, and of course for the polar bear. All the ecology of the Arctic region is in fact at risk from climate change.

The fact is that we all have to be aware that we as humans are part of the total environment. For much too long now we’ve somehow just become separated from that idea, particularly we adults because we get sucked into consumption, monetary value of things etc. It’s very true about how we adults don’t inherit the world, we just borrow it from our children, and our children deserve to be raised with natural basic values being taught to them. Only then will they and the biosphere have a chance to live together.

Do you ever think, “I wish I’d just got a job in an office"?

Aarrgghh never! I still get a big buzz doing things that have edge. Adrenaline is definitely my drug of choice.

Where have you just come back from?

I’ve just returned from Greenland and Canada doing a series called Operation Iceberg for BBC Scotland. Before that in June it was Galapagos for a film about coral reef conservation. To come before the end of the year, possibly French Polynesia and the Antarctic. Busy busy ……..

Any landscape/seascape/wildlife that you still want to film?

There are whales called narwhals in the Arctic – only 5m or so long but with a 3m single tusk growing out from their head. Almost mythical creatures, unicorns of the sea. I’ve filmed them a few times but never enjoyed their company for long. Give me half an hour in the presence of a friendly one and I’d be in heaven.

At the other end of the scale, more travelling in the islands of the South Pacific appeals. Wonderful friendly people and many unvisited islands.

Where do you travel to for holidays?

I’m not one for lying on the beach, so there’s often some activity involved. Diving with my son Liam is good fun, and he’s become an excellent diver with a great sense of where he should swim to be perfectly placed in the picture (!)

Why did you write Freeze Frame?

Making films is one way of communicating, but while it’s been at the heart of my career, I’ve always seen the written word as having a permanence that moving pictures seldom do. There’s something about the greater investment of time and effort by the reader compared to the viewer, how books have space for your imagination to reach into while television does most of it for you. You can also convey much more personal feelings and experiences in a book than you can in a film. I guess there was simply a lot that I wanted to let out. Every picture tells a story and I just let mine tell all theirs.

Life Behind the Lens begins at 7.30pm and tickets are £17.50 from 01793 524481 for Swindon or 01225 765072 for Trowbridge.

Doug will also be selling and signing copies of his book Freeze Frame (£25).