
Charlie Hamilton James
Directing
Biography
Charlie Hamilton James (born July 1973) is an English photographer, television cameraman and presenter, specialising in wildlife subjects. He started his career at 16, working on David Attenborough's The Trials of Life. His work has since been commissioned by National Geographic Magazine, the BBC's Springwatch/Autumnwatch shows and The Natural World.
Known For

Consistently stunning documentaries transport viewers to far-flung locations ranging from the torrid African plains to the chilly splendours of icy Antarctica. The show's primary focus is on animals and ecosystems around the world. A comic book based on the show, meant to be used an as educational tool for kids, was briefly distributed to museums and schools at no cost in the mid-2000s.
Nature

Natural World is a nature documentary television series broadcast annually on BBC Two and regarded by the BBC as its flagship natural history brand. It is currently the longest-running series in its genre on British television, with more than 400 episodes broadcast since its inception in 1983. Natural World is produced by the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol, but individual programmes can be in-house productions, collaborative productions with other broadcasters or films made and distributed by independent production companies and purchased by the BBC. Natural World programmes are often broadcast as PBS Nature episodes in the USA. Since 2008, most Natural World programmes have been shot and broadcast in high definition.
Natural World

Springwatch is an annual BBC television series which charts the fortunes of British wildlife during the changing of the seasons in the United Kingdom.
Springwatch

Live coverage as our wildlife faces up to the most challenging time of year.
Winterwatch

David Attenborough presents a nature documentary series looking at why mammals are the most successful creatures on the planet.
The Life of Mammals

A spontaneous, sometimes humorous look at UK’s wildlife in autumn through conversations with experts and passionate amateurs.
Autumnwatch

Earth is a collection of worlds within worlds, each one a self-contained ecosystem bursting with life. These microworlds depend on an intricate web of relationships and natural forces that make each one unique. This stunning series delves deep into the heart of these habitats, breaking down each intricate ecosystem into all of its component parts, introducing the animals that live there, and revealing the fine balances of its existence.
Nature's Microworlds

Richard Hammond and Julia Bradbury are the hosts of this live global wildlife event. For three weeks they will follow the real life and death struggles of baby animals from around the world. It is a critical moment in these young animals' lives, as they try to survive the most challenging month of the year. From Kenya, Richard reports on dramatic stories of lions and elephants. From North America, Julia reports on bears, whales and otters. There will also be reports from around the world, as they follow intimate, real-time stories of meerkats, monkeys and other animals.
Planet Earth Live

A man forms an unlikely friendship with a wild otter while living in the remote Shetland Islands.
Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story
An idyllic portrait of a British river, chronicling the small dramas of the wildlife that lives in and around it. Otters hunt under the cover of darkness, mink lie in wait for unwary victims and kingfishers spear their prey, while newborn chicks learn to swim under the watchful eye of their parents.
My Halcyon River
The otter is one of the UK's most charismatic yet enigmatic animals. Living not only along our rivers but also at the coast, otters have remarkable adaptations to a life both in and out of water. This documentary brings you the very latest scientific discoveries as well as a review of the turbulent history of the otter in the UK. It looks like the otter is making a steady comeback around the country but not everybody agrees this is good news.
Springwatch - Guide to Otters
In 1908, amateur naturalist and pioneering filmmaker Percy Smith stunned early cinema goers with his footage of the juggling fly. Hailed as the father of Natural History film, Smith was a hugely influential visual pioneer, inventing many techniques that are still used today. Being both a genius and an eccentric, we follow his life from his earliest films, to the collapse of his house from his mould experiment to his ultimate suicide. We also meet Natural History icon Sir David Attenborough, who was so amazed by Smith’s films in the 1930s that they inspired him to get into natural history.
Edwardian Insects on Film

Otters are playful, adaptable and champion swimmers - they've captivated cameraman Charlie Hamilton James for the last 25 years. He's filmed them more than anyone else and now, through the eyes of three orphaned river otters, a set of groundbreaking experiments and some incredible wild encounters, Charlie wants to reveal their survival secrets and exactly why he believes they're so special.
Supercharged Otters
An ancient oak wood in the heart of England is as full of beauty and drama as anywhere on Earth. Philippa Forrester spends a year witnessing its secret life - the sparrow-hawk terrorising blue tits, fox cubs learning to stalk rabbits and a buzzard looking for love.
The Wild Wood

Vultures are the birds that many people love to hate, but cameraman and naturalist Charlie Hamilton James sees them as beautiful and intelligent creatures that deserve respect. He believes that to appreciate them, people just need to spend time with them and he headed to East Africa to do exactly that. His journey exposes not only a softer, more caring side to these maligned birds but also a much bigger story, one that leaves vultures needing many more admirers.