This is where my obsession with the fastest bird on the planet all started! For a while, we were shown a weekly BBC educational programme at school called Look and Read which included a serialised drama section. And the storyline that made a 9-year-old me sit bolt upright on the hall parquet floor and stare wide-eyed at the big telly on wheels was called Sky Hunter.
Sky Hunter was brilliant; 3 kids discover a plot to sell a stolen Peregrine Falcon and a collection of eggs, and get into a whole load of bother with some baddies. I loved it and was keen to do a deep dive (or deep stoop-sorry!) into the creation of the show, explore bird crimes then and now, and chat with other Sky Hunter fans about how the show influenced them.
Includes conversations with the producer/director of the programme, Roger Tonge and one of the actors, Jayne Rose who played Jackie. I also chat with Peter Robinson, the head of criminal investigations at the RSPB at the time the show was made and a key inspiration for the story, environmental education specialist, Laura Curtis-Moss, and current RSPB investigations officer, Tom Grose.
The Sky Hunter sections from Look and Read have been collected as a complete series/film and can be viewed here:
