Nature documentary crews aren’t supposed to interfere, but they had to save the penguins

If you’re a fan of nature documentaries, and why wouldn’t you be, then you’ll almost certainly be familiar with the time a BBC crew broke the sacred ‘no interference’ rule.

Their job is to capture the majesty of the natural world and not try to steer events for themselves, but when they saw a group of penguins had become stuck in a ravine and were going to die, they felt they had no choice but to step in.

You’ll know it as one of the most heartbreaking moments turning into one of the most heartwarming in the freezing cold of the Antarctic.

The crew had been filming the Dynasties documentary, narrated by Sir David Attenborough, which covered the lives and social dynamics of a number of different species around the world.

While filming crews are absolutely not supposed to get involved, they decided that carving some steps in the ravine so the penguins could climb out wasn’t the same as attempting to interfere with a predator on the hunt.

The film crew decided to step in and dig the penguins a way out. (BBC)

Fortunately the plan worked and the freezing penguins were able to clamber out and re-join the huddle, while the crew faced widespread praise for breaking the ‘no interference’ rule on this occasion.

Will Lawson, the director on the penguin filming for Dynasties, later told Lorraine why they’d decided to break the cardinal rule of nature documentaries and step in.

He said: “It was not a straightforward decision by any stretch of the imagination.

“You just have to look at the facts that are in front of you before you make a decision like that, and that’s exactly what you did.”

People could tell this was a different kettle of fish to a filming crew coming between a predator on the hunt and their prey.

Fortunately, Will and his team got the thumbs up on their decision to save the penguins from Attenborough himself, saying it was ‘great to get that support’.

Will Lawson, the director of the episode, explained why his team felt like stepping in was the right move. (ITV)

The director said that the penguin episode of Dynasties was really ‘about how through their cooperation it’s the only way they can survive down there’.

He said the penguins faced a tough choice between a ‘predatory challenge’ from beasties that might feel like munching on the flightless birds if they went further north and the ‘challenge from the environment’ from being in such cold and inhospitable weather.

Will added that very few animals could survive down in the freezing Antarctic, as ‘in some respects the environment is like a predator’.

Had the crew not intervened to rescue the stricken penguins, then that predator would have claimed many more lives during the shoot.