Nigel Marven's interest in nature started at an early age. He was running a hamster colony at age eight and racing stick insects along his mothers clothes line by the time he was nine. In his early teens, Nigel had graduated to larger creatures, keeping a caiman, magpie and boa constrictors in his parents house. He even saved a freshwater eel from being jellied, housing it in the bathtub. When anyone needed a soak, the slippery creature was put in a bucket.

Family holidays in the Mediterranean became zoological expeditions, as young Nigel scampered over the countryside, pillowcase in hand, catching snakes and lizards for study and then release.

Once his school studies were over, Nigel took a year-out travelling throughout America, where he met hellbenders and amphiumas in the wild (both are kinds of salamanders). Returning to the UK, he moved to Bristol to read Botany and Zoology at university. This would prove to be the ideal place for him, because firstly he could pursue his interest in the natural world at an academic level, and secondly, Bristol is the world capital of wildlife filmmaking.

Whilst he was researching for an MSc on the grazing interactions between limpets and diatoms (microscopic algae), Nigel got his first break in television. A BBC programme called Galactic Garden needed someone to wrangle worms in front of the camera. Working in BBC Bristols macro studio, Nigel learned the grammar of film-making from cameraman Alan Hayward.

Nigel Marvin'c first full-time television job was as a Researcher on David Attenboroughs First Eden series about the Mediterranean region. This was a dream come true because David had always been a BBC hero of Nigels.

Because of Nigels experience with Mediterranean wildlife, the BBC Drama Department in London asked him to be an Assistant Producer on a ten-part serialisation based on Gerald Durrells book My Family and Other Animals. This was a second dream come true for Nigel, My Family and Other Animals was his favourite book, and he got to meet Gerald and his wife Lee when they visited the set. Filming took place over five months on the Greek island of Corfu.

Nigel directed the famous fight scene between Geronimo the gecko and a praying mantis. He also oversaw magpie and barn owl flight sequences, plus many other animals including Madame Cyclops, the one-eyed tortoise.

Nigel continued to work at the BBC for well over a decade, in this time producing many primetime wildlife films including Incredible Journeys and Life of Birds. He eventually left to join Granada Television, where he continued to produce cutting-edge wildlife films but also found a new role in front of the camera. Five years later, Nigel is now running his own production company, Image Impact, and making films that are screened all over the world.

Nigel Marvin's Films and TV programmes include

'Sea Monsters'
Descirbed as a fast moving extravaganza of big teeth and snapping jaws.

'Prehistoric Park'
Time-travelling adventures to bring extinct creatures back to the present day.

'Nigel Marvin's Animal Detectives'
A fascinating look at how animals and plants help solve crimes.

'Ugly Animals'
Nigel looks for beauty within the beast.

'Walking With Dinosaurs'
Nigel travels back in time to meet the biggest animals ever to walk the planet.

'Bull Sharks'
Nigel discovers why the Bull Shark is the world's most dangerous shark.

'Nigel's Wild Wild World'
Ferrets, skunks, lemurs... Nigel Marvin looks at an incredible array of animals.

'Rihnos'
Face-to-face with these endangered incredible hulks.