The Bear Family & Me

The Bear Family & Me
Genre	Nature documentary
Directed by	Jonny Young
Presented by	Gordon Buchanan
Narrated by	Gordon Buchanan
Composer(s)	Barnaby Taylor
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of episodes	3
Production
Executive producer(s)	Tim Martin
Producer(s)	Ted Oakes
Production location(s)	Minnesota North America
Running time	60 minutes
Production company(s)	BBC Natural History Unit
Release
Original network	BBC Two BBC HD
Picture format	SD: 576i HD: 720p
Audio format	Stereo
Original release	3 January 2011 (2011-01-03)
External links
Website

The Bear Family & Me was a three-part nature documentary series produced by the BBC Natural History Unit. It follows wildlife cameraman Gordon Buchanan as he spends a year with a family of wild black bears, under the guidance of biologists Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield of the North American Bear Centre.

Episodes

One

The Bear Family and Me: Spring. Gordon arrives in the forests of Minnesota in spring just as the bears are coming out of their dens. Before he can start filming he faces a major challenge - to earn the bears' trust. He must overcome his own fear. But once he meets Lily, an easy-going young mother bear and her cub Hope, Gordon is smitten.

Two

The Bear Family and Me: Summer. As summer arrives Gordon returns to Minnesota and discovers that the tiny bear cub ‘Hope’ has been abandoned by her mother. He tracks down the starving cub, but her life hangs in the balance and Gordon steps in to try keep Hope alive. As he follows every twist and turn of the bears’ lives we witness a wild bear family from the inside, closer than we’ve ever seen before.

Three

The Bear Family and Me: Autumn. Gordon returns in early Autumn to discover that the life of abandoned bear cub, Hope, has taken an unexpected turn. The bear family are in danger as hunters move into the forest. Gordon’s role changes from cameraman to body guard as he walks with the bears to try to keep them safe. Will Lily and Hope survive hunting season to den safely for the winter?

Ratings

Episode No.	Airdate	Total viewers	Weekly channel ranking
1	3 January 2011	2.43m	11
2	4 January 2011	2.86m	8
3	5 January 2011	2.87m	7

External links

• The Bear Family and Me at BBC Programmes
• The Bear Family and Me on Eden