Spy in the Wild

Spy in the Wild is a British nature documentary television series, produced by BBC Natural History Unit, John Downer Productions and PBS. The series, which is directed and produced by John Downer, premiered in 2017 with a second series in 2020. The employment of animatronics makes it possible to document interactive behaviour no animal would have shown towards a human filmmaker or in front of a hidden camera.

Broadcast
The first series ran for five episodes from 12 January 2017 and concluded on 3 February 2017, and aired on BBC One. The series focuses on the complex emotions and ethology of animals, using more than 30 specially built animatronic "spy creatures", often shaped like the offsprings of the species.

The series was narrated by David Tennant in the original version, while Brian Unger provides substitute narration in the American PBS version as it was broadcast under Nature Special Presentation series.

Spy creatures
Spy creatures included: • Orangutan

• Bushbaby

• Hippo

• Penguin

• Egret

• Crocodile hatchling

• Meerkat

• Tortoise

• Prairie dog

• Macaw

• Sloth

• Cobra

• Squirrel

• Adelie penguin

• Koala

• Wolf pup

• Otter

• Grizzly

• Wild boar

• Gorilla

• Bald eagle

• Pelican

• Hummingbird

• Elephant seal

• Komodo dragon

• Pygmy elephant

• King penguin

• Quokka

• Snowball

• Acorn

• Jaguar

• Parrot

• Iguana

• Polar bear

• Beaver

• Crab

• Pufferfish

• Puffin

• Langur monkey

• Kangaroo

• Snowy owl

• Ostrich

• Woodpecker

• Boulder

• Chameleon

• Dolphin

• Moose

• Sapsucker

• Groundhog

• Centipede

• Termite

Reception
Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter called the miniseries, "Pretty incredible."

DVD and Blu-ray
A two-disc DVD and two-disc Blu-ray set for the series were released on 20 March 2017. Both were distributed by Spirit Entertainment in the UK.

In the United States and Canada, only Series 1 was released to DVD, divided into two separate volumes, released on 28 February  and 15 August 2017, respectively. These DVDs contain the original British versions with David Tennant's narration.