Heart of the Country Goes Wild Episode Guide

Episode Guide

• Autumn

  Tony Francis presents a series examining issues affecting Britain's wildlife

• Cannock Chase

  Tony Francis and Emma Milne present a new six-part series examining issues affecting Britain's wildlife, beginning with a visit to Cannock Chase in Staffordshire to find out why the red squirrels formerly inhabiting the forest have disappeared : and how their successful grey rivals are causing severe damage to the ecosystem. Tony also manages to catch a glimpse of the nightjar, a bird which only ventures out after dark

• Demons

  Tony Francis reports on how animal rights activists have unwittingly upset the balance of nature in the UK by releasing mink rescued from fur farms into the wild, allowing the imported carnivores to prey on the native water vole population. Plus, Emma Milne visits Evesham's Vale Wildlife Centre, where she reveals how well-meaning members of the public often bring in fox cubs they wrongly assume have been abandoned by their mothers

• Escorting the Young

  Tony Francis presents a new six-part series examining issues affecting Britain's wildlife, beginning with a visit to the Wash, where Europe's largest common seal population is fighting for survival against the re-emergence of a deadly virus that killed 3,000 of the animals 14 years ago. Co-presenter Emma Milne helps a keeper at a Skegness sanctuary release three seals back into the wild, while Tony reports on Shropshire conservationists working to protect lapwing nests from farmers' ploughs

• Fens

  Tony Francis presents a series examining issues affecting Britain's wildlife

• 'Garden' Wildlife

  Tony Francis visits Warburg Reserve near Henley-on-Thames, a combination of woodland and grassland which is home to head warden Nigel Phillips and his family : as well as six badger sets, a large snake population, deer, hares, woodpeckers and 15 varieties of wild orchid

• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

  Tony Francis enjoys the autumnal colours of Gloucestershire in November on a visit to the impressive tree collection at Westonbirt Arboretum and meets a couple of spider enthusiasts : John Partridge, who goes hunting for the eight-legged beasties in the crypt of Worcester Cathedral, and Paul Carpenter, Vice Chairman of the British Tarantula Society

• Hares, Hedgehogs and Herons

  Tony Francis meets a woman who runs a branch of the Leicester Hedgehog Rescue Service from her Queniborough home, where he learns about the ominous implications for the animals of milder winters. Tony then visits the country's largest heronry at Coombe Abbey, Warwickshire, while Emma Milne goes on the trail of mountain hares in the Derbyshire Peaks

• Mandarin Ducks, Dragonflies, Zander and Rainbow Trout

  Tony Francis reveals why feng-shui believers got it all wrong about the sex-mad mandarin duck, how a man overcame his allergy to dragonflies and why zander could be the new cod

• Reclusive Animal

  Tony Francis goes on patrol with Oxfordshire police as they hunt illegal hare coursers, while Laura Martin goes in search of two of the region's most reclusive creatures : slow worms and Ludlow deer

• Roadkill and Freshwater Mussels

  In the final programme of the series, Tony Francis reveals the dangers posed to wildlife by traffic, chats to fox-hunting enthusiasts in Leicestershire and provides a fascinating insight into the love life of the freshwater pear mussel following the discovery of a colony of the shellfish in a Shropshire river

• Urban Wildlife

  The series examining issues affecting Britain's wildlife continues as Tony Francis visits Spaghetti Junction, revealing how the world's biggest motorway intersection has become a haven for various species which seem to prefer a man-made environment to the real countryside

• Wild or Tame?

  Tony Francis presents the series examining issues affecting Britain's wildlife, discovering why returning injured animals to their natural habitats can be a risky business. Plus, Emma Milne criticises the practices of keeping barn owls in cages and using ferrets to amuse the crowds