In 1908, amateur naturalist and pioneering filmmaker Percy Smith stunned early cinema goers with his footage of the juggling fly. Hailed as the father of Natural History film, Smith was a hugely influential visual pioneer, inventing many techniques that are still used today. Being both a genius and an eccentric, we follow his life from his earliest films, to the collapse of his house from his mould experiment to his ultimate suicide. We also meet Natural History icon Sir David Attenborough, who was so amazed by Smith’s films in the 1930s that they inspired him to get into natural history.
Charlie Hamilton James
as Self - Presenter
David Attenborough
as Self
Dr Tim Boon
as Self - Science Museum, London
David Cleveland
as Self - Film Archivist
Tim Cockerill
as Self - Entomologist
Bryony Dixon
as Self - Curator, Silent Film, BFI
Jenny Hammerton
as Self - Film Archivist
Michael Harvey
as Self - National Media Museum
Percy Smith
as Self - archive footage
John Winder
as Self - Scientist & Collector
