Who could object to Monty Halls? Affable, self-deprecating, endlessly enthusiastic and, as the many readers who have met him at Dive Shows will confirm, as personable in the flesh as he is on screen, what, as they say, is not to like?
It was inevitable that this engaging diver would be picked up by TV, always on the look-out for telegenic presenters who might actually know what they’re talking about. And he did train as a marine biologist, although he’s quick to point out when volunteering as a marine ranger in his second Great Escapes series that he has little specific knowledge about the marine mammals he will encounter.
And he seems genuinely concerned that he might fail to do a good job as a ranger, considering that his first responsibility is to the production company that has to put an entertaining TV series together.
The Great Escapes box-set brings together 17 hours of quintessential Montyness as, with his scene-snatching dog Reuben, he swaps city life for the British Isles’ more remote coasts.
The three series have proved successful, attracting 3 million-plus audiences on BBC2, and indicating alongside others such as Coast and Britain’s Secret Seas that there is a healthy appetite for any programme with a salty tang about it.
The good news for divers was that, as they progressed, the hour-long programmes revolved increasingly around marine life. The first series, based at Beachcomber Cottage on Scotland’s west coast, may feature basking sharks, seals and dolphins, but it is largely concerned with the challenges of crofting.
In the Great Hebridean Escape, the ranger job focuses the presenter to a greater extent on the marine life of the Outer Isles, while this summer’s Great Irish Escape is firmly rooted in marine biology, as Monty helps to record the distribution of whales, dolphins, basking and blue sharks off Connemara. It includes a great diving sequence with free-swimming congers, too.
Don’t watch these programmes just for the odd dive or leaping dolphin, but because they affirm in as realistic way as a man, a dog and a camera crew can manage how spectacular our Atlantic shores and waters are – and how magical the scenery.
Soak up that atmosphere as Monty gazes cheerfully over another deserted beach and chortles: “What are you up to now, Reubs?”
Steve Weinman
Tigress (Endemol UK)
1020min, £39.99
