OK, WE'RE BIASED. Monty Halls had his first article published in DIVER, back in 1998 (about a shore dive in Plymouth harbour, not very global adventurer), and launched his Full Circle Expeditions in association with the magazine, with free trips for several readers and great accounts of the journeys.
His international sorties brought him to the attention of Channel Five, and now that his Great Ocean Adventures series is established and we are currently publishing his diary, we could never claim that Monty was anything other than a DIVER favourite.
The first series of GOA is now out on three-disc DVD, and if you missed these 10 programmes on TV (as I mostly did), now's your chance to catch up.
This is wildlife TV as refreshing as a splash of cold water. There is none of that padding and repetition we have come to expect (to fit round TV ad breaks), no over-explanation and none of that amateurish direction that has accompanied the proliferation of TV stations.
Instead you get non-stop action, well-edited footage and Monty Halls just being himself, which is up-for-anything, good-natured and ever-enthusiastic. These programmes are made for divers - you feel as if you're right there in the water.
The series is all about big animals - tiger and great white sharks in South Africa, whale sharks in Mexico, marine iguanas in Galapagos, dolphins in the Bahamas and so on. Time passes fast as you watch these programmes, and you want to watch them again - the extras too. I can't often say that.
Steve Weinman

(DD Home Entertainment, www.ddhe.co.uk) 3xDVD, £19.99