Wild at Heart (British TV series)
| Wild at Heart | |
|---|---|
| File:Wild at Heart.png | |
| Genre | Family Drama |
| Created by | Ashley Pharoah |
| Starring | Stephen Tompkinson, Amanda Holden, Lucy-Jo Hudson, Luke Ward-Wilkinson , Hayley Mills, Jessie Wallace, Rafaella Hutchinson |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of series | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 24 & 10 (to be aired) |
| Production | |
| Producer | Company Pictures |
| Running time | 60 mins (inc. commercials) |
| Original release | |
| Network | ITV |
| Release | 29 January 2006 – present |
| Related | |
| Life Is Wild (US version) | |
Wild at Heart is an ITV television drama series about a Bristol-based vet and his family relocating to start a game park in South Africa. The first series was shown in early 2006, and a second series began airing on Sunday 14 January 2007. The third series followed a year later. A fourth series is set to air on ITV screens 11th January 2009 with another 10 episodes. They finished filming in November 2008.
It stars Stephen Tompkinson, Lucy-Jo Hudson, Jessie Wallace and Hayley Mills alongside Luke Ward-Wilkinson of the Whizz Kids Theatre Company and Rafaella Hutchinson.
The series achieved good ratings in its prime-time 8 p.m. Sunday night slot, although the reality of some of the situations portrayed were criticised.
After the success of the American pilot, renamed Life Is Wild, the series has been picked up by The CW however the show was cancelled in February 2008 due to low ratings. Life Is Wild has been picked up by the Hallmark TV channels in UK & South Africa.
On Richard & Judy on Monday 26 February 2007, Stephen Tompkinson confirmed that he was going to fly out to South Africa to begin filming the third series. The series began airing on the 20 January 2008.
It was announced on Thursday 3 May 2007 that Amanda Holden had quit Wild at Heart and would exit mid-way series 3.[1] Holden stated her decision was due to the age of her daughter, stating, "Lexi is growing fast. It's easy to take a baby out, it's more tricky with an older child. Toddlers aren't that easy."[1] She finally left in the penultimate episode of the series.
Cast and characters
The following appear in the opening titles:
| Actor | Character | First appeared | Last appeared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stephen Tompkinson | Danny Trevanion | Series 1 | |
| Amanda Holden | Sarah Trevanion | Series 1 | Series 3 |
| Lucy-Jo Hudson | Rosie Trevanion | Series 1 | |
| Luke Ward-Wilkinson | Evan Trevanion | Series 1 | |
| Rafaella Hutchinson | Olivia Trevanion | Series 1 | Series 3 |
| Deon Stewardson | Anders Du Plessis | Series 1 | |
| Haley Mills | Caroline | Series 2 | Series 3 |
| Jessie Wallace | Amy Kriel | Series 3 | Series 3 |
| Dawn Steele | Alice Collins | Series 4[2] | |
| Charlotte Collins | Series 4 | ||
| Juliet Mills | Georgina | Series 4 |
Supporting cast
| Actor | Character | First appeared |
|---|---|---|
| Nomsa Xaba | Nomsa Nguni | Series 1 |
| Thapelo Mokoena | Fatani | Series 2 |
| Martinus Van De Berg | Max | Series 2 |
Past supporting cast
| Actor | Character |
|---|---|
| Gary Lawson | Alex Tate |
| Siyabonga Melongisi Shibe | Themba Khumalo |
| Lurayi Thandi | Thandi Nguni |
Storylines/synopsis
Wild at Heart focuses on the tasks and challenges an English family face whilst opening a wild life park in Africa. The first series mainly focuses on actually beginning to open the wild life park and getting it up to scratch as well as facing a deadly strain of anthrax in the series finale.
The second series focuses on their first customers at the game park and also facing new rivals at a game park next door called Mara. In the final few episodes, the owner of Mara offer to buy the Trevanions' park but they refuse at the end of the series. Other highlights from the second series include Danny inadvertently shooting himself and Du Plessis being attacked by a lion.
Series three mainly focuses on opening an animal hospital, which in the penultimate episode of the series is almost achieved until fire strikes and burns it down. The fire nearly spreads to the house but luckily changes direction towards Mara. As the Trevanions rush to help the animals out Sarah walks into the fire after one of them and it is revealed in the next episode that she died in it. The final episode concentrates on the effect of her passing on the family, and the family's future.
Location
The show is filmed at a lodge called Glen Afric, Pilanesburg game reserve, Hartebeespoort area (Magaliesberg) about 40 minutes outside Johannesburg, South Africa. The Trevanions' house is actually a museum.
DVD release
| DVD | Release date |
|---|---|
| The Complete First Series (2 discs) | 3 April 2006 [3] |
| The Complete Second Series (3 discs) | 18 February 2008[4] |
| The Complete Third Series (3 discs) | 2 February 2009 [5] |
| The Complete Fourth Series | TBA 2010 |
References
- ^ a b "Amanda bows out". Mirror.co.uk. Retrieved 2007-05-03.
- ^ "Work begins on Wild at Heart Series Four". ITV.com. Retrieved 2008-07-18.
- ^ Wild At Heart Series 1
- ^ Wild At Heart: Series 2
- ^ Wild At Heart Series 3