Name Julian Hector | ||
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Julian Hector in conversation with Kathy Sykes
Julian Hector (born 1958) is Head of The Natural History Unit, BBC Studios (NHU).
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During his career, he was Head of Radio and an Executive Producer at the BBC Natural History Unit, was producer of David Attenborough's Life Stories, television producer of the Tigers about the House series, writer and producer of the Lakes and Rivers episode in the BBC’s Wild Africa series, producer of World on the Move and instrumental in establishing the BBC’s Tweet of the Day. He was described by Sir David Attenborough as ‘one of the most inventive producers in radio’ and during his award of an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Bristol was credited with bringing ‘live natural history programming to Radio 4’.
Life
Julian Alan Lowther Hector was born in 1958 in Nairobi, Kenya and educated at Bedford Modern School. He read Zoology at the University of Bristol graduating in 1981 and obtained a PhD from Bristol in 1985 and an honorary Doctor of Science DSc from the University of Bristol in 2014.
In the later stage of his days as an undergraduate, Hector worked as a seabird ecologist with the British Antarctic Survey in South Georgia, an unpopulated British island 1400 km from the Falkland Islands. The project involved studying the breeding patterns of albatrosses on Bird Island under the ultimate directorship of John Croxall and Sir Brian Follett. The project’s work was ‘pioneering’ and uncovered why albatrosses only breed every two years. Unfortunately the project coincided with the Falklands War which led to the four-man team being stranded on Bird Island as South Georgia was then occupied by the Argentine Army. The team was eventually rescued by the Royal Navy.
After a spell as an academic and working for various conservation organisations, Hector joined the BBC Natural History Unit in 1993 as a producer where he is credited with bringing ‘live natural history programming to Radio 4’ and Sir David Attenborough described him as ‘one of the most inventive producers in radio’. He became head of the BBC Natural History Unit and has been the producer of many popular series including David Attenborough's Life Stories, writer and producer of the Lakes and Rivers episode in the BBC’s Wild Africa series, Migration Live, World on the Move, Saving Species and Shared Planet, at all times ‘connecting the natural and human environments to tackle questions of conservation and social justice’. For television, in 2014 he was Executive producer of the Tigers about the House series.
Hector interviewed Sir David Attenborough at the Edinburgh International Television Festival (2017) in the 60th year of the NHU about the past, present and future of the NHU and its cultural contribution to the understanding and value of the natural world across the world.
Julian Hector has five children and four grandchildren. Julian is a qualified diver, sportive cyclist and sails a Wayfarer class dinghy.