Why did you decide to focus on the British Isles for this series?

Ever since I worked on the original Blue Planet, Planet Earth and Frozen Planet series, I have always wanted to cover the British Isles and our natural history with a similarly ambitious and epic approach. I knew that nobody had ever had the opportunity before to really do justice to the spectacular scenery and rich and varied wildlife found at home. I also have a personal passion for our natural history.

What would you hope that the audience will take away from watching the series?

I hope the audience will be genuinely surprised by the richness of our natural history. At the same time, I hope they will recognise how fragile and precious it is.

Why are Britain and Ireland globally important for nature?

There are a number of reasons. Firstly, we have among the most varied geology on the planet. Our temperatures range from subtropical in the far south to arctic conditions on the top of the Cairngorms in Scotland. Our coastline is over 22,000 miles long and we benefit from the warming effect of the Gulf Stream. Our position on the globe is perfect for summer visitors from the south and winter visitors from the north. All these factors combine to create one of the richest natural histories in Europe. We have more ancient oak trees than the whole of Europe put together*, most of the world’s chalk streams flow in southern England and we are globally important for the sea birds.

How was it travelling around the British Isles for this series?

I was very fortunate to travel round the country directing the pieces to camera with Sir David Attenborough. We filmed it in a variety of different locations, but the highlights for me were two visits to the island of Skomer, off west Wales. I first worked with David back in 1987 and it felt a great privilege to be in the field with him again.

The series films lots of different species, are there any that really stuck in your mind?

There are so many amazing sequences in this series, it's very hard to choose. I have particularly enjoyed some of the epic sequences like white-tailed eagles hunting barnacle geese on the island of Islay (this is the first time the whole hunting sequence has been filmed), red deer stags battling in southern Ireland or peregrine falcons hunting knot on the Wash. The series is also full of more intimate, close-up stories like leeches hunting baby toads, an amazing bee that rides on a broomstick and the extraordinary life cycle of the large blue butterfly.

There are various technologies being used to film this series, can you tell us about some of these?

Drones have played a critical role capturing the spectacular landscape of the British Isles. Thermal cameras have revealed foxes hunting rabbits at night and captured the extraordinary spectacle of thousands of starlings coming in to roost. Stabilised cameras have allowed us to film orca hunting seals at sea and wild horses battling for their females. Underwater, specially developed technology has brought the sea bed to life with time lapse and captured in intimate detail the lives of plankton.

Hopefully the series will encourage the audience to interact with their local wildlife – what are your tips for people so they can do this responsibly?

I’d encourage people to go to the BBC Wild Isles website and there will be a link with a rich variety of suggestions of what people can do to enjoy their local wildlife.