FROM Colfox School to the African Savanna - a woman who grew up in Bridport has spent eight months in Kenyan to film a Channel 4 wildlife documentary.

Channel 4's 'Secret Safari: Into the Wild' gives its audience a look into the lives of the wild animals of the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya – and it is produced by Bridport's own Pip Banyard.

Secret Safari is unique in that it features the rangers in Ol Pejeta who monitor the animals, telling stories about the wildlife in the conservancy.

The area is inhabited by around 13,000 animals, including lions, elephants and the world's last two northern white rhinos.

Pip and her team were dropped off in the wilderness via parachute to begin the project in July 2019.

Pip, 52, said: "We had a team of 16 and we were just dropped off in the middle of the African Savanna and asked to find some good animal stories. We were essentially just asked to find animals and follow them, that was the only instruction really.

"Our intention was to tell the stories of the animals. We interviewed all of the keepers who look after the wild habitat and they helped us to tell the tales."

Pip moved to Bridport with her family as a child. She attended St Mary's Primary School before moving on to Sir John Colfox School, where she also completed her A-Levels.

Pip is now based in Manchester but she still has family in the Bridport area.

She has been working in television for the past 25 years and has directed a wide variety of programmes in that time. This has included similar wildlife-based projects such as, The Secret Life of the Zoo, along with Scrappers, an observational documentary series based in a Bolton scrapyard, Grumpy Old Men and Grumpy Old Women. She even directed several episodes of Coronation Street over a three year period.

Secret Safari is a six-part series and is currently airing weekly on Channel 4.

The series was originally planned to have eight episodes, but had to be changed to six when the crew was brought back to the UK as the country entered its first national lockdown in March.

Pip said: "Great series but personally a great experience – people tend to go on safari for about two weeks, very few get the opportunity to spend eight months there. It was incredible.

"Going from the freedom of the African wild straight into British lockdown definitely took some adjusting.

"We all hope we might be able to get out the again and do another series of secret safari as it was such an unforgettable experience."

The next episode of the series, which focuses on rivalry within a troop of baboons, will air on Tuesday, February 16 at 8pm. People who want to catch up can find the previous episodes on the All4 streaming service.