Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #41035 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-01-28
• Rating: Exempt
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 290 minutes

DVD Description

Johnny Kingdom is a gravedigger. That's his day job, but when he's not digging graves he's roaming the Exmoor countryside, with his video camera in-hand, filming the wildlife and people of the moor.

Johnny's exceptional skill as an amateur cameraman and narrator results in a TV series that is funny as well as moving; a unique document of rural life, and of the wildlife on Exmoor. The series aired in the summer of 2007 on BBC 2.

This DVD is released to coincide with Johnny's follow-on series in 2008, .

Synopsis
Johnny Kingdon's unique observation of rural life in Exmoor, as seen on the BBC.

Customer Reviews

Traditional British wildlife and values. Charming
This series is heart-warming stuff. Johnny Kingdom is a grave-digger during the day and an amateur wildlife photographer whenever he gets the chance. This BBC series follows him for a year with his video camera, filming the people, places and animals of the Devon countryside near his Exmoor home.
Kingdom is a down-to-earth type, easily categorised as a 'salt of the earth' kinda guy. He very much typifies an earlier way of country life and one of the joys of this series is his intimate knowledge of the area he grew up in. Kingdom is completely at home tramping through the undergrowth to get a glimpse of a stag or a hare or a hawk, dressed in his home-made camoflage outfits and struggling to get his shot in focus.
The series follows him building a hide to get better shots of a family of badgers, and taking part in the annual events of rural life (the pony round up, May Day festival, summer fair, rutting season and so on). It's all very gentle and undemanding, and you get a real feel for the changing seasons with some beautiful filming of the spectacular countryside. You also have to admire someone who is out in all weathers and at all times of the year, just to get that perfect picture...
Throughout the series Johnny meets local characters like a man who farms a medieval hillside farm, which was last improved before the war. He is also passionate about the Exmoor wildlife and captures rare footage of red deer, buzzards, fox cubs and cuckoos. You also get a real feel for the traditional life of the British countryman, complete with his authentic West Country accent and local concerns. Oh, and he really did keep a deer in the back garden of his semi-detached village house!

If you saw any of this series on TV then it's well worth repeat viewing -- and this set gives you nearly five hours of entertaining viewing. But it is small-scale, home-spun wildlife photography so be warned: this series doesn't have the glamour of the BBC's splashy big nature programmes like Planet Earth or Life in Cold Blood.
The follow-up series (Johnny's New Kingdom) is also recommended.

Brilliant johnny Kingdom
What an excellent set of DVD's I relly enjoyed Johnny's exploration of 'his Exmoor'. Living in this beautiful area one can understand Johnny's love of Exmoor.

Johnny brings everything to life and looks at the wonder of nature with a naive fresh innocence.

Johnny is an individual and harks back to a different time. In this computerised world when many people rarely visit the countryside preferring to be in the shops he is a welcome breath of fresh air.

As if Johnny were in the room talking to you!
I absolutely loved this book. It really did feel as if Johnny were in the room speaking to you, after watching his wonderful series on tv. Everything about the book was worth reading, his honesty, his warmth and his love for his family and his wild life making him one special person.