What the Durrells Did Next (2019) - full transcript

Let's raise a glass.

To us, to these sacred years,
and the future.

Cheers.

ALL: Sacred years.

ALL: Geia mas.

For the last four years, I've been
leading something of a double life.

Every summer, I've said goodbye
to my family back home

and run away to Corfu to hang out
with my other family.

The Durrells.

I try not to compare the two,

but The Durrells
are eccentric and chaotic



and, frankly, it's been hell.

But the sun has shone
most of the time,

and as their mother Louisa, I've
gradually licked them into shape.

But now we've packed up
our high-waisted trousers

and our floppy hats,
and it's time to leave.

But what happened
to the real Durrells?

'This extraordinary family
of eccentrics left Corfu

'and became some of the most
influential people of their times.

'Animal-mad Gerry...'
Hello.

'..grew up to be a pioneering
conservationist.'

Gerry Durrell was,
to use the modern idiom, magic.

'While sex-crazed Larry...'

Please be my girlfriend.

'..became a world-renowned writer.'



My next guest is one of Britain's
leading authors.

He was nominated
for the Nobel Prize For Literature.

'And sister Margo...'

ALL GASP

'..lived life to the full
and defied conventions.'

She was a real free spirit.
An amazing woman.

She also did like the boys.

'The Durrells rubbed shoulders with
movie stars and won over royalty.'

He was always original.

He was somebody who never
stopped asking questions.

'Through the eyes of family members
and those who knew them,

'we'll discover how Corfu shaped
this remarkable family forever.'

I've never met a family
like the Durrells.

I think they just...

They broke the mould
when they made the Durrells.

Back when the Durrells lived
on Corfu over 80 years ago,

the island felt like
an abandoned paradise,

and very different to the Britain
they'd left behind.

A world of stifling convention,
electricity,

and, admittedly, proper toilets.

But as we know,

the family threw themselves into
Corfu life with manic enthusiasm.

Margo pursuing,
or being pursued by, boys.

Larry searching for literary
inspiration.

Gerry saving the local wildlife.

And Leslie killing it.

And Louisa just trying to keep her
family alive and well.

'The Durrells set out for Corfu
in 1935,

'seven years after the tragic death
of Louisa's husband Lawrence.

'The family's money was running out,
and Greece offered a cheaper life.'

To move a family to a place
where you don't know

what's going to be greeting you
when you get off the ferry,

to do that in the 1930s

just because you cared about
your family's happiness

and you wanted them to be happy
is just mind-boggling.

'The Durrells did what
we've all dreamed of.

'They dropped everything
and moved to paradise.'

Mrs Durrell, what are you doing?

I'm living for the moment.

'Corfu opened up new experiences
for the whole family.

'For Louisa, seven years a widow,

'the island offered romantic
possibilities.

'Speculation continues on Corfu
about the nature of her relationship

'with local taxi driver Spiro.'

In Corfu, it was known

that Spiro Amerikanos did have
a very strong feeling about Louisa.

You can call it love if you like,
you can call it affection.

My great grandfather, he was
a very benevolent and kind man.

He was a protector of the Durrells
when they came here.

What I believe, and from what
I've heard, there was a sparkle,

like, something platonic,
but that was it.

'Louisa gave each of her children
extraordinary freedom.

'Gerry, the youngest,
was left to roam the island,

'studying its wildlife.'

Mum!

Gerry, you have a spider, two
dormice, a tortoise and a family.

You do not need a pelican.

'But far from leading him astray,

'this unusual start to life
was the making of him.'

SQUAWKS

'Gerry grew up to be
a world-famous zoologist,

'who established a unique zoo
on the island of Jersey,

'dedicated to saving
endangered species.'

How do you sum up the contribution
to conservation

of someone like Gerald Durrell?

He was truly a man before his time.

'Gerry's zoo and conservation trust

'work to protect nearly 200 species
across the world.

'From its Jersey HQ, it is actively
breeding 36 endangered species.

'It truly is a modern-day
Noah's Ark.'

There are species on this planet

that wouldn't be here
if it wasn't for Gerald Durrell.

He was undoubtedly one of the most
important naturalists of our time.

'Gerald's achievements have been
admired at the highest level.

'The Princess Royal has championed
his ideas on conservation

'for nearly five decades.'

He understood how species fitted in
with each other

and, to some extent,
with the human race.

I think it was that
level of understanding

that made Gerald Durrell
so different.

But he was also sufficiently
articulate and sociable

that he could get that message
across as well.

'Milo Parker, who plays Gerry
in our series, is now an ambassador

'for this internationally-renowned
institution.'

Before I filmed series one, I wasn't
really educated on conservation.

And now I'm absolutely fascinated
by it.

I think I've definitely grown up
being Gerry,

and I think that the fact
I had the opportunity

to tell people about
what this great man did

to help save species from extinction

is really an honour for me.

So, how many of you guys would like
to work in a zoo when you're older?

Yeah. It's a fun job, isn't it?

Are there any animals
you'd like to work with?

'This pioneering zoo

'grew out of Gerry's childhood love
for the natural world,

'which was nurtured on Corfu

'by his friend and mentor
Theodore Stephanides.'

Theo was the person who really
cemented Gerry's love for animals,

because wherever Gerry
had a question

or wanted to know something more,
he would go to Theo.

How are your creatures?

I can't wait to show my family.

'Theo was a notable scientist,

'who revealed to Gerry
the fascination

'of unusual creatures.'

Through the eyes
of Theodore Stephanides,

Gerry is discovering
the significance of these animals.

'Corfu gave the Durrells
four years of joyful adventures.

'But those carefree times
were not to last forever.

'As the war in Europe
reached the shores of Corfu,

'the family was forced
off the island.

'Larry settled
in the Egyptian city of Alexandria,

'where he continued to write.

'Although still a relatively unknown
author,

'this city would inspire the work

'that would eventually make him
world-famous.

'Unlike Larry,

'Louisa had had quite enough
excitement in the Mediterranean,

'and opted for somewhere
rather more secure and familiar.

'By the autumn of 1939,

'she had settled back in England
with Gerry and Leslie.'

After four years away,

they were again in
the polite suburbs of Bournemouth.

A world of twitching net curtains,
sensible knitwear and fog.

After the sun and the freedom
of Corfu,

it must have felt like waking up
with a hangover.

'Louisa bought
a quiet suburban residence.

'Number 52 St Albans Avenue.

'It remained the family home
throughout the '40s.

'Gerry was as determined as ever
to be around animals,

'so soon found a job
as a keeper in Whipsnade Zoo.

'The only Durrell to stay on Corfu
after the war began was Margo.'

My gran Margo
decided that she didn't want

to leave her beautiful island
of Corfu and its people,

and she decided to dress up
as a peasant

and move in with a local family

and try and camouflage herself
in with the locals.

Of course, it wasn't gonna work

cos she was blonde
and didn't look very Greek at all.

'Margo was finally prised away
from her beloved Corfu

'by a handsome flight engineer
called Jack Breeze.

'After a quick marriage,

'they spent the war gallivanting
around East Africa with his work.

'One divorce and two children later,

'Margo was back in Bournemouth
with the rest of the family.

'Shortly after the war, using money
inherited from her father,

'she bought the property opposite
Louisa to run as a boarding house.'

The lodgers included
a variety of people.

There was a painter
who painted nudes

and also would wander around
the place half-naked himself.

Transvestites having drag parties,

young nurses
who were coming and going

all hours of day and night.

And the neighbours had not quite
seen anything like this before,

and so the rumours start that
my grandma's running a brothel.

That's what people read into it.

It was a conservative road,
you have to admit.

From time to time,
in this very quiet suburban street,

the police cars would roar up

because somebody would have escaped

from either the prison
or the mental hospital,

and they thought they might find
them lodging at her boarding house.

'On his 21st birthday,

'Gerry also inherited a lump sum
from his father's estate.

'He quit his job at Whipsnade

'to fulfil an ambition
that began in Corfu.'

Gerry, I know
I complain about your creatures,

but, well, you're serious about
this animal business, aren't you?

Yes, I am.

'He used his windfall

'to fund an animal-collecting
expedition to Cameroon.

'His aim was to bring back animals
to sell on to British zoos,

'as was standard practice
at the time.

'But the lessons he learned
from Theo in Corfu

'were still a strong influence,

'and Gerry was soon determined
to do things differently.'

"It's not about the animals
that will get me

"the most attention
or the most money.

"I'm more fascinated with the very
unusual things, the scarce things,

"the things people probably
didn't even know existed

"that were disappearing."

His broad interests were always
leading him down different paths.

Not just the glamorous animals
like the orangutans,

which everybody enjoyed,

but insects and birds were
just as important to that equation.

'With his unique approach
to animal collecting,

'this determined young rebel
was now on a path

'that would change zoos forever.'

By 1950, Gerald Durrell was
an established animal collector

for some of the biggest zoos
in Britain.

But it was a tough business,

and he came back
from each expedition broke.

'The revenue from selling his
animals barely covered his costs.

'And on top of that,

'he was concerned about how
they would be treated in captivity.

'Many of the animals
from Gerry's early trips

'were put into the care
of London Zoo,

'where conditions were not
to his liking.

'In particular,

'he worried the chimps
were not treated with respect.

'Before long, his favourite,
Cholmondeley, was at the centre

'of a dramatic incident
that made national headlines.'

This is the backdrop
to an incredible scene

that's played out in January 1951.

And the headlines
in the Express read,

"Chumley the Chimp
boards a 53 bus, bites a woman,

"wrestles with a man
and then acts as King Kong."

I mean, it's not going very well.

The story picks up here
and says,

"Cholmondeley legged it
across Regents Park."

He went straight across the parkway,
which is here, turned up there

and right into Albany Street.

So, Cholmondeley headed up
Albany Street, jumped on the bus,

which he stopped.

He then bit a woman on the thigh
and bit a bloke on the wrist,

before leaving the bus again

and then climbing up onto a balcony
like these here.

Eventually, his keeper arrives

and he jumps some 10ft
off the balcony into familiar arms.

And the first part of the story
ends well.

He's returned safely
back to the zoo.

'Cholmondeley made another
bid for freedom 11 months later.

'He once again terrorised
pedestrians and jumped on vehicles.'

Sadly, this story didn't end
quite as well for him.

He was rounded up,
returned to the zoo,

and George Cansdale, who was the
superintendent of the zoo, said,

"He was a moody animal,

"gentle as possible at times,
a positive terror at others.

"Regretfully, I decided the only
thing to do...

"was to shoot him."

'Cholmondeley's death confirmed
Gerry's worst suspicions of zoos.'

ARCHIVE AUDIO:
'In a great many zoos,

'the animal is merely an exhibit
in a cage

'and it's treated as though
it had no personality of its own

'and virtually no likes
and dislikes.'

It wasn't about the animals,
other than keeping them alive.

It was more about just
pure entertainment.

So, this is where the germ
in his head started,

which is zoos
should be about the animals,

they should be effectively arks
for animals that need help.

'Over a decade after he left Corfu,

'Gerry was expanding on the ideas
of his mentor Theo.

'However, his ethos was increasingly
in conflict with zoos of the time.

'He was becoming ever more
disillusioned with his profession.

'But a chance encounter would
breathe new life into his career.'

I was only in my teens,
so to meet somebody like him,

who'd been everywhere
and done everything

and had had that wonderful life
in Corfu...

..it was a bit overpowering.

'Shortly after meeting,
Jacquie and Gerry were married.

'They moved into Margo's
Bournemouth boarding house,

'where Jacquie was initiated
into the Durrell clan.'

They were fun to know,

and quite different
from anybody else I'd ever known.

With the Durrells, it's like
putting on a light switch.

And it comes out
in thousands of volts.

'A few years into their
relationship,

'Jacquie was joining Gerry

'on expeditions
to South America and Africa.

'This is the first time
she's seen this footage

'of their trip to Paraguay
since it was filmed 65 years ago.'

This is Gerry catching
a southern anaconda.

He was a lovely snake.

JACQUIE LAUGHS

I don't know how Gerry could smoke
when he had an animal in his hands.

All the animals reacted to him
immediately.

He spoke to all of them,
he played with them.

It was a totally different way.

When we came back from Africa,
I said to him,

"Look, why give these animals
to zoos that you despise anyway?

"Why not keep them

""and get Bournemouth to give you
a site for a zoo?"

'Unfortunately, setting up a zoo
needed money Gerry didn't have.

'But he knew his family had always
been tolerant

'of creatures in the home.'

They're pissing and crapping.

Stop them.

'So, Gerry and Jacquie

'brought their latest collection
to Margo's garden.'

As you can see,
it's quite a big garden

and it was actually bigger then
cos it went back further.

But this became his first collection
of animals, his first zoo.

We had a whole host of cages
full of animals,

and we had a marquee
full of cages as well.

And then the garage,
which is no longer there, sadly,

they insulated that

and that's where they kept all
the reptiles and the exotic birds.

'But, of all the new arrivals,

'one in particular
became the star of suburbia.

'Gerry and Jacquie had fallen
in love with a baby chimp.'

JACQUIE: That's Cholmondeley.

'It seemed Gerry wasn't
very original with names

'because, as with his last chimp
that was shot by its keepers,

'this one was also called
Cholmondeley.'

We had a little hat, like
a Sherlock Holmes hat, made for him

so his ears wouldn't get cold,

and he had a little overcoat
as well.

And everybody fell madly in love
with him.

Every morning,

Cholmondeley was swinging
from the curtains, wasn't he?

Cos it was a treat to see him
before we went off to school.

On one occasion, there was
Cholmondeley riding a bicycle,

but he was doing quite well,
I think.

Gerry used to take him
up to the golf club.

The golfers were absolutely
fascinated by him.

Everybody used to sort of take it
as natural

that Cholmondeley would be up there
every day, playing in the trees.

He wasn't a chimp, he was a human as
far as the Durrells were concerned,

and he was treated
as part of the family.

'Since the start
of their relationship,

'Jacquie and Gerry
had struggled for money.

'But Jacquie thought she'd spotted
an untapped resource

'in his colourful childhood.'

Bravo.

English?

Yes. Gerry.

Kostis.

As he'd amused me for ages
with the stories of these animals

and the natives and people he'd met,
that's why I nagged him.

'Jacquie hoped he could make
some money

'from writing
about his extraordinary life.

'After all, by the time
the family left Corfu,

'brother Larry had already published
three books.'

My new novel. Just published.

Larry spent much of the war
in the Egyptian city of Alexandria,

where he was too busy
falling in love

and scraping together a living
as a civil servant

to publish much writing.

But somewhere in that
tumultuous city,

he found the inspiration he'd been
looking for his whole life.

'Alexandria in the '40s

'was a cosmopolitan melting pot,
full of temptations.'

In Alexandria, he sees a seedy world

that is going to nourish his
imagination.

So, obviously, here, Durrell
is beginning to discover himself

as the womaniser,
the great seducer he was.

'These years in Alexandria

'became the basis
for Larry's greatest work.

'The Alexandria Quartet.

'Four novels published
between 1957 and 1960.

'This landmark work

'made Larry one of the most
high-profile writers in Britain.'

My next guest is a writer,

one of our best and most successful
novelists, Lawrence Durrell.

He gained an international
reputation

with the publication
of The Alexandria Quartet.

'In 1961 and 1962,

'Larry was being considered
for the Nobel Prize For Literature.

'But the committee disapproved
of his racy subject matter.'

I think they're saying

there's essentially too much sex
in the books.

He's not a nice enough writer,
not proper, not decent enough.

'If only he'd listened
to his mother.'

Why do you have to write about sex
all the time?

Because it's everywhere.

'Although very focused
on his own writing career,

'Larry had seen the potential in his
younger brother at an early age.'

Gerry wrote this
just after we arrived in Corfu.

And this one last week.

They're historical documents.

Gerry's going to be
a really good writer.

'Larry continued to encourage
Gerry's talent as he grew up.'

Whenever he wrote to Gerry,
he used to say,

"For God's sake, dear brother,
write about your adventures."

'With Jacquie and Larry's
encouragement,

'Gerry started publishing books
about his expeditions.

'He wrote five in three years.

'The sixth drew upon the happiest
period of his life,

'his Corfu childhood.'

Wow!

Gerry sat there in his pyjamas
and dressing gown

with cigarettes and a tray of tea

and it would just flow.
He just could not stop.

'The book,
My Family And Other Animals,

'was published in 1956.'

This book,
arguably Gerald Durrell's best,

has been a lifelong favourite
of mine.

I read it when I was 11,

and I've since forced it onto
my children, who also enjoyed it.

It became an instant bestseller,

and brought droves of tourists
to the island.

It was an existence
that everybody had wanted to have.

How many people could uproot
and go to an island

and have that idyllic life?

I was reading My Family
And Other Animals on the train

and, inevitably,
you have to laugh out loud

when you're reading
Gerald Durrell's books,

and it was very obvious that,

on a train, that creates
a certain amount of reaction.

And the other thing
was his ability to observe,

which I now feel is almost the most
important message of that book.

I remember thinking
when I was reading it,

"This boy is like me.
He could be my best mate."

So, whatever I was doing,
I'd be thinking,

"What would Gerald Durrell do
in this situation?"

And to an extent,
I still do to this day.

My Family And Other Animals
was a runaway success

that made Gerald Durrell
a household name across the world.

The only person selling more books
in Britain during the autumn of 1956

was Winston Churchill.

The youngest Durrell was now famous

and, he hoped,
rich enough to set up a zoo

that would specialise
in saving endangered species.

The Durrells had never really
felt at home in Britain,

so it's no surprise that,
20 years after leaving Corfu,

they were spread out
across the globe.

Larry left Egypt after the war

and had stints in Argentina,
Yugoslavia and Cyprus,

before finally settling
in the south of France.

Leslie found his way to Kenya,

where he worked in agriculture.

Reports home were positive.

And the other Durrells hoped
he'd finally shaken off

a lifetime of underachievement.

Gerald had just written the most
successful book of his career.

'But fame and fortune
couldn't help him find a home

'for the animals he'd been keeping
in Margo's garden.

'After two years of searching
around Bournemouth,

'he still had no site for a zoo.

'Then, during a trip to Jersey,

'Gerry and his wife Jacquie came
upon the 15th century manor house

'that would become home
to their zoo.'

I said to Gerry,
"What a lovely place this is."

And within three weeks,
everything was settled.

'The animals were brought over
from Bournemouth,

'the cages built,

'and Gerry's zoo opened in Jersey
on 26 March 1959.

'From the moment its doors opened,

'Jersey Zoo
had a very particular purpose.

'To breed endangered species.

'It was a unique vision

'that had started as a boyhood
obsession on Corfu.

'As always with the Durrells,
the zoo was a family affair.

'Gerry and Jacquie invited Louisa

'to move into their house
in the middle of the grounds.'

She loved being in the zoo.
She really did.

Many times,
we would walk into the flat

and find Gerry's mum sitting
with the chimps,

having tea and cakes.

'Gerry had achieved

'his long-standing ambition
of owning a zoo.

'But for the first time in his life,
he was running a business,

'and the pressure to raise funds
was immense.'

Without Gerry's writing,
the zoo couldn't have gone on.

I mean, I remember an occasion
when I was called into the office

and, "Could you manage
without any pay this week?"

We said we couldn't afford
to pay them for one period,

and they all worked for nothing.

I mean, what greater loyalty
could you get than that?

Gerry was a visionary man.

He was determined to change
the role of a zoo

and to make it something worthwhile
for the animal kingdom.

And we were his disciples, really,
trying to fulfil his mission.

'Life in Jersey was going well...

'but clouds loomed on the horizon.

'Five years after Louisa
had moved in with Gerry,

'she was put in a nursing home
after a heart attack.

'She died a few days later.'

The Durrells were a close family,

and Louisa had always been
the glue that held them together.

When she died, it felt to Gerry

like his idyllic childhood
had died with her.

He identified his mother with
a very important time in his life,

which was Corfu.

I think it's something
he couldn't get over.

He couldn't cope with it.

'For Margo, with Louisa gone
and her brothers abroad,

'life in Britain
had lost its sparkle

'and she once again felt the allure
of sunnier climes.'

None of the Durrells was exactly
crippled by self-doubt,

but Margo was perhaps
the most outgoing.

So it's no surprise
that in her 50s,

after years of genteel Bournemouth,

she embarked on another
very Durrell-y adventure.

'Margo's granddaughter Tracy
found out all about it

'when she made a surprising
discovery.'

I've had this manuscript
in her room in a cardboard box.

And it is a really, really
fun story.

Margo felt very claustrophobic,
living in suburbia, as she put it.

So, when an opportunity arose
for her to work on a Greek ship,

travelling the Caribbean,

within a week, she was gone.

Some of it was, like,

"OK... You know, maybe I shouldn't
be reading this

"because I'm her granddaughter."

She was doing what she loved.

She was with her fellow Greeks
again, travelling across the sea,

entertaining people,
being vivacious, being fun.

She was once again that free spirit
as she was as a young girl.

'While Margo rediscovering the girl
she had been on Corfu...

'back in Britain,
Gerry was becoming a TV star.'

This is a hairy armadillo.
Isn't he sweet?

'He was appearing on the nation's
screens at the same time

'as another young naturalist
called David Attenborough.'

I think there was a friendly
rivalry between the two.

They both were sort of doing
the same thing at the same time.

I think Attenborough maybe had the
edge on the media side of things.

He was coming at it from the BBC,

whereas Gerry was coming to it
from the zoo.

'Gerry's TV series
were ahead of their time.

'In the early 1960s,

'when the modern debate
on climate change and pollution

'had barely begun,

'he revealed man's destruction
of the planet to shocked audiences.'

ARCHIVE AUDIO:
'This is happening all over Malaya.

'Vast areas are being cleared

'and sometimes they leave pockets
of jungle

'not big enough to support
the animals left trapped in them.'

He was angry.

You see, I know what human beings
are like.

I accept them for what they are.

And Gerry still managed
to get angry about it.

'If we can indoctrinate people
as they come through our gates

'that creatures are being killed
all over the world

'in their hundreds of thousands,

'and if we can save one or two
species from extinction,

'then the whole thing will be...'

'Then it will be worth it,
certainly.'

'It's the most incredible,
the most beautiful garden.

'And what have we done?

'We've trampled through it
with our great hobnailed boots.'

Is it me, or is it getting 'otter'?
Oh, yes, no 'stoat' about it.

'As a boy on Corfu,

'Gerry had been encouraged
by his tutor Theo

'to view all animal life as sacred.

'But 30 years later,

'the pristine world
he had grown up with

'was disappearing
before his very eyes.'

He genuinely did feel desperate.

If he could have picked up the world
and given it a good shake,

I think he would have done.

Because we don't learn anything.

We really don't.

This was about the world around you.

You don't need to be an expert
to make a difference.

You need to understand
both your local environment

and how humans have that impact.

'By the start of the 1970s,

'Gerry's ideas on conservation

'had caught the attention
of some rather well-known people.'

We had international figures
from everywhere,

who, by that time, were all admiring
what Gerry was doing.

'The admirers included movie stars
David Niven and James Stewart.

'In 1972, the zoo welcomed its most
high-profile visitor of all.

'Princess Anne.'

I remember the visit
couldn't have been more welcoming

and more informative.

I mean, I was very much
on listening mode.

Everybody's slightly on edge.
We are.

They're getting on
like an absolute house on fire.

And they get round to an enclosure
with a fabulous male mandrill.

Their distinguishing feature is the
most gorgeous electric blue bottom.

He looks at the Princess...

and he says...

"Would you like a bottom like that?"

And you could hear a sharp intake
of breath.

And she looks at him and says...

"No, I don't think I would."

It's not difficult to make
a joke about a mandrill, is it?

But it was very amusing.

'The visit was a great success

'and the Princess has been
a patron of the zoo ever since.

'Jersey Zoo was going
from strength to strength.

'In 1973, a baby gorilla
called Assumbo was born.'

We were all over the moon.

It was a pinnacle because gorillas
weren't being born readily in zoos.

'For Gerry, it was the realisation
of his lifelong goal.

'To prove that zoos could breed
animals in captivity

'and contribute to the conservation
of species.'

I think that is his greatest legacy.

He understood that these things
do not live in isolation,

and neither do we.

'By 1976,

'Gerry seemed to have everything
he'd ever wanted in his work.

'But the toll on his personal
life was considerable.'

It was rather like
Frankenstein's monster.

Suddenly, it was obsessing him.

Animals, animals, animals.

They were more important
than anybody was.

They were more important than me,
I can assure you.

We grew so apart.

Even though he was in the room,
he wasn't there.

'With their marriage suffering,
Jacquie asked Gerry for a divorce.'

When you lose respect
for somebody...

love dies.

Gerald always talked about
having Durrells' luck.

Whenever he needed something,
or someone to drop into his lap,

it happened.

So, after the breakdown
of his marriage, it wasn't long

before someone new
stepped into his life.

'In 1977, during a fundraising tour
of America,

'Gerry met a 27-year-old
zoology student at a party.'

He made a beeline over to me,

and introduced himself.

I said, "Yes, I know who you are."

'Gerry invited Lee to investigate
animal calls

'at his sound laboratory
in Jersey Zoo.'

I said, "Yes, of course,
I'd love to do that."

'Shortly after,
she was on a plane to meet Gerry.'

He met me at the Jersey airport

and he had champagne
in the back of the car,

so I had a feeling that
something else was going on.

'Lee quickly discovered that she
had been brought to Jersey

'under false pretenses.'

There was no sound laboratory, there
was just sort of a blank canvas.

'It was just a ruse to get me
over to see Jersey.'

'Well, I mean, you couldn't say
to a lovely lady like this,

'when you're a carunculated
old wreck like me,

'you couldn't say to her,

'"Look, I'll pay your way over
to Jersey.

'"Come and have a look
and see what you think of it."

'She'd immediately suspect
something.

'So, I had to think of a method
of doing it.

'Anyway, she married me for my zoo.

'I'm the only man in the universe
that's been married for his zoo.'

Since he was young,

Gerald Durrell had wanted
to protect threatened species.

He would say in later life,

"Since I'm big and ugly,

"I try to preserve
the little ones."

Too late for the dodo,

but good news for a host of other
animals on the edge of extinction.

His second wife Lee, as a highly
regarded zoologist in her own right,

was not only a soulmate,

but also the perfect partner in this
ongoing mission of conservation.

'In the early '80s,

'they spent eight months exploring
the wildlife of Soviet Russia.'

'After the youngsters are examined,
they're released,

'and will make their way
to the groups of seals

'that are now gathering
near the cracks in the ice.'

Being married to Gerry, working
alongside him just felt like,

how lucky could I ever possibly be?

'With Lee's help, Gerry was making
a name for himself around the world.

'But in 1986, the world's gaze
turned back to their zoo in Jersey

'after a terrifying incident
at the gorilla enclosure.'

This chap picked his young son up
and sat him on the wall.

The little lad then toppled over
into the enclosure...

..where there was Jambo,
this full-grown male gorilla.

And Jambo came down...

..and stood over the little boy,
who was unconscious.

And drove back
the rest of the gorillas,

who were all for coming
and having a look.

And you see one bit where Jambo
is just touching the boy.

His shirt had come up,
a little bit of bare skin.

You could see him smelling
like this,

and he touched his face
a little bit.

And they opened
the slides in the gorilla house

and all of the rest of them were
tempted inside with some goodies,

and Jambo stayed
until all the rest had gone inside.

And then he went in.

'To the relief of onlookers,

'staff were able to rescue the boy
from the enclosure.

'By the mid-1980s,
Gerry's ideas on conservation

'had been accepted
by the mainstream zoo world.

'The boy raised in the wilds
of Corfu

'was now part
of the British establishment,

'with all the honours that entailed.

'The day he received an OBE,

'he was also ambushed
with a surprise TV appearance.'

I've been avoiding you for years!

Author, broadcaster, internationally
famous wildlife conservationist,

Gerald Durrell, on this great day,
this is your life. Oh, God!

All over the world, we gathered
to come and celebrate Gerry's life.

He was very, very touched.

From her home in Bournemouth,
your sister Margo,

and with her, her son Gerry.

'There was an appearance
from sister Margo...

'..while older brother Larry
sent his regards

'from the south of France,
his home for the last two decades.'

Here's pledging you in our local
brew, Pic Saint-Loup. All the best.

'But the final guest
was the biggest surprise of all.

'Gerry would be reunited

'with one of the most important
figures from his Corfu childhood.'

Theo! Theo, Theo!

Right at the end, Theodore himself
was brought onto the stage,

and Gerry was just over the moon.

What did he say one time?

"If I had a wish to give a child,

"it would have been my life in Corfu
with Theodore,

"who was like Merlin the magician."

'There was one notable absence
from the celebration.

'Brother Leslie.

'The year before Gerry's appearance
on This Is Your Life,

'Leslie sadly died
of a heart attack.

'The rest of the family
had always remained close.

'Every summer, Gerry and Margo would
join Larry in the south of France.'

In a sense, I think they were
harking back

to the paradise they had
in the 1930s in Corfu.

'It was at his home in France

'that Larry passed away unexpectedly
in 1990.'

Gerry just went very quiet.

You know, I never saw him
burst into open grief or anything.

In many ways,
he was a very, very private person.

'By the '90s, Gerald was
the only remaining Durrell son.

'In 1994, a lifetime of indulgence
finally caught up with him

'when he received
a liver transplant.

'After treatment in London,
he was moved to Jersey Hospital.'

On the day he died, I was up there,
just holding his hand.

There's no real way to express
how you feel when it really happens.

You know, someone's just gone.

So, this is really
a memorial stone for Gerry.

We put half of Gerry's ashes
under the stone

and I did take the other half
of Gerry's ashes

and scattered them in the sea
around Mouse Island.

As a boy, Gerry would have seen
Mouse Island

from the first house
that they were in in Corfu.

'In 2007, Margo, the last
of the Durrell children,

'also passed away.

'Her granddaughter Tracy scattered
half her ashes on Mouse Island,

'exactly as Lee did
with Gerry's remains.'

It was really lovely
that we both felt the same way

and we both knew how special this
place was to them in their lives

and how at peace
they would feel there.

I think it's quite fitting
that two of the Durrells, anyway,

are now resting within sight
of their childhood paradise.

It was an enormous loss

because that degree of enthusiasm
and motivation,

knowledge and understanding
is not easy to replace.

ARCHIVE AUDIO: 'Gerry Durrell was,

'to use the modern idiom, magic.

'A tour of Jersey Zoo
conveyed to the visitor

'a new and different zoo experience.

'Animals come first.

'Their keepers second.

'And the public
are privileged paying guests.

'Please don't ever forget

'the magic of Gerald Durrell.'

'Once they left Corfu, the Durrells'
lives were astonishing.

'Larry had nearly won
the Nobel Prize.

'Margo had sailed the seven seas
in his sixth decade.

'While Gerry revolutionised
wildlife conservation.'

It's no surprise to me
that once they left the island,

the rest of the world
fell for the Durrells too.

And long may that continue,

as future generations discover
the family, read their books

and share in Gerry's joyful
obsession with the natural world.

I like to believe

that the Durrells' story will be
enjoyed for many years to come,

so that their extraordinary Corfu
adventure lives on and on.

Subtitles by TVT