
Acting
Iolo Williams is a Welsh naturalist, conservationist and campaigner. Born in Builth Wells, Breconshire, in the heart of rural Wales, his family moved to Pembrokeshire in the west of the country, before moving to Montgomeryshire, when he was aged five, to live in Llanwddyn. Iolo went on to study London, England for a degree in ecology at North East London Polytechnic. After graduating he went on to work for the RSPB for almost 15 years as Species Officer for Wales, a job he loved as he worked with some of the country’s rarest breeding birds. Eventually this brought him to the attention of the media and BBC 2’s "Visions of Snowdonia" and "Birdman" followed Iolo’s work as an RSPB officer. In the late 1990s Iolo left the Society to work full-time in the media. His series, in both Welsh and English, concentrated on the wildlife of Wales and the world and he co-presented several network series such as Nature’s Top 40 and Countryfile. In 2019 Iolo became a regular presenter on BBC Television's flagship nature programmes "Winterwatch", "Springwatch" and "Autumnwatch". Iolo has written several books on Welsh wildlife in both English and Welsh and he is a regular contributor to several magazines, including "BBC Wildlife’" Iolo is a keen sportsman, having played rugby for most of his life, and also a qualified paraglider, PADI Divemaster.

On the other side of the world under the crystal clear blue waters of the Pacific Ocean lies one of the most enchanting places on the planet. Over ten thousand miles away on the north eastern coast of Australia lies the Great Barrier Reef, one of the natural wonders of our world. It provides shelter to some hidden wildlife sanctuaries that contain some magical marine creatures. Invited on a reef adventure by Emmy Award-winning underwater cinematographer and marine biologist Richard Fitzpatrick, conservationist and naturalist Iolo Williams dives deep beneath the surface of the coral sea to discover what state this natural wonder is in. Together they travel from the extreme swells of the northern part of the reef right down to the cooler pristine corals of the south. They discover how healthy the Great Barrier Reef really is in some of its key locations to see and find out if there are real signs of hope the reef can survive the threat of global warming.

The story of the 1996 Sea Empress oil spill off the Pembrokeshire coast, and how communities mobilised to respond to the disaster and protect their coastline.

