PRESS RELEASES
February 19, 2014

Strap On Your Backpack and Get Set To Travel the Globe with BBC AMERICA’s Wild Things With Dominic Monaghan on March 25

Season two of the adventure series treks to Africa, Asia, Australia and South America in search of the largest, weirdest and most intense creatures alive

BBC Earth programming block debuts with the all-new specials, 24 Hours on Earth and Wildest Things with Dominic Monaghan on March 11

New York, NY – Giant spitting cobras that can kill 20 men with one bite, massive six-ton charging elephants and vipers with two-inch fangs are animals most people run from – but actor and wildlife enthusiast, Dominic Monaghan (Lost, Lord of the Rings), charges straight towards them. The returning original series will anchor BBC AMERICA’s new BBC Earth programming block which debuts Tuesday, March 11,9:00pm ET, with the all-new two-part special, 24 Hours on Earth, followed by Dominic’s countdown of his favorite wild moments from season one in two new specials, Wildest Things with Dominic Monaghan, starting Tuesday, March 11, 10:00pm ET.  The two consecutive weeks of specials build to the season two premiere of Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan on Tuesday, March 25, 10:00pm ET.

A true nature lover, Dominic with his courageous cameraman Frank, travel across four continents to far-flung countries in search of the largest, weirdest and most intense creatures alive – all in an attempt to ease fears of these often misunderstood animals. Crawling through dark caves, sailing the Amazon River, surfing the Costa Rican coast, and immersing himself in local culture, customs and cuisine makes for an adrenaline pumping, wildly adventurous season.  He will also be joined by his buddy Billy Boyd (Lord of the Rings) on a quest to New Zealand where they’ll search for the giant wetapunga and return to where it all began for the duo, Hobbiton, home of the Lord of the Rings world for a traditional Hangi feast.

“Season two of Wild Things takes you closer to the action,” says Dominic Monaghan, host and executive producer.  “The adventures and interactions with the animals ramp up in intensity.  The pace is faster and the animals are bigger, wilder and closer than ever before. And blood. There will be blood.”

Dominic Monaghan is no stranger to danger.  In season one, he backpacked through the rainforests of Ecuador, cave dived in Venezuela and swam with crocodiles, all to locate the scariest and most exotic animals on the planet. Along the way, viewers experienced an adventure complete with vibrant locals, quirky experts, tasty cuisine and a host of fascinating creatures.

This season, on his trek to Kenya in search of the giant spitting cobra, Dominic and a team of African Veterinarians embark on a field rescue mission of an elephant injured by a poacher’s arrow.  But when the confused elephant’s anesthesia wears off, he and cameraman Frank are charged by the six-ton wounded animal and have to run for their lives. In addition, he crawls through some of the scariest and most dangerous bat-filled cave systems in the Australian Outback in search of carnivorous ghost bats and wrestles a giant anaconda in the Amazon River during his search for the Titan Beetle in Brazil. Working in temperatures from the scorching hot jungles of the Amazon, to the cold and snowy mountains of Japan, Dominic covers challenging and remote terrain by land, riverboat and even underwater – while Frank captures all the action.

Dominic also enlists the help of locals who conserve and protect the worlds most rare and wonderful creatures, all while learning unique traditions and cultural aspects of his destinations. He dines with a Masai tribe in Kenya, learns about Zambian villagers’ mutual relationship with termites (they use their abandoned mounds to build homes), gets his face painted by native children in the Amazon rainforest, and learns the finer points of being a Ninja warrior in Japan. And of course, Dominic will share his passion for football (soccer) with anyone who fancies a game.

Twitter: @BBCAMERICA @DomsWildThings

Hashtag: #WildThings

Instagram: http://instagram.com/wildthingsdom

Site: http://www.bbcamerica.com/wild-things

CAST AND PRODUCTION CREDITS
Host                                         Dominic Monaghan (Lost, Lord of the Rings Trilogy)    

 

Executive Producers        Dominic Monaghan

                                                   David Brady (Survivorman)

                                                   Philip Clarke for Wildfire Television

Series Producer                  Marianne Kushmaniuk

 

Director of Photography  Frank Vilaca

Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan is a BBC AMERICA original production, produced by Cream Productions and Wildfire Television and co-produced by BBC Worldwide.

EPISODE SYNOPSES
SEASON PREMIERE
EPISODE 1 – KENYA – GIANT SPITTING COBRA
Dominic heads to Kenya – the heart of safari country – to track down the incredible giant spitting cobra. Capable of blasting cornea-melting venom and delivering a bite lethal enough to kill more than 20 people, this might be his most dangerous mission to date.  But the cobra isn’t his only worry on this adventure.  While on his search, Dominic and cameraman Frank have their closest call ever when a six-ton elephant charges and almost tramples them after they stop to help perform life-saving field surgery on the wounded animal.  Episode 1 premieres Tuesday, March 25, 10:00pm ET.

EPISODE 2 – DARWIN – GHOST BAT
Dominic endures the scorching heat of the vast Australian Outback to locate one of the rarest bats on the planet – the ghost bat. The creature gets its name from its translucent white wings that make it look ghostly as it flies through the moonlight. To find them, Dominic has to crawl on his belly to fit into incredibly tight and pitch black spaces.  One wrong step can mean disaster.  The Northern Territory’s premiere bat expert, Dr. Damien Milne joins him on this dark search.  Episode 2 premieres Tuesday, April 1, 10:00pm ET.

EPISODE 3 – COSTA RICA – LEMUR LEAF FROG
Dominic touches down in Costa Rica, home to more than a half-million known species of animal, including the extremely endangered, but incredibly beautiful, Lemur Leaf Frog – a thumbnail-sized master of camouflage. Dominic has to trek through the most remote stretches of Costa Rican jungle filled with predators to find the elusive creature. Meanwhile, he engages in a bit of fun playing on the monkey bars with a monkey and surfs the challenging Costa Rican coast.  Episode 3 premieres Tuesday, April 8, 10:00pm ET.

EPISODE 4 – ZAMBIA – GABOON VIPER
Dominic is in Zambia on a mission to find one of the most feared snakes on the planet, the enormous and deadly gaboon viper. Armed with an incredibly fast strike, the gaboon viper wields the longest fangs of any poisonous snake – two-inch long swiveling switchblades that deliver more venom in one bite than any other snake on Earth.  He and local snake expert Morgan, travel by boat up the mighty Zambezi River, navigating his way through dangerous pods of hippos and Nile crocodiles, and through the Zambian forest – home to a group of very rare white rhinos and villagers who make their homes along the remote edges of the Zambian forest.  While there, Dominic learns about the ancient relationship between the people and the termites that build spectacular 20-foot mounds nearby. Episode 4 premieres Tuesday, April 15, 10:00pm ET.

EPISODE 5 – BRAZIL – THE TITAN BEETLE
Dominic sails the mighty Amazon River on a mission to find the largest beetle on the planet – the titan beetle. This massive insect can grow up to seven inches in length and wields mandibles so strong and sharp, it can snap a pencil in half. To find this rare and elusive beetle he has to venture into the remote corners of the Brazilian jungle.  Along the way, he wrestles with a mighty green anaconda he encounters on the river. Dominic also visits a remote village in the rainforest, where he befriends a group of small children and gets his face painted with the seeds of the achiote fruit, an ancient practice.  Episode 5 premieres Tuesday, April 22, 10:00pm ET.

EPISODE 6-10 SYNOPSES WILL BE RELEASED ON A LATER DATE

BIOGRAPHY
DOMINIC MONAGHAN – EXECUTIVE PRODUCER AND HOST
Dominic Monaghan has demonstrated incredible versatility in an acting career that has included such diverse characterizations as the Hobbit Merry in The Lord of the Rings trilogy,  Charlie Pace on ABC’s hit series Lost, a quantum physicist in the TV mystery FlashForward, and an electrical-powered mutant known as “Bolt” in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Dominic produced and starred in The Day, where he played the leader of a post apocalyptic group being hunted by zombies.  Other recent credits include the comedy TV series Goodnight Burbank and Crackle’s original series The Unknown.

A true nature lover and wildlife enthusiast, he recently wrapped shooting the second season of the Critics’ Choice Television Award nominated series, Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan.  In each episode, Dominic takes the viewer along on an intimate, heart-pumping adventure as he tracks down and gets up close and personal with some of the planet’s most rare and life-threatening insects.

Before his worldwide success he became known in England for his role in the British television drama Hetty Wainthropp Investigations.  His other feature film work includes Glenn McQuaid’s I Sell the Dead, (which was featured at Slamdance Film Festival), Colin Teague’s Spivs, Richard Jobson’s The Purifiers and Rebecca Cook‘s Shooting Livien. Dominic has also combined two of his life’s passions – photography and nature – and held his first exhibit in early 2008, Happy Accidents.