Secret Garden (2026) s01e03 Episode Script

CHIRPING
BUZZING
Across the British Isles, there are
magical places.
Our pride and joy - our gardens.
LAUGHTER
Yet many of us are completely unaware
of the wild world
..right under our noses.
Amazingly, some British gardens are
almost as diverse
as a tropical rainforest.
And when our backs are turned
CHIRPING
..they come alive.
QUACKING
From the wilds of Scotland
STAG GRUNTS
..to a metropolitan oasis.
In each episode, we will reveal the
extraordinary dramas
playing out within a single garden.
EAGLE WHISTLES
Welcome to a hidden world right on our
doorsteps.
Nestling in the heart of Cumbria
..an idyllic country garden
..cherished by owners Chris and Liz.
- Ten years ago, we decided to leave
the city
and actually live somewhere more
rural.
We found this house and garden.
Actually, it was really the garden we
fell in love with.
- It was.
Absolutely, yeah.
- And it has become a bit of an
obsession.
- Well, you normally find Liz in the
greenhouse through here.
Then there are these really lovely dry
stone walls.
My favourite place is the meadow, down
here.
Then, down in the far corner there
..is a really beautiful pond.
- Chris and Liz do everything they can
to encourage wildlife.
- Every year, we like to move some of
our tools out of our tool shed
..to make way for the swallows when
they return.
- CHIRPING
- We like to think of the garden as an
ark.
And it's incredibly rich in wildlife.
But we know so little, still,
about the secret lives of the animals
that live here.
- One of the most secretive
..is the field mouse.
MOUSE SQUEAKS
This brave little female may be only
four months old,
but she's already looking for a mate.
Field mice are abundant in this
garden.
The danger?
Garden predators.
A tawny owl has hearing ten times more
sensitive than ours
OWL SQUAWKS
..and he can detect the slightest
sound.
But the mouse has her own sonic
superpower.
GRASS RUSTLES
She listens out
..for a secret song
..inaudible to an owl.
But if we slow it right down
..it's the ultrasonic serenade of a
male mouse.
SQUEAKING
But her potential partner is on the
other side
..of a wide, featureless lawn.
To reach him, and get back safely
..she has a special solution.
She creates a trail to signpost the
way home.
Field mice are the only mammals, other
than humans,
known to position objects as
landmarks.
Impressive
..for a brain the size of a pea.
SQUEAKING
She likes what she hears.
SQUEAKING
A fleeting romance.
Spotted!
FRANTIC SQUEAKING
Thanks to her signposts, safely home
and ready to produce her first litter.
Just as Liz and Chris hoped
..a barn swallow.
Coming to the end of an epic
6,000-mile journey
..from southern Africa.
In a remarkable feat of navigation,
he has finally reached the north of
England.
SHEEP BLEA
Of 25 million gardens in Britain,
he returns to the one where he was
raised.
Home.
He's made this hazardous journey
to feast on insects that come with a
British summer
..and to try and raise a family.
The male returns first to prepare
their nest.
Barn swallows mate for life
..but the pair only come together to
rear their young.
Other couples are already reuniting,
after seven months apart.
But his partner is nowhere to be seen.
Time is not on his side.
Down at the bottom of the garden
..after five months of overwintering
in the compost heap
..a more secretive creature emerges.
A palmate newt.
Barely the length of your little
finger.
She is embarking on her own intrepid
journey.
Her first step is to find a mate.
But their numbers are in decline.
In the last 50 years,
we have lost half of our rural ponds,
drained for farmland.
So garden ponds have never been so
important.
She enters a secret world
..full of boldly marked, flirtatious
males.
Each trying to catch her eye
..flexing their supersized feet
..and wafting perfumes towards her.
Larger males may attract her
attention
..but one by one, they run out of
air
..until only one tiny dancer remains.
His smaller size enables him to absorb
all the oxygen he needs,
just through his skin.
Once in a while, the underdog comes
out on top.
Closer to home
..another hidden romance spells
trouble.
Mole-hills!
Less than a metre below the surface
..a young male mole is frantically
digging in search of a mate.
He can tunnel over 20 metres a day.
All that earth has to go somewhere!
He only stops to feed
..and can consume half his body weight
in worms in a single day.
But to find a female,
you sometimes need to go above and
beyond.
He can barely see past the end of his
nose
..but that nose smells in stereo
..and he can pinpoint a female's
burrow from afar.
It's not a warm reception.
Female moles have unusually high
levels of testosterone
MOLES SQUEAK
..and that makes them highly
aggressive.
SQUEAKING CONTINUES
Eventually, persistence prevails.
In pursuit of the perfect lawn
..British gardeners kill thousands of
moles every year.
Mole-hills do drive Liz mad
..but she also knows that they create
fertile soil for planting.
By late spring, the lonesome swallow's
chances
of becoming a parent look increasingly
slim.
Swallows only live for three or four
years.
This may be his last chance to breed.
But fewer swallows are arriving each
year,
as they face more unpredictable
weather.
THUNDER CRACKS
Then
CHIRPING
..a familiar sound.
After more than half a year apart
..the long-distance couple
..are reunited.
They have no time to waste.
Across the garden, the breeding season
is in full swing.
The pond becomes the setting for a
record-breaking romance.
To see it, you need to get into the
weeds.
A male semaphore fly.
One of the 7,000 fly species found in
the UK.
BUZZING
But this one has the most elaborate
courtship display of all.
The ritual begins with four bursts of
wing-waving a second.
Still, she is unimpressed.
Time to pull out all the stops.
In just a 25th of a second
..he performs a lightning flip.
It is the fastest backflip in the
insect world.
Such a grand display attracts unwanted
attention.
A predatory dung fly, almost twice his
size.
But the semaphore fly is fixated on
the female.
Oh, well
..plenty more flies in the pond.
Beneath the surface
..the female palmate performs her own
extraordinary act.
She delicately folds a leaf around
each of her 100 eggs
..to protect them until they hatch in
three weeks' time.
Her mothering duties are complete.
As the romance of spring turns to the
baby boom of early summer
..a family of house sparrows leave the
nest
..hundreds of young bees harvest
nectar and pollen
..newly-hatched newts are growing up
in the pond
..and just a month after reuniting
..the swallows have five hungry mouths
to feed.
Astonishingly, each chick needs 1,000
insects every single day.
Surely, an impossible task!
Nationwide, flying insect numbers have
crashed
due to pesticides, pollution and
habitat loss.
Swallow numbers have almost halved in
the last decade.
But here, next to a well-managed sheep
farm,
the swallows can catch all they need.
And closer to home
..Chris and Liz's garden meadow
..is crowded with miniature life.
Even a small patch of grass, left
untrimmed,
can support hundreds of species of
insects.
For now, at least
..the chicks have a chance.
Back at the dry stone wall
..newborn field mice depend entirely
on their mother
for the first three weeks of their
lives.
She must now brave the daylight to
find enough food.
This time, with no waymarks to guide
her home.
From over 40 metres away, she has been
spotted.
Kestrels are prolific daytime
predators
..catching up to eight rodents a day.
BUZZING
DRAMATIC MUSIC
Made it!
Mice have excellent memories
..and she knows the greenhouse has a
stash of food.
Here they are.
Seeds!
Packed with nutrients and energy.
But she can't afford to stay long.
She must feed her babies every few
hours.
While Liz continues her planting,
another life and death mini-drama
plays out right under her nose.
One of over 100 species of spider
living in British gardens.
A zebra jumping spider.
He's smart
..able to use a variety of techniques
when hunting.
Spiders aren't everyone's cup of
tea
..but he eats insects
..that would damage Liz's precious
seedlings.
Garden pests.
Unlike other spiders, he doesn't use a
web.
He actively hunts for prey.
And with eight eyes
..he's good at finding it.
Six of them detect movement
..while the two big front eyes focus
on and identify lunch.
A miniature pest controller.
With the coast finally clear
..the mouse desperately needs to get
back to her young.
But the kestrel is still on the hunt.
FOREBODING MUSIC
Suddenly, something extraordinary
happens.
The garden air force scrambles.
With newly-hatched chicks,
the swallows won't tolerate any
threat.
As a single mum,
she has to keep taking enormous
risks
..to keep her pups alive.
And just two weeks later,
the youngsters are almost ready to
leave the nest
..which will allow mum to raise more
babies
before the short summer ends.
At the peak of summer
..the sheer variety of flowers in this
garden
makes it a little slice of paradise
..with more species of plant
than can be found in a patch of
tropical rainforest.
Left untouched
..the meadow hums with life.
At least 20 species of butterfly
are found in British gardens.
Each has a particular diet.
And we can help by growing nectar-rich
flowers for the adults,
as well as the native plants their
caterpillars will depend upon.
Even a patch of nettle and bramble
will do!
The swallows are making the most of
the sunny weather.
Incredibly, all five chicks have
survived.
THUNDER CRACKS
But Cumbria is the wettest county in
England.
RADIO:
- Looking at the picture in Cumbria,
that's one of the places
that's seen lots of heavy rain today
from our weather.
- And in recent years, has been
getting even wetter.
Grounded by the weather
..flying insects
..are suddenly three times harder to
find.
So the swallows will have to work
three times as hard.
CHICKS TWITTER
If the weather doesn't improve,
the chicks will die.
They may be exceptional parents, but
facing a wet summer
..can they keep their chicks alive?
While the swallows struggle to raise a
single brood
..the field mouse has reared her first
litter
..and is eager to get going with a
second.
So she's following her ears to find
another partner.
SQUEAKING
At every turn
..predators are lurking
..catching her offspring all over the
garden.
For mice, survival is a numbers game.
Her strategy is to flood the garden
with young
..so that at least some
..will have families of their own.
Soon, she'll be a mother again.
A damp night brings out some of our
most destructive garden beasts.
As any country gardener knows,
slugs can decimate a veg patch
overnight.
But help for the gardeners arrives
unexpectedly.
A palmate newt
..in search of food.
Surprisingly, newts spend most of the
year on land.
Their slimy skin becomes rough and dry
to conserve precious moisture.
Another key member of the pest control
army.
By day, the meadow would seem an
excellent place to hide.
ENGINE STARTS
DRAMATIC MUSIC
Phew!
Although, the newt isn't out of danger
yet.
But Chris has chosen a
wildlife-friendly method of mowing.
Traditional scything leaves plenty of
wriggle-room.
The moment Chris leaves
..real danger arrives.
DRAMATIC MUSIC
Pheasants.
Native to Asia,
but now released into our countryside
on an industrial scale.
Over 30 million every year
..eating vast numbers of insects,
reptiles and amphibians every day.
The field mouse has another litter of
pups.
Up until the end of autumn,
she will almost always be pregnant or
have babies.
As many as six litters a year.
If just two of her offspring have
young of their own,
her efforts will have been worthwhile.
While the mouse spreads her risk
..Chris and Liz's swallows put all
their eggs in one basket.
But the nest is empty.
The devoted parents tried their
hardest
..and, against all the odds
..not one, not two
..but all five chicks have fledged!
The parents still have work to do.
The yard is now a flight school for
lessons with mum and dad.
They must master the air to catch
their own food.
- Oh, here it comes, here it comes!
- Yeah. Oh, brilliant!
- Oh, look at that dive!
They are such fast fliers.
Cos they're here and then they're
gone.
- Yeah.
It's like each year, as well,
you get a glimpse and then they're
gone for the year.
- Soon, the chicks will make their
first epic journey
..crossing continents and surviving
storms.
Thanks to Chris and Liz and their
country haven
..with its old shed and bug-filled
meadow,
..the swallows may well return next
spring
..to join the many other animals
..which have made this garden their
home.
When the production team first got in
touch,
Liz and Chris were excited to have
their garden secrets revealed.
- When Chris called me to say that we
might be having
some interest in filming the wildlife,
on one side, I was thinking, oh, that
would be amazing.
I am very curious to know who's doing
what.
- But they were also nervous.
- However, I was thinking, wouldn't it
be typical
that if we say yes to this, the
swallows won't come back?
- Wildlife cameraman Lindsay McCrae
has filmed on every continent,
but he's Cumbrian born and bred.
- So this is the Lake District
and I grew up actually just over that
hill.
So I feel like I know this area like
the back of my hand.
The valley I grew up in was surrounded
by small farms,
full of swallows' nests.
I just became obsessed with them
growing up.
- His mission now is to film a family
of swallows in a country garden.
As it turned out, Liz's concern wasn't
completely unfounded.
A male swallow has returned on time,
but no sign of a female.
- Everyone knows it's a mammoth
journey these small birds
have to make and I've not only just
read about it,
I've actually been to the Sahara and
seen swallows
flying across the desert.
So I know what they've got to get
through.
- It's a journey that's getting harder
and harder.
- Over the last few years, we're
definitely seeing fewer swallows.
- I think it's the story everywhere,
isn't it?
Even in my lifetime, I've
- Oh, that's tragic, isn't it?
- Yeah, noticed a huge, huge decline.
They are THE bird each spring, aren't
they,
that everyone wants to see first?
- Yeah.
- WHISPERING:
- Look, here it comes. Look!
- They're such beautiful and
characterful birds.
Hopefully, the female that is due back
here knows where she's going.
- While Lindsay follows the swallows'
fortunes
..camera woman Katie Mayhew is working
the garden night shift.
Her mission is to cover the garden's
tiniest inhabitants.
Down at the pond,
she's setting up a complicated system
to get beneath the surface.
- Right, idiot's checks.
Is the camera going to fall in the
water?
OK, here we go. Shall we put it in the
pond?
I've got no idea until I stick this
lens into the water
what we're actually going to see.
It's going in! We're going in!
Gosh, I can't believe it. You can
actually see something!
There's something there.
- There's a newt on
- There's a newt!
- There's a newt on the left.
- I see it.
- It is a newt!
- An amazing first glimpse.
And over the next few days,
Katie captures all the newt behaviour
she could possibly want.
Spring wears on, but still no sign of
the female swallow.
Until
- There's one.
In fact, there's two.
And they've both dropped into the
courtyard.
I wonder
..if that's the female?
- It is the female,
and with the pair back together,
they'll soon have eggs.
Before they do, Lindsay needs to get a
camera set up in the shed.
- They're such good little birds to
put cameras on
because they're so brave when they're
on the nest.
- Is that right?
- A lot of birds can obviously feel a
little bit nervous.
- When do you think they'll start
laying, then?
- Any minute! If there's feathers in
the nest
- Yeah?
- ..that means it's lined and ready to
go.
And I reckon these feathers have just
fallen on the floor
at the end of the season
and this pair has picked them back up
again.
- Well, it's a reason not to be too
tidy!
- It's now a waiting game.
A few weeks later and the chicks have
hatched.
Five of them!
The parents are working overtime to
feed them insects.
Lindsay struggles to keep up with the
male swallow in flight.
Swallows fly at around 11 metres per
second
- There's one.
Gone.
- ..rarely in a straight line.
- Oh! Just a split second and they're
gone.
- But with the camera slowing down the
action ten times
..his skill and perseverance give
Lindsay an insight
into the swallows' amazing aerobatics.
- I know it sounds crazy, but I swear
our female bird's easier to film.
The male is just so erratic in flight!
- Those longer tail feathers are the
reason.
Evolved to look good to a female,
they also enable extreme
manoeuvrability.
THUNDER CRACKS
But when summer rains arrive and bugs
hide away
..the swallows face their biggest test
yet.
- I live here, so I know how bad the
weather in the Lake District
can get, but this is ridiculous now!
These summers in the Lakes just seem
to be getting
more and more unpredictable and it's
life or death for the wildlife.
The thought of those chicks just sat
in the nest
begging and nothing coming, it's just
heartbreaking.
- When the weather finally clears
..Liz is desperate to see whether the
chicks have survived.
- Here's one.
There he goes.
- Oh, look.
It's going in. Will we be able to see
it?
Oh, look at that!
I can see all their
..like, little smiles.
Their faces, all opening up.
- We now have one, two, three, four,
five chicks.
- Yeah.
- Very happy and tired, aren't they?
- They are kind of like little
monsters, I have to say!
- Mm.
- SHE LAUGHS
Just two weeks later
..all five chicks have fledged.
- Working with all the people from the
film crew
and all their specialities has really
opened my eyes up
..to just the vast variety of
creatures
that are living in a garden.
I just hope that everyone that's got a
small garden, a medium garden,
a bigger garden, a balcony
..can just fall in love with them a
bit more
and understand what a massive impact
we could all have
if we just out a little bit of space
to provide for those bugs and birds
and animals.
That to me is massively inspiring.
- Next time, a woodland garden in a
Welsh valley
..where secretive and surprising
wildlife
..is attracted to a magical glade.
Discover the wildlife on your doorstep
with the Open University's Secret
Garden interactive experience.
Scan the QR code on the screen now.
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connect.open.ac.uk/secretgarden.