Bruce Parry
Encyclopedia
Bruce Parry is a Former Royal Marines
Officer and Instructor who is now a TV presenter and adventurer, known particularly for the documentary programme
series Tribe
(known as Going Tribal in the United States), co-produced by the BBC
and the Discovery Channel. He has most recently returned from the Arctic, creating a book and TV series for the BBC
.
. He attended the Wells Cathedral School
as a boarder between 1978 and 1987 and was Head of house and made the First Rugby XV.
After finishing at Wells, Parry was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant
in the Royal Marines
at the age of 18. At 23 he became the youngest officer ever to be made Head of Fitness and Training for the Royal Marines Commando Training Centre
. Bruce Parry left the service as a Lieutenant after six years. He went on to become an expedition leader for Trekforce, before obtaining a job as a location manager for pop music video
s. Parry eventually founded his own company, Endeavour Productions.
. The film was a first hand account of their successful journey to climb Puncak Mandala
in the Indonesian part of New Guinea
. This is the second highest mountain of Australasia, but is little known and rarely climbed (their ascent probably being only the second one). The film was made by Ginger Television (becoming SMG). Next Parry was chosen to lead the Children's BBC CBBC
expedition Serious Jungle
, taking four boys and four girls aged 11 to 15 to Borneo to work with orangutans.
Also in 2002 Parry appeared as the straight-faced instructor opposite the inept survivalist Nick Frost
in three episodes of Danger! 50,000 Volts!
The following year he made a return to the BBC1's Extreme Lives series making a programme with Debra Veal about a 700 km canoe race down the Yukon River
in Canada entitled "Yukon Quest". The same year he returned to CBBC
to lead Serious Desert taking a similar group of children, this time to Namibia's Skeleton Coast
to work with the endangered Black Rhino. The following year Parry started filming the prime time BBC2 series Tribe
in which he lived with various tribal groups exactly as they do in order to better understand their culture.
The first series of Tribe saw Parry living with indigenous peoples in Gabon
, India
, Indonesia
, Ethiopia
, Mongolia
and Venezuela
. Next Parry was chosen to lead a group of expeditioners across Greenland
in the guise of Captain Robert Falcon Scott
for a period remake of Scott's fateful last trip to the South Pole
. Series two of Tribe was filmed wholly in Ethiopia as a journey between three different tribal groups. Series three of tribe was filmed in Brazil
, Polynesia
, Siberia
, Bhutan
, Tanzania
and Malaysia. In 2008, Parry journeyed for seven and a half months through Peru
and Brazil
for his series entitled "Amazon" where he looked at such issues as cocaine, oil, logging, slavery, dams, soya, cattle ranching and disease epidemics amongst Indigenous Peoples. Awards for the work he has been involved in include BAFTA's, RTS
Best Presenter and many Film Festival Awards.
In 2010, over the course of one bright Arctic summer, Parry immersed himself in the lives of people living in the Far North, and has recently released a book about his travels. From the Inuit of Greenland to Alaskan whalers and gold-diggers, Canadian oil-men, scientists, and bands of reindeer herders in the remote valleys of Siberia, Parry encountered first-hand the threats to culture, landscape and wildlife that are being felt there.
is also being re-run on British TV. To link in with this series and his last one, Tribe, he put together a double album of twenty exclusive new songs from KT Tunstall
, Johnny Borrell
, A-ha
, Black-Eyed Peas, Hot Chip
and more. The album is called Bruce Parry presents: Amazon/Tribe - Songs for Survival
. The first track on the album 'Ferreting' by supergroup 'Apparatjik' (who are releasing their own album later on, the band is made up of members of Coldplay, MEW, and A-ha) is used as the theme music for Amazon. The record label is Kensaltown Records and all profits go to Survival International
.
In a video for Survival about the recording of the album, Songs for Survival, Parry speaks on the importance of raising awareness for indigenous rights. He believes that if people understood the impact that our culture of greed and consumption has on the 'wonderful people' at the other end, they would act differently.
but his experiences among the tribes have led him to believe in a sceptical form of pandeism
:
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
Officer and Instructor who is now a TV presenter and adventurer, known particularly for the documentary programme
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
series Tribe
Tribe (TV series)
Tribe is a documentary television series co-produced by the BBC and the Discovery Channel, and hosted by former British Royal Marine Bruce Parry....
(known as Going Tribal in the United States), co-produced by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and the Discovery Channel. He has most recently returned from the Arctic, creating a book and TV series for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
.
Background
Parry was born in to a devoutly Christian and military family from DorsetDorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
. He attended the Wells Cathedral School
Wells Cathedral School
Wells Cathedral School is a co-educational independent school located in Wells, Somerset, England. The school is one of the five established musical schools for school-age children in the United Kingdom, along with Chetham's School of Music, the Yehudi Menuhin School, the Purcell School and St....
as a boarder between 1978 and 1987 and was Head of house and made the First Rugby XV.
After finishing at Wells, Parry was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
in the Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
at the age of 18. At 23 he became the youngest officer ever to be made Head of Fitness and Training for the Royal Marines Commando Training Centre
Commando Training Centre Royal Marines
Commando Training Centre Royal Marines is the principal military training centre for the Royal Marines of the British Armed Forces. It is situated near the village of Lympstone, between the city of Exeter, and the town of Exmouth in Devon...
. Bruce Parry left the service as a Lieutenant after six years. He went on to become an expedition leader for Trekforce, before obtaining a job as a location manager for pop music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s. Parry eventually founded his own company, Endeavour Productions.
Television career
Parry first appeared on television in 2002 in an episode of BBC1's Extreme Lives series entitled "Cannibals and Crampons". Bruce planned, filmed, directed and presented the documentary with his friend Mark AnsticeMark Anstice
Mark Anstice is a Scottish explorer, adventurous documentary reality television film maker and writer. He is best known for appearing in the Travel Channel's series Mark & Olly: Living with the Tribes with Oliver Steeds.-Army career:After school, Anstice travelled extensively throughout Australia...
. The film was a first hand account of their successful journey to climb Puncak Mandala
Puncak Mandala
Puncak Mandala , is a mountain located in Papua, Indonesia. Following Mount Carstensz 350 km to the east, Mandala is the second highest freestanding mountain of Oceania, Australasia, New Guinea and Indonesia.-Further reading:* at GunungBagging.com...
in the Indonesian part of New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
. This is the second highest mountain of Australasia, but is little known and rarely climbed (their ascent probably being only the second one). The film was made by Ginger Television (becoming SMG). Next Parry was chosen to lead the Children's BBC CBBC
CBBC
CBBC is one of two brand names used for the BBC's children's television strands. Between 1985 and 2002, CBBC was the name given to all the BBC's programmes on TV for children aged under 14...
expedition Serious Jungle
Serious Jungle
The Serious TV series is an observational documentary series made by the BBC and broadcast as part of their children's programming. It encompasses Serious Jungle , Serious Desert , Serious Arctic , Serious Amazon , Serious Andes , Serious Ocean and Serious Explorers...
, taking four boys and four girls aged 11 to 15 to Borneo to work with orangutans.
Also in 2002 Parry appeared as the straight-faced instructor opposite the inept survivalist Nick Frost
Nick Frost
Nicholas John "Nick" Frost is an English actor, comedian and screenwriter. He is best known for his work with Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg in the role of Mike Watt in the television comedy Spaced, as well as the film characters Ed in Shaun of the Dead, PC/Sgt...
in three episodes of Danger! 50,000 Volts!
Danger! 50,000 Volts!
Danger! 50,000 Volts! is a 2002 British television programme written and presented by Nick Frost, which presented viewers with various life-threatening scenarios and suggested ways out of these situations. The show was a spoof of the outdoors survival genre in which survival experts demonstrated...
The following year he made a return to the BBC1's Extreme Lives series making a programme with Debra Veal about a 700 km canoe race down the Yukon River
Yukon River
The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. The source of the river is located in British Columbia, Canada. The next portion lies in, and gives its name to Yukon Territory. The lower half of the river lies in the U.S. state of Alaska. The river is long and empties into...
in Canada entitled "Yukon Quest". The same year he returned to CBBC
CBBC
CBBC is one of two brand names used for the BBC's children's television strands. Between 1985 and 2002, CBBC was the name given to all the BBC's programmes on TV for children aged under 14...
to lead Serious Desert taking a similar group of children, this time to Namibia's Skeleton Coast
Skeleton Coast
The Skeleton Coast is the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean coast of Namibia and south of Angola from the Kunene River south to the Swakop River, although the name is sometimes used to describe the entire Namib Desert coast...
to work with the endangered Black Rhino. The following year Parry started filming the prime time BBC2 series Tribe
Tribe (TV series)
Tribe is a documentary television series co-produced by the BBC and the Discovery Channel, and hosted by former British Royal Marine Bruce Parry....
in which he lived with various tribal groups exactly as they do in order to better understand their culture.
The first series of Tribe saw Parry living with indigenous peoples in Gabon
Gabon
Gabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
and Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
. Next Parry was chosen to lead a group of expeditioners across Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
in the guise of Captain Robert Falcon Scott
Robert Falcon Scott
Captain Robert Falcon Scott, CVO was a Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, and the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition, 1910–13...
for a period remake of Scott's fateful last trip to the South Pole
South Pole
The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is one of the two points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth and lies on the opposite side of the Earth from the North Pole...
. Series two of Tribe was filmed wholly in Ethiopia as a journey between three different tribal groups. Series three of tribe was filmed in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, Polynesia
Polynesia
Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs...
, Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
, Bhutan
Bhutan
Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...
, Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
and Malaysia. In 2008, Parry journeyed for seven and a half months through Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
and Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
for his series entitled "Amazon" where he looked at such issues as cocaine, oil, logging, slavery, dams, soya, cattle ranching and disease epidemics amongst Indigenous Peoples. Awards for the work he has been involved in include BAFTA's, RTS
Royal Television Society
The Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...
Best Presenter and many Film Festival Awards.
In 2010, over the course of one bright Arctic summer, Parry immersed himself in the lives of people living in the Far North, and has recently released a book about his travels. From the Inuit of Greenland to Alaskan whalers and gold-diggers, Canadian oil-men, scientists, and bands of reindeer herders in the remote valleys of Siberia, Parry encountered first-hand the threats to culture, landscape and wildlife that are being felt there.
Campaigns for Survival
Currently, his series, "Arctic" is being shown on BBC2. His previous series AmazonAmazon (2008 TV series)
Amazon is a BBC documentary television series co-produced by the Endeavour Productions and Indus Films, and hosted by Bruce Parry.-Show content:...
is also being re-run on British TV. To link in with this series and his last one, Tribe, he put together a double album of twenty exclusive new songs from KT Tunstall
KT Tunstall
Kate Victoria "KT" Tunstall is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist from St Andrews, Scotland. She broke into the public eye with a 2004 live solo performance of her song "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on Later... with Jools Holland...
, Johnny Borrell
Johnny Borrell
Johnny Borrell is an English guitarist and singer, currently the frontman of the band Razorlight.-Early life and career:...
, A-ha
A-ha
A-ha were a Norwegian pop band formed in Oslo in 1982. The band was founded by Morten Harket , Magne Furuholmen , and Pål Waaktaar...
, Black-Eyed Peas, Hot Chip
Hot Chip
Hot Chip are an English electronic indie band. They have released four studio albums—Coming on Strong, The Warning, Made in the Dark and One Life Stand.-Formation:...
and more. The album is called Bruce Parry presents: Amazon/Tribe - Songs for Survival
Songs for Survival
Bruce Parry Presents Amazon - Tribe - Songs for Survival is a double album released by Kensaltown Records in support of a tribal peoples charity.-Background:...
. The first track on the album 'Ferreting' by supergroup 'Apparatjik' (who are releasing their own album later on, the band is made up of members of Coldplay, MEW, and A-ha) is used as the theme music for Amazon. The record label is Kensaltown Records and all profits go to Survival International
Survival International
Survival International is a human rights organisation formed in 1969 that campaigns for the rights of indigenous tribal peoples and uncontacted peoples, seeking to help them to determine their own future. Their campaigns generally focus on tribal peoples' fight to keep their ancestral lands,...
.
In a video for Survival about the recording of the album, Songs for Survival, Parry speaks on the importance of raising awareness for indigenous rights. He believes that if people understood the impact that our culture of greed and consumption has on the 'wonderful people' at the other end, they would act differently.
Spirituality
Parry was raised as a ChristianChristian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
but his experiences among the tribes have led him to believe in a sceptical form of pandeism
Pandeism
Pandeism or Pan-Deism , is a term describing beliefs incorporating or mixing logically reconcilable elements of pantheism and deism Pandeism or Pan-Deism (from and meaning "God" in the sense of deism), is a term describing beliefs incorporating or mixing logically reconcilable elements of...
:
Filmography
- Extreme Lives (2002)
- Serious JungleSerious JungleThe Serious TV series is an observational documentary series made by the BBC and broadcast as part of their children's programming. It encompasses Serious Jungle , Serious Desert , Serious Arctic , Serious Amazon , Serious Andes , Serious Ocean and Serious Explorers...
(2002) - Extreme Lives (2003)
- Serious Desert (2003)
- TribeTribe (TV series)Tribe is a documentary television series co-produced by the BBC and the Discovery Channel, and hosted by former British Royal Marine Bruce Parry....
(Three series - 2005, 2006, 2007) - Blizzard-Race to the Pole (2006)
- AmazonAmazon (2008 TV series)Amazon is a BBC documentary television series co-produced by the Endeavour Productions and Indus Films, and hosted by Bruce Parry.-Show content:...
(2008) - Arctic (2011)
Publications
- Tribe, by Bruce Parry (Penguin, 2007), ISBN 978-0-7181-4918-5
- Amazon, by Bruce Parry (Penguin, 2008), ISBN 978-0-7181-5434-9
- Arctic, by Bruce Parry with Huw Lewis-JonesHuw Lewis-JonesHuw Lewis-Jones is a British historian, editor, broadcaster and art director. Formerly historian and Curator of Art at the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, Dr Lewis-Jones left Cambridge in June 2010 to pursue a number of book and broadcasting projects...
(Conway, 2011), ISBN 978-1-84486-130-9 - Brazil by Bruce Parry with Mariah carter on the way
External links
- bruceparry.com
- Going Tribal on the Discovery Channel website
- Bruce Parry's Favourite Moments A collection of videos introduced by Bruce Parry on the BBC's Human Planet Explorer