Episode 1

Animal Park is at Longleat Safari Park to celebrate a magical Christmas. The keepers are working hard to ensure their creatures are ready for the winter, whilst Ben Fogle and Kate Humble are set to deliver us a huge slice of festive spirit and heartwarming tales.

Joy spreads across the park as the keepers welcome some early Christmas presents – lots of new animal arrivals from afar. There are furry binturongs, cute fennec foxes, adorable dik diks and some jumpy ostriches. We follow their first steps into the park as the keepers nervously mix them with the current residents. Will it be love at first sight – or claws at dawn?

The safari park has a long history of vital animal conservation, not least with its successful cheetah breeding programme. But no amount of keeper match-making has been able to encourage cheetah Carl to mate with Rachel. He simply cannot forget his long-term love, Wilma. The keepers have a tough decision to make. Do they give up on forging this new relationship, or do they reunite Carl and Wilma for Christmas? It’s got all the ingredients of a Christmas ‘romcom’ but with claws! Will Wilma take him back after two years of separation?

Elsewhere, Christmas arrives at the elephant house when Anne gets her own tree, and Jean Johansson helps some turkeys celebrate Christmas – perhaps the only ones in the country!