If you missed Our Tiny Islands when it first aired, or if you don’t use streaming services, the series is airing again on Channel 4 from 1 October.
Back in May, I nervously sat down to watch Our Tiny Islands and see how Lundy—and I—would appear on television.
Now the whole series is being shown again, this time on Channel 4 from 1 October, giving people who don’t use streaming services the opportunity to watch it, perhaps for the first time. It also gives me an excuse to reflect on what it was like to see months of filming condensed into a television programme.
Watching yourself on television is a strange experience. While I knew what happened behind the scenes, I realised how the editing process made me feel-sometimes proud, sometimes vulnerable-highlighting the emotional journey behind the final product.
Seeing Lundy from above
One of my favourite parts of the programme was the drone footage of the quarry.
Seeing Lundy from above gave me a completely different perspective, and it made me realise how aerial views can inspire wonder and curiosity in viewers, encouraging them to see familiar places in new ways.
It reminded me that even after living on Lundy for so long, there are still ways of seeing the island that can surprise me.
I was also really pleased to see my Haikus in the Hut project included.
The old typewriter in Felix Gade Hut has a special meaning for me. I set it up so people could sit down and write a few words about their experience of Lundy, and I loved seeing some of those haikus used as voice-over in the programme. I thought that worked particularly well.
People keep asking me whether the typewriter is still in the hut. Sadly, it is now back on the mainland.
But having seen it on television, I’m tempted to bring it back. Perhaps it still has a little more writing to do.
The swimming, the diving and the NACHOS
Then there was the swimming.
The footage of me swimming from the Jetty looked great, although I wasn’t quite so sure about the bit where I was struggling to get changed in my towel robe while being interviewed!
Ian, Lundy’s carpenter, got a great cameo role too, diving into the water.
(There are snippets on YouTube)
And then there was my voice.
I worried about how I would look on television—you know the old saying that the camera adds weight—but I hadn’t anticipated how loud I would sound.
Especially in the Tavern.
All I could hear was:
“NACHOS!”
A lady I served in the Tavern recently told me that she had enjoyed seeing herself on television. I didn’t really notice who I was serving as I was distracted by my own enthusiastic announcement about nachos.
I did wonder afterwards why they hadn’t filmed me serving Teresa’s fantastic game pie instead. It might have shown a slightly different side of my Tavern life!
The bits that didn’t make it
Perhaps the most interesting thing about watching the finished programme was noticing what wasn’t there.
I had hoped that some of my walks around the island might feature. Walking from Millcombe Gate up towards the Tavern, or heading down towards Quarry Pond, are ordinary parts of my life on Lundy, but they are also some of the places where I feel most connected to the island.
Those walks didn’t make the final programme.
I was also told I was walking too fast during filming. Apparently, my normal walking pace wasn’t particularly helpful for television!
So when they filmed me walking down the beach road towards my swim, I deliberately slowed right down. I don’t think I have ever walked that slowly down the beach road in my life.
I spent an hour sitting on the double benches at the end of Millcombe, feeling the cold seep in as we filmed a Q&A. That quiet, chilly moment, which became voice-over, made me realize how much effort and patience go into creating just a few minutes of television-something I think viewers will find fascinating.
It made me realize just how much effort and patience go into creating a short programme, helping viewers appreciate the dedication behind the scenes and fostering respect for the process.
Hours of waiting, walking, talking and repeating things can eventually become just a few minutes on screen.
Seeing Lundy through someone else’s lens
I was particularly pleased to see Tara, the Assistant Warden, featured, as her presence truly captures Lundy’s marine life. Ian’s inclusion in the next series excites me, especially since his allotment and fishing scenes showcase the island’s community, making the series more meaningful for viewers who enjoy seeing how the community live.
For me, though, the most fascinating part has been seeing how the programme came together.
When you’re being filmed, you have no idea what the finished story will look like. You might spend an hour sitting on a bench, walk the same stretch of path several times, or answer the same question in different ways. Then months later, you sit down in your living room and discover what the production team decided to tell.
That’s probably what stayed with me most-the realization of all the unseen moments, like waiting and repeating, that shape the story, helping viewers feel more connected and understanding of the effort involved.
The programme showed one version of Lundy: the quarry from above, swimming from the Jetty, life in the Tavern, the typewriter in Felix Gade Hut and the people who live and work here.
My version of Lundy also includes the walks that didn’t make the edit, the quiet moments, the weather, the waiting, the everyday conversations and all those small things that happen when the cameras have gone home.
Both are real. They are simply different ways of seeing the same island.
Our Tiny Islands on Channel 4
If you missed Our Tiny Islands when it first aired, or if you don’t use streaming services, the series is airing again on Channel 4 from 1 October.
I’m looking forward to seeing the programme again, particularly now that I know what made the final edit.
Although I suspect I’ll still be listening out for one particular word.
NACHOS.
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