Ex-Top Gear presenter on Jungle Quest for Sky

Sky has ordered Richard Hammond’s Jungle Quest, a two-part series in which the eponymous former Top Gear presenter heads to the Amazon to photograph exotic animals.

The special will be produced by Zodiak-owned UK prodco IWC, which produces curent Sky hit Wild Things, and go out on the UK satcaster in September on Sky 1. It will follow Hammond as he treks through the jungle and traverses the Amazon to reach remote spots and photograph rare animals.

Hammond will be seen taking shots of white-fronted capuchins, wattled jacana, Brazilian wandering spiders, tapyba ants and scorpions.

Hammond was part of the three-string presenting team on Top Gear until earlier this year, but left in the wake of the scandal surrounding fellow presenter Jeremy Clarkson, who was involved in a fracas with member of the crew on the motoring series.

Speaking about his new show, Hammond said: “Trekking through the Amazon rainforest with a camera to photograph wildlife was a childhood dream. The reality was, I discovered, far, far tougher than I had imagined, but the moments when I saw and caught images of the elusive creatures and fleeting encounters that make the place so special, so unique and yet so fragile were breathtaking and some of the best in my life.”

Siobhan Mulholland, commissioning editor factual, Sky Entertainment, added: “This is a different take on a trip to the Amazon Rainforest; it’s a personal travel tale and a much bigger story all in one.”