Wildly in love

LOVE might be in the air at Leopard’s Den as Stephen Tompkinson and Dawn Steele return for the fifth series of Wild At Heart, but breathing up the nose of a lioness became more important for Tompkinson as he shot scenes as vet Danny Trevanion.

The Stockton actor says: “It was an amazing experience. We were filming with a white lion that was having some fluid removed from its elbow in real life and when it was put under anaesthetic we got to shoot our scenes with it.

“In our storyline the lion had stopped breathing and we were going to have to breathe for it.

So whilst he is waiting for Alice (Steele) to get a tube to put down the animals throat, Danny has to breathe up the nose of this lion himself.

“I was sort of mouth to snout but her eyes are open throughout the whole thing so it was very unnerving. Paul, our vet throughout the whole five series, said we had to pull the tongue out as far as it could and when it starts to go back in, you know the lion is coming back round.

“The hyena that we filmed with the other day, its tongue was definitely starting to go back in and the vet said that we literally had one more take to get our scene done and to just get the hell out of there.

Especially as they have one of the most powerful bites in the animal kingdom.”

His character is a year on with his romance with Alice and is planning to propose when his stepdaughter Olivia (played by Olivia Scott-Taylor) arrives back from England. But while Danny wants to give Olivia time to get used to his relationship with Alice, his girlfriend starts working at rival game reserve Mara.

“I think Alice loses sight of what she had working with Danny and it takes them a while to get back on the right path.

Danny wonders if he is moving with the times as men are supposed to do when they hit a certain age. Danny likes things done his way and he does sort of interfere in her work.

Eventually he finally plucks up the courage to ask her to marry him again...”

During the series, Danny’s career is threatened. What does that mean to him?

“It wouldn’t just be taking away his livelihood, but also his identity. He goes through that crisis of what use would he be not being able to assist Alice when there are animals potentially in pain. He has to reevaluate his life and he needs time to do this and he finds Leopard’s Den a bit claustrophobic so he thinks about going back to England to sort himself out.”

Tompkinson relished the challenge of filming a night shoot with a lion.

“It was great. We found yet another new location which I didn’t know existed in a valley that looks quite threatening to be trapped in, especially with a loose lion on the prowl. And night fall is the time they usually go out to feed, so filming three nights in a row it had a real sequence feel to it.

The lion behaved as good as gold although there’s always a lot of noises you have never heard before so the surroundings take on a character of their own in the dark.”

This is his fifth year filming Wild At Heart. Is South Africa a second home to him now?

“Yes completely. I miss it when I’m back in England, especially the animals. I enjoy sharing the space with them and the more time I spend with them the more interesting it becomes to me.

“I do dream about the animals when I’m not here so if I couldn’t film here anymore I would still definitely come back and see them.”

He also spent time last year shooting a balloon documentary in Africa and says of the experience: “Because of our tight filming schedule on Wild at Heart we don’t really get a chance to do much travelling around Africa so getting the chance to balloon around for six weeks across five different countries was just spectacular.

“Seeing Victoria Falls in all its glory was fantastic. I’ve been asked to do another one around Australia this year so we are just sorting out dates at the moment. I’m glad it was so successful.”

■ Wild At Heart, ITV1, Sunday, 8.30pm