The Ark: The Political Animal

The third episode in documentary filmmaker Molly Dineen’s BAFTA-winning series The Ark.

The Political Animal is the third in a quartet of films in which director Molly Dineen reveals the inner workings of London Zoo as the institution is rocked by uncertainty and change. This episode builds towards a cliff-hanger ending, through a series of beautifully interconnected scenes with the keepers, and glimpses of management meetings held as the political and financial crisis comes to a head. As the title suggests, this is the beginning of a battle of wits and nerve between the free market culture represented by the management and the world of scientific endeavour and conservation represented by a group of keepers and fellows of the ZSL.

Winner of Best Factual Series at the BAFTA TV Awards in 1993.