What's the story?
An emotional reunion.
Let me guess. You finally went to the hairdresser?
Even better. Animal Park is back for a new series. The documentary-style show charts life for the menagerie at Longleat Safari Park.
After the coronavirus pandemic saw the park close its doors for one of the longest periods since 1966, Kate Humble, Ben Fogle and Scotland's very own Jean Johansson return to find out how the animals and birds have been faring.
READ MORE: Doug Johnstone on how spending time with a funeral director inspired his latest novels
What's the lowdown?
Well, Preston, the overweight armadillo, has not only managed to shed some pounds (possibly the only creature in the British Isles to do so during lockdown) but also got himself the girl.
Nice work. Anything else?
New episodes will air each weekday morning with forays into the hidden world of hyenas and the dentistry secrets revealed by elephant dung (yes, really).
There is an aloof cockatoo, a portly monitor lizard in need of a lifestyle overhaul, an escaping pygmy goat, an ostrich who thinks he is a zebra and a bachelor fennec fox seeking a soulmate.
READ MORE: Matt Haig on parallel universes, overcoming regrets and his mantle as a mental health figurehead
Touching upon more poignant subject matter, two keepers share their specialist knowledge working with koalas as they lend a hand during the Australian bushfire rescue effort in a segment filmed earlier this year.
When can I watch?
Animal Park returns to BBC One, Monday, 10am.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here