Bertie Gregory

Stories

TV is ready for a big, busy Earth Day

Each year, a few TV networks remind us that Earth Day is still important.
There is, after all, still an Earth; there is a day (April 22) to celebrate it. And there are gifted filmmakers, with high-tech equipment.
So nature shows will abound that day on broadcast (PBS), cable (National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild, Animal Planet) and streaming (everyone).
Here are details. We’ll start with one advance marathon (April 18) and end with a few post-Earth Day shows, plus streamers that are available any time. Other than that, however, everything is on Wednesday, April 22: Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 15, 2026
Stories

Penguins waddle wisely through hot/cold worlds

Not all animals are telegenic, you know.
We rarely see a good film about anteaters, moles or wild boars. But penguins (shown here) are always ready for their close-ups.
“They’re so much like people … very relatable,” said filmmaker Bertie Gregory, whose charming “Secrets of the Penguins” debuts from 8-11 p.m. Sunday (April 20) on the National Geographic Channel, then repeats on Earth Day (April 22).
In a way, penguins have the qualities of an ideal date: They’re cute and available.
“Most filmmakers are hidden behind bushes, shooting with a Zoom lens,” Gregory, 31, said. But penguins don’t mind company; at times, they’ll visit the human and stare with curiosity. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / April 14, 2025
Stories

“Weird” kid became nature’s storyteller

For a few folks, childhood obsessions and adulthood careers merge neatly.
Most of us don’t get to be superheroes or rock stars. Bertie Gregory (shown here), however, still obsesses on nature the same way he did when, he says, “everyone thought I was a bit weird.”
And sometimes, the old dreams and new ones blend.
As a kid, he marveled at how Charles Darwin used the Galapagos Islands to figure evolution. Now one of his six episodes of “Animals Up Close with Bertie Gregory” – which arrives Wednesday (Sept. 13) on Disney+ — brought his first trip to the islands. “You can see everything in action,” he said. Read more…

By Mike Hughes / September 11, 2023