Wildlife Filmmaker Doug Allan Kicks Off 2014 UK Speaking Tour Today

Multiple EMMY and BAFTA award-winning wildlife cameraman and photographer, Doug Allan, heads out this April to talk to audiences around the UK about his incredible experiences with some of the world's most majestic animals. Following on from his acclaimed Life Behind the Lens tours in 2012 and 2013, In the Company of Giants is an all-new show, full of new stories and fresh insights, told in Doug's inimitable style.

Doug has spent the last 25 years bringing the most remarkable sights in the natural world into our homes. His camera work features in the hugely successful BBC documentaries including Blue Planet, Planet Earth, Life and Frozen Planet. He has also covered expeditions to Everest, South America and Himalayas.

Illustrated with mesmerising footage and photographs from his film-making career, we'll hear how Doug overcame incredible odds to capture images of the planet's most magnificent animals. Audiences can ask Doug questions about his encounters and travels, and discover what it's like to be up close and personal with nature's biggest creatures.

Speaking about his new show, Doug says, "Big animals are my passion. I love sharing, first hand with audiences, what it's like to face a hungry polar bear, to swim eye to eye with an enormous Southern Right Whale - and talk about the excitement of being stalked by killer whales in the straits of Gibraltar. It's like live TV, only better!"

Doug continues to film across a range of projects. Shoots last year included a colony of Emperor penguins in Antarctica, a trip to the South Pole, Hammerhead Sharks in Galapagos for the conservation group Living Oceans Foundation and polar bears for the feature film Midnight Sun due for release later in 2014. He was with Chris Packham for the BBC series Inside the Animal Mind that has just screened on BBC 2. And right now he's back in Antarctica filming leopard seals with the Deadly 60 team.

The charismatic Scot has also featured in front of the lens, as the subject of BBC documentaries. In Ocean Giants he filmed whales and dolphins around the globe, while Wild Cameramen At Work singled him out as the most experienced polar cameraman in the world. He was one of the cameramen and presenters on Operation Iceberg.

Doug's recently published book, Freeze Frame, about his life as a polar and underwater cameraman, will be available to buy on the night.

The Dunfermline-born filmmaker began his career as a marine biologist and has been swimming with marine mammals for over 35 years. He spent seven years in Antarctica as a research diver, scientist and photographer for the British Antarctic Survey, before changing direction to full time filming in 1985.

Doug has been involved with over 60 films and series, and has worked for the BBC, Discovery, National Geographic, and many others.

His photographic awards include seven EMMYs and four BAFTAs. He has twice won the underwater category in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition and was awarded the Royal Geographical Society's Cherry Kearton Medal for his wildlife images. He has three Honorary Doctorates in recognition of his camerawork, as well as two Polar Medals. In 2012 he was made an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society

Click here for footage of Doug talking about his work, or visit www.dougallan.com.

Doug Allan In the Company of Giants Tour listings:

Tamworth
Tamworth Assembly Rooms Date & time: Tuesday 1 April (7.30pm) Ticket prices: £12.50 (£11 concessions) Booking info: 01827709618 / www.tamworthassemblyrooms.co.uk

Peebles
Eastgate Theatre and Arts Centre Date & time: Wednesday 2 April (7.30pm) Ticket prices: £12.50 (£10.50 concession, £5 for schoolchildren) Booking info: 01721 725 777 / www.eastgatearts.com

Langholm The Buccleuch Centre Date & Time: Thursday 3 April (7.30pm) Ticket Prices: £14.00 (£12.00 concessions) Booking Info: 01387381196 www.buccleuchcentre.com

Aberdeen Act Aberdeen Date& Time: Sunday 6 April (7.30pm) Ticket Prices: £16 (£14 concession, £12 for friends of ACT) Booking Info: 01224641122 / www.act-aberdeen.org.uk

Market Drayton Festival Drayton Centre Date & Time: Tuesday 8 April (7.30pm) Ticket Prices: £14 (£12.50 for friends) Booking Info: 01630 654444 / www.festivaldraytoncentre.com

Harrogate Harrogate Theatre Date & Time: Wednesday 9 April (7.30pm) Ticket Prices: £14 Booking Info: 01423 502116 / www.harrogatetheatre.co.uk

Middlesbrough Town Hall Crypt Date & Time: Thursday 10 April (7.30pm) Ticket Prices: £13.50 + booking fee Booking Info: 01642 729 729 / www.middlesbroughtownhallonline.co.uk

Stirling Macrobert Arts Centre Date & Time: Saturday 12 April (7.30pm) Ticket Prices: £15 (£12.50 concessions) Booking Info: 01786 466666 / www.macrobert.org

Edinburgh The Lyceum Date & Time: Sunday 13 April (7.30pm) Ticket Prices: £14 (£12.50 concessions) Booking Info: 0131 248 4848 / www.lyceum.org.uk

Stafford Stafford Gatehouse Theatre Date & Time: Thursday 17 April (7.30pm) Ticket Prices: £15.50 (£13.50 concessions) Booking Info: 01785 254 653 / www.staffordgatehousetheatre.co.uk

Greenock Beacon Arts Centre Date & Time: Saturday 19 April (7.30pm) Ticket Prices: £16 (£14 concessions) Booking Info: 01475 723723 / www.beaconartscentre.co.uk

Dunfermline Carnegie Hall Date & Time: Sunday 20 April (7.30pm) Ticket Prices: £18 Booking Info: 01383 602302 / www.onfife.com

Berwick The Maltings Theatre and Cinema Date & Time: Tuesday 22 April (7.30pm) Ticket Prices: Circle £16, Box Seat £18 (£14/£12.50 concessions, £7 Child) Booking Info: 01289 330 999 / www.maltingsberwick.co.uk

Malvern Malvern Theatres Date & Time: Wednesday 23 April (7.45pm) Ticket Prices: £15.65 Booking Info: 01684 892 277 / www.malvern-theatres.co.uk

Swansea Taliesin Arts Centre Date & Time: Friday 25 April (7.30pm) Ticket Prices: £15 Booking Info: 01792 60 20 60 / www.taliesinartscentre.co.uk

Stevenage The Gordon Craig Theatre Date & Time: Saturday 26 April (7.30pm) Ticket Prices: £17 (£15 concessions) Booking Info: 01438 363 200 / www.gordon-craig.co.uk

Exeter Exeter Corn Exchange Date & Time: Sunday 27 April (7.30pm) Ticket Prices: £15 Booking Info: 01392 665938/ www.exetercornexchange.co.uk

Wimborne Tivoli Theatre Date & Time: Tuesday 29 April (7.30pm) Ticket Prices: £16 (£15 concessions) Booking Info: 01202 885566 / www.tivoliwimborne.co.uk

Yeovil Octagon Theatre Date & Time: Wednesday 30 April (7.30pm) Ticket Prices: £15 Booking Info: 01935 422884 / www.octagon-theatre.co.uk

Great Torrington The Plough Arts Centre Date & Time: Thursday 1 May (7.30pm) Ticket Prices: £15 (£12 Concessions/ £10 Supporters) Booking Info: 01805 624624 / www.theploughartscentre.org.uk

Cheltenham Cheltenham Town Hall Date & Time: Friday 2 May (7.30pm) Ticket Prices: £15 Booking Info: 0844 576 2210 / www.cheltenhmtownhall.org.uk

Henley-On-Thames The Kenton Centre Date & Time: Saturday 3 May (2.30pm & 7pm) Ticket Prices: £16 (£14 concessions) Booking Info: 01491 575698 / www.kentontheatre.co.uk