SMALL-SCREEN SHUKER SIGHTINGS - A CLICKABLE COLLECTION OF MY TV APPEARANCES

 Screenshot from one of my appearances on GMTV during the early 1990s (© Dr Karl Shuker/GMTV – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

I tend to be elusive, and reclusive, at the best of times (almost as much, in fact, as the cryptids that I investigate!). So it should come as no surprise to learn that anyone who knows me well will tell you that appearing on television is something that I loathe doing – as in loathe with an absolute, abiding passion. And here's why.

Firstly, as is also true with a surprising number of actors (surprising in the sense that because they do it as a profession, one might therefore expect them to be long since accustomed to this), I simply don't like seeing, or hearing, myself on the small screen – never have done, never will.

Secondly, I abhor the devious, dubious practices that TV interviewees are sometimes subjected to – such as (very) selective editing of recorded interviews prior to their actual screening, including slyly presenting the interviewee's words out of context; and unexpectedly assailing the interviewee in live programmes with deliberately provocative questions that are unrelated to the subject officially under discussion and are specifically designed to confuse and/or ridicule the interviewee.

Thirdly, there is the not insignificant matter of some TV companies doing their utmost to avoid offering the interviewee a fee for their appearance, for travel expenses, or for their time spent providing TV show researchers with masses of free information – information, moreover, that is then frequently used in those TV shows but without giving their unpaid source any onscreen credit or recognition either. And so on…

  Screenshot from one of my favourite TV appearances, being interviewed by Richard & Judy on This Morning in 1995 (© Dr Karl Shuker/This Morning – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

Consequently, once I had achieved a measure of ongoing success with my writing career, i.e. by the late 1990s, I made a conscious decision to bow out of TV appearances whenever possible and allow my books and articles do my talking for me instead – a decision that I've adhered to ever since (although I do not totally rule out future TV appearances if the subject to be discussed is sufficiently enticing and the TV company involved is one that I feel happy to work with).

Prior to my retirement from the small-screen showbiz world, however, I had taken part in quite a variety of high-profile TV shows, and had obtained recordings of a fair few of them, especially those that I'd actually enjoyed participating in, and which had not subjected me to any of the unpleasant practices outlined above. Moreover, because those latter interviews also contained information that I considered may be of interest to other cryptozoological enthusiasts, during the past few years I've uploaded them onto YouTube in order to make them readily available to viewers, and also, hopefully, to preserve them long after I'm no longer here to do so personally.

There may be other such recordings lurking in my archives that I've overlooked (and there are also currently on YT some TV programmes or videos uploaded by other YT users that feature me). In addition, I know that I have a number of my many radio interviews preserved on audio cassette tapes that I have yet to convert into MP3 files and upload onto YT. Meanwhile, however, in order to enable easy access to what is already there, it has occurred to me that a directly clickable list of those recordings would be highly beneficial to potential viewers. And so, as they used to say in the classic UK children's TV show Blue Peter, here's one I made earlier:

[NB – These interviews are not arranged in strict chronological order because I don't have precise recording dates for some of them, so  I cannot be absolutely certain 30-odd years down the line which was produced first in certain cases, but they were all recorded during the 1990s unless stated otherwise. One clue to their correct chronological order, however, may be derived from taking note of how much, or how little, hair I still possess in each of them!]

  Being interviewed by Anthea Turner on GMTVduring the early 1990s (© Dr Karl Shuker/GMTV– reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

 

Interview in early 1990s with Anthea Turner on UK breakfast TV show GMTV re mystery cats.

Interview in early 1990s with Michael Wilson on UK breakfast TV show GMTV re mystery cats.

Interview in early 1990s with Lorraine Kelly on UK breakfast TV show GMTV re mystery cats.

Interview in early 1990s with Mike Morris on Live Wire, screened by former UK Cable TV channel Wire TV, re mystery cats.

  Screenshot from my interview with Mike Morris on Live Wire during the early 1990s (© Dr Karl Shuker)

Interview in 1993 with Andy Crane on former Saturday morning ITV show What's Up Doc re new and rediscovered animals as featured in my book The Lost Ark (1993).

Part 1 of an extensive three-part interview in 1993 with John Hammond on former UK Cable TV channel Wire TV re new and rediscovered animals, plus cryptozoology in general.

Part 2 of an extensive three-part interview in 1993 with John Hammond on former UK Cable TV channel Wire TV re new and rediscovered animals, plus cryptozoology in general.

Part 3 of an extensive three-part interview in 1993 with John Hammond on former UK Cable TV channel Wire TV re new and rediscovered animals, plus cryptozoology in general.

  Screenshot of Richard Uridge wearing my self-customised biker's jacket in a Midlands Today news report, autumn 1993 (© Dr Karl Shuker/Midlands Today – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

Something different: Two local TV news reports from autumn 1993 re a then-current Black Leather Jacket museum exhibition featuring one of my own self-customised biker jackets (seen being worn by motorbike-riding Midlands Today presenter Richard Uridge in the second news report).

Interview re British mystery cats in an episode of the 1994 TV documentary series Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious Universe, narrated by Carol Vorderman.

[and here, uploaded by someone else, is the entire episode]

Part 1 of the three-part cryptozoology-themed mid-1990s interview with myself and veteran Nessie seeker Steve Feltham by husband-and-wife TV presenters Richard Madeley & Judy Finnegan on UK breakfast TV show This Morning.

Part 2 of the three-part cryptozoology-themed mid-1990s interview with myself and veteran Nessie seeker Steve Feltham by husband-and-wife breakfast TV presenters Richard Madeley & Judy Finnegan on UK breakfast TV show This Morning.

Part 3 of the three-part cryptozoology-themed mid-1990s interview with myself and veteran Nessie seeker Steve Feltham by husband-and-wife breakfast TV presenters Richard Madeley & Judy Finnegan on UK breakfast TV show This Morning.

  Screenshot of my live appearance on Sky News, mid-1990s (© Dr Karl Shuker/Sky News – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

Live interview in mid-1990s on Sky News re the Bodmin Beast.

Interview re Morgawr the Cornish sea monster in Season 3, Episode 2 of the UK ITV documentary series Strange But True?presented by Michael Aspel; this episode was first screened on 6 September 1996.

Part 1 of my three-part mid-/late 1990s interview for UK monthly mysteries magazine Fortean Times on the subject of cryptozoology.

Part 2 of my three-part mid-/late 1990s interview for UK monthly mysteries magazine Fortean Times on the subject of cryptozoology.

Part 3 of my three-part mid-/late 1990s interview for UK monthly mysteries magazine Fortean Times on the subject of cryptozoology.

  Screenshot from my three-part Fortean Timesinterview (© Dr Karl Shuker/Fortean Times– reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only

Interview in late 1990s re British mystery cats, on former UK TV news programme 3D, presented by Julia Somerville.

  Speaking at the CFZ's 2007 Weird Weekend conference (© Mark North)

Speaking at the official launch of my first CFZ Press-published book, Extraordinary Animals Revisited (2007), during the CFZ's 2007 Weird Weekend conference.

Speaking at the official launch of my second CFZ Press-published book, Dr Shuker's Casebook (2008), during the CFZ's 2008 Weird Weekend conference.

  Snapped with CFZ friend Nichola Sullings at the CFZ's 2008 Weird Weekend conference (© Dr Karl Shuker)

Something different: my poem 'Airport' being read aloud by Silas Hawkins, from my first published poetry collection, Star Steeds and Other Dreams (2009).

Something different: my poem 'The Loch Ness Monster' being read aloud by Silas Hawkins, from my first published poetry collection, Star Steeds and Other Dreams (2009).

Speaking re giant spider reports documented in my book Mirabilis (2013), in an excerpt from a lengthy radio interview on Coast To Coast AM, first broadcast in 2013.

  Lecturing at the very first Fortean TimesUnConvention, in 1994; as far as I am aware, however, no video recording of my presentation exists – but I'd be happy to be informed otherwise, and even happier to be able to view any such recording! (© Lars Thomas)

 

Sadly, my TV debut (and still among my favourite small-screen appearances) is not included in the above list, because so far it does not appear to have been uploaded onto YT by anyone – fyi, it was in a 1987 TSW (Television South West) documentary entitled The Beast of Exmoor. However, I do own an official VHS video recording of the entire programme, kindly gifted to me by TSW, so it is not lost (which is very fortunate, because TSW closed down at the end of 1992).

Moreover, as I mentioned earlier here, I may have in my archives some additional TV recordings featuring me, plus cassette recordings of various radio interviews with me that I definitely have, all of which I'll upload onto YT at some stage. Once I do, I'll insert clickable links to them in this present listing. So be sure to check back here from time to time if you'd like to access them for future viewings (and listenings – hey, did I just invent a new word??).

Finally, I can't go without mentioning one of the most popular ploys that TV companies have tried when attempting to solicit my services for free – namely, emphasizing all the publicity that I'll derive from appearing on or assisting their show. Every time I've received that spiel, I've had to exert severe self-control in order to prevent myself from answering back with the withering reply that British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood allegedly gave when responding to a similar statement in a similar situation: "Darling, I don't NEED the publicity!" Wonderful!

  Just in case you thought that I'd forgotten – here am I with Mom and Chris Tarrant after my appearance on a certain TV quiz show a long, long time ago… (© Dr Karl Shuker)