Bush Tucker Man

One of the best nature series I have ever watched Introduced by Major Les Hiddens, who looks less like an army major than you would imagine. He travels the length and breadth of Australia explaining about the aboriginal bush tucker, showing us such things as honey ants, witchery grubs and so on. Les is a natural on television, interesting and enthusiastic and great fun to watch. If it turns up on your local station give it a whirl, the title isn't very inspiring, but, the programme is. About 10 years ago, Les introduced a series on great survival stories of Australia, but, sadly, nothing since. Couldn't Australian TV commission another series introduced by this terrific bloke? About time for a repeat on Discovery I think.

This is a great series. It started when ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corp) discovered that there was a fellow called Les Hiddins going around the north collecting bush tucker information for the Department of Defense. They sent a production crew with helicopter to follow him around, which became the basis of this series.

Les (who was ill a few years ago but has since recovered), became a natural in front of the camera and recounts his adventures, nature and bush tucker found in Australia's outback. He is one of the most respected 'whites' by the aboriginal Australians that inhabit the places he visits.

There were two series. The first one, eight episodes from 1987 and a second one with another eight episodes following soon after. An additional series called "Stories of Survival" was completed in 1995 where Les talks about eight of the best known explorers of early Australia.

I have taped all episodes of the series when they were shown on the Discovery Channel (Europe) as well as the "Stories of Survival." The ABC shop sells books, interactive CD-ROM based software and DVDs of these series so you can find the DVD for home viewing.

Les lives in Townsville, Queensland, Australia.

All in all a great series, and a great inventive to explore nature wherever you are.

This series captivated me as a youngster and I've been hooked on the bush ever since. I rediscovered this series last year and have been showing them to my young kids. I was startled to see Les on Youtube dated a few years ago looking very old. Follow Les as he documents his exploits working for the Australian army cataloging bush tucker. I love Les' dry sense of humour and his relaxed style and I reckon you will too.

A great show I used to watch when I was a kid and it's still relevant today. I never get tired of the advice and the locations that Les explores as well as the history he explains.