Wildlife filmmaker Gordon Buchanan is hitting the road again in early 2026 with the return of his live show Lions and Tigers and Bears, inspired by the iconic line from The Wizard of Oz.
Fresh from filming lions, leopards and cheetahs in Botswana and Kenya for BBC One’s Big Cats 24/7, Buchanan said he is “really excited” to bring the show back to audiences after a packed year of travel and production.
“2025 has been a crazy year, starting with the first outing of the tour, and I’ve rounded it off with filming again in Botswana and Kenya,” he said. “I’m very spoilt seeing lions and tigers and bears in the wild – so it’s exciting to be able to tour the country and share these stories with thousands of people.”
The award-winning filmmaker, often hailed as Scotland’s answer to David Attenborough, promises audiences extraordinary insights into his encounters with some of nature’s most powerful predators — from the speed needed to outrun a sloth bear to what it feels like to bottle-feed a grizzly or come face-to-face with a polar bear in the Arctic.
Buchanan believes the public’s enduring fascination with big cats and bears comes from a deep-rooted instinct.
“These iconic creatures trigger a primal fear dating back to prehistory, when humans lived alongside lions and bears and had to use knowledge and fear to stay safe,” he said. “But funnily, these animals are also welcomed into our homes. Every house has a teddy bear.”
The filmmaker — whose 30-year career began after a chance meeting at a pub on the Isle of Mull — recently took his artist daughter Lola to Botswana, describing the trip as a “full circle moment”.
“Sitting and watching a lion or baboon with your grown-up child, through their fresh eyes, has been really lovely,” he said. “I realised how fortunate I am to have experienced what I have in my career.”
Buchanan also reflected on the stark environmental changes he has witnessed over three decades, from declining big-cat populations to the rapid loss of the Amazon rainforest.
“The single biggest problem facing the planet and its wild places is humans,” he said. “Big animals need big landscapes, and they are disappearing.”
Despite the challenges, he remains optimistic: “There are amazing things being done to rewild and renature parts of the world. I have a platform, and the positive can inspire young people.”
Lions and Tigers and Bears tours the UK from January 2026 and hits Swindon’s Wyvern Theatre on 5th Feb.
More information and tickets are available at gordon-buchanan.co.uk.
