I don’t know if Matt Berry has ever done the voiceover for a real wildlife documentary but, boy would it liven them up if he was given free reign by the nature department’s Clem Fandangos. Following the success of Berry’s previous comedic short, Lone Wolf, he is on more romantic ground with this Valentine’s Day follow-up, Wild Love, looking at nature’s mating rituals. Mostly brightly coloured birds and frogs doing what comes naturally.
The beauty is in the contrast between Berry’s mellifluous tones and his unbridled potty mouth: “look at the fucker move” is one of his more restrained descriptions of the action*. It is not the most original of ideas – Stewart Lee used to do a filthy version of Morgan Freeman's March of the Penguins – but the footage is from real documentaries and is so good it is almost worth watching in its own right even without Berry’s guerilla verbals. Imagine a smuttier David Attenborough or a vulgar Johnny Morris (ask your dad) on Animal Magic. Perhaps one day all nature documentaries will have a voiceover like this. I certainly hope so.
*Script by Bob Mortimer
Watch Matt Berry: Wild Love here.