Two old friends, binoculars and a wild goose chase through the moors of north Norfolk: it sounds like the stuff of jokes. But in Sam and Ada Go Birding it becomes something more impressive. On the surface, the three-part Channel 5 series starring actors Samuel West and Adrian Edmondson is about birds. But, as with Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing, the birds are only half the story. The other half is friendship, heartbreak, and the surprising ease with which two middle-aged men can talk about feelings while standing side by side and looking out over a swamp.
Adrian and Sam walk through Holkham Woods. (Image: Norfolk Wildlife Trust)
For All Creatures Great and Small star Samuel, the highlight of their wild goose chase in north Norfolk wasn’t ticking off a bird list, but a touching moment in a tiny village. Their journey to find pink-footed geese first took the couple to Holkham, where habitat including dunes and pine forests is an ideal location for spotting the birds, with the couple identifying black geese and sparrowhawks. They visited Gun Hill and in Clay Samuel took Adrian to church to see a stained glass window depicting a sparrow, a tribute to one of our most familiar birds.
“We came out and there were hundreds and hundreds of pink-footed geese flying around and going to roost,” Samuel says. “We were just talking about the death of my mother (much-loved actress Prunella Scales) – we filmed the Norfolk episode about a week after she died. It was just wonderful.
This combination of personal story and big-sky drama is typical of the series, which weaves stories of childhood, family and mental health through the practical business of finding birds. Samuel’s enthusiasm for bird watching runs deep. “I inherited my love for nature from my mother,” he says.
Sam and Adrian on the canal bridge at Clee and Salthouse Marsh. (Image: Norfolk Wildlife Trust)
“She grew up in the village. We always enjoyed going for walks together and she was a great gardener, but I got my birdwatching skills from my uncle. He was a soldier. He used to shoot birds, but then he stopped shooting and started watching them, and rightly so. It just became something special.”
Two decades ago, when Samuel ran the Crucible Theater in Sheffield, birds became his lifeline. “It was the first time I lived outside of London. It was very hard work and I wasn’t very good at it and I couldn’t sleep. I lived in the west end of the city, close to the Derbyshire border. I used to get up, drive into the center of the Derbyshire grouse moors and walk. I have pretty good ears and I would hear these songs that
I couldn’t identify. I got pretty good at birdsong. Birdsong was my drug. Also, when I was little, I always liked collecting things. I still do. Collecting or cataloging things is a very good way to make the world less confusing.”
Adrian and Sam walk along the dunes at Holkham. (Image: Norfolk Wildlife Trust)
This idea—bird watching as a way to make sense of a chaotic world—runs throughout the series. According to him, it’s a simple pastime. “It’s a very inexpensive hobby. Binoculars will help, but all you really need are your eyes, ears and a little curiosity. I sometimes call it the gentle art of noticing. I also find that it is very good at helping me forget about my own human problems.”
The path to Sam & Ade Go Birding was a little indirect. Samuel and Adrian first met in 2019 while filming Death in Paradise in Guadeloupe and bonded over their mutual support of lower league football teams.
“I think I recognized a computer guy,” Samuel recalls. “Adrian is a curious person in both senses. He has a lot of depth, but he’s also very interested in what’s around him. In Death in Paradise, none of us had anything to do. We stayed there for 11 days and only worked for four of them. He hired a car, drove around Guadeloupe and found that there was a little less to see than he thought, and I hired the best bird guide on the island and went to see a lot of birds.”
“We ate, drank and discussed the world in general,” says Adrian. “By the time we got back to the UK we were really good friends – we started going to pubs and inviting each other to barbecues.”
Sam and Ade at Clay Beach, North Norfolk. (Image: Norfolk Wildlife Trust)
During the pandemic, they met at their virtual pub, the Zoom Arms.
“Our visits to the Zoom Arms have been numerous, a lot of fun and probably very good for us from a mental health perspective,” says Adrian. “It’s quite strange when you make a new friend later in life. I’m in the unfortunate – but very common – situation of losing a few friends over the years, so this is very nice.”
Lockdown was also the start of Adrian’s birdwatching journey. “I was lucky enough to live in Devon, the sun was shining brightly and we had a great time with my daughter and her best friend. This was the first time I truly relaxed. I made a new vegetable bed. And it was during its creation that I became interested in birds. As I moved the soil and compost, it seemed like there were birds everywhere. The problem was that I didn’t know what it was. I was quite ashamed that I had lived to my age and did not know all the birds in my garden. After the robin and the mallard I was pretty confused… I asked Sam how to do it and he hooked me up to an app that will listen to the bird and tell you what it is. My life has changed!”
From then on, bird watching became one of his other hobbies. “I paint in watercolors, brew beer, play various string instruments. Bird watching is a new hobby and I think it’s here to stay.”
Sam and Adrian at Hyde in Clee and Salthouse Marsh. Norfolk Wildlife Trust. (Image: Norfolk Wildlife Trust)
When Samuel began talking to Channel 5 and producers Frank Films about a bird series, Adrian was the obvious person to share it with. “I asked Ade and 12 minutes later he emailed me back saying yes.” I knew it was the right choice.”
Adrian laughs that “there is generally accepted etiquette for responding to emails like this.”
Most people leave it for a couple of days before writing back: “What an interesting idea…” I responded immediately. Within five seconds.
On the field, the couple gets into a rhythm. There are long walks, shadowing, jokes and disagreements. Their attitudes towards birds also diverge in entertaining ways. Samuel is a classic kit lover who is delighted by the challenge of “tiny creatures hiding in the bushes”. Adrian likes the obvious.
Adrian and Sam in the reeds in Holkham, North Norfolk. (Image: Norfolk Wildlife Trust)
“Our two positions probably reflect how most people feel about birds and perhaps everything else in life: Sam is keen to see rarities and will travel (literally) to the ends of the earth to find them,” says Adrian. “I’m very excited to appreciate what’s in front of me.
This is an interesting philosophical division that gives the program more capabilities than just identifying birds in a dry, scientific way. Sam will be looking for a less spotted Yellow-browed Boston Strangler (or whatever), but I’m quite happy with a close-up robin.
Samuel learned a lesson from this. “Adrian enjoying a robin or redneck… made me think, ‘Don’t go after rarities, Sam, just because they’re on your list or you haven’t seen one in years.’
Sam and Adrian at Cley & Salthouse Marshs, North Norfolk. (Image: Channel 5)
Above all, the series shows how birdwatching – especially in landscapes like north Norfolk – can help men speak honestly. “Straight men can always talk about football,” Samuel muses, “but we’re less good at talking about losing a parent, losing weight, loneliness, depression or impending death. All these things are real. As a society we are getting better at discussing them, but I think there is a place for it when you enjoy what you do together. The fact that Adrian and I seem to find these conversations quite easy and at least as interesting as bird watching is something I find valuable and hope we can do more often.”
Two men in muddy wellies, binoculars and the big East Anglian sky: it’s more than just a wild goose chase. This is, quietly, a way to find your place in the world…
Sam and Ade Go Birding is available to watch on Channel 5 on demand.