Michaela Strachan and Chris Packham have become firm friends after working together for decades. But they’re never exempt from the occasional discord, even at work.

Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan team up once again for Springwatch(Image: CREDIT LINE:BBC Studios/Olli Hillyer-Riley)

Their friendship stands the test of time, but even great pals like Michaela Strachan and Chris Packham have their own disagreements.

As Springwatch turns 20, Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan will showcase three weeks of wildlife from the National Trust’s Longshaw Estate in the beautiful Peak District.

Celebrating two decades of peeking in nests, badger setts, otter holts and waterways, Springwatch still has tales to tell. There’s an exciting new strand called Springwatch Street, which will lift the lid on the natural neighbours of one Sheffield street, which reveals foxes, badgers, hedgehogs and a nest of swifts living undetected under residents’ noses.

There will be a lot of surprises,” says Michaela, 59. “If you watch your garden in the day, you’ll see the birds come, but what comes out at night is going to be really interesting.

And what’s going on in the undergrowth. It’s the small stuff that is always so interesting and hopefully that will inspire people to do even more in their gardens. We’ll give tips to encourage people to help particular insects or worms or caterpillars for instance.”

Michaela loves the wildlife on the show, but she also loves her co-presenter Chris, who she first started out with on The Really Wild Show in the 1990s. “Not only are we friends, and we know each other’s personal lives, but people have watched us growing up on telly,” says Michaela.

“We’re great friends,” says Chris, 64. “We know each other really well, so sometimes we may disagree about something, and the team may look at us and think, ‘Oh my goodness, the presenters have fallen out!’ But we haven’t. We don’t get upset about those things.

We don’t have to agree about everything. We just move on. So, the fact that we’re great, lifelong, trusted mates helps, but also that we work in very different ways in terms of way that we approach our job.”

Chris and Michaela have been friends for years – and they feel comfortable around each other enough to make room for the occasional discord(Image: BBC)

Michaela hopes Springwatch continues for another 20 years because she believes that connecting with nature is vital for our mental health and for our wellbeing. However, in the 13 years Michaela has been part of Springwatch, she’s noticed the impact climate change is having on our wildlife.

“I think it’s getting more and more important because climate change has changed the world we live in and there is less and less wildlife,” says Michaela.

“Over the years I’ve done the show, I’ve seen it’s much harder to find the wildlife to film, even in places that are managed for wildlife. Even in managed reserves we’re sometimes struggling.

And we need to keep people connected. That’s what it’s all about – it’s getting people connected to wildlife, making people realise how important wildlife is, and making people realise how good it is for their mental health and wellbeing. Intrinsically, we’re supposed to be connected to wildlife. By losing that, we’re losing part of ourselves as a human species.”

Chris agrees that Springwatch is important because it encourages us to take time out from our lives and focus on the world around us. “Springwatch is one of those programmes that gives you the opportunity to stop and think about the little things in life that you may not have spent enough time focusing upon,” says Chris.

The pair are returning to screens for Springwatch alongside Iolo Williams(Image: CREDIT LINE:BBC Studios/Jo Charlesworth)

“I love the things that I didn’t know sort of existed. Tree slugs for instance, I had seen slime trails up trees when I was a kid but I’d never bothered to come up with the answer.

And then someone said that these creatures live on the ground in the daytime and they go to the tops of the trees at night, and they felt like a complete revelation.”

Chris’ personal highlight from the last two decades is when Spinless Si, the stickleback fish became famous across the land. “If I had to pick one thing that really encapsulated the program’s success, it would be in Minsmere, with Spinless Si, the stickleback,” says Chris.

“Because we managed to turn a five centimetre small common fish into a national treasure that featured on the news across TV, Radio and national newspapers.”

Chris believes the key to the show’s success is involving its audience and focusing on wildlife that viewers can seek out for themselves.

He says, “We also deliberately focus upon a lot of back garden wildlife, things that people know, that they already share with their communities, whether that is foxes or hedgehogs or blackbirds or blue tits.

And then we show people the intricacies of their life, stories which otherwise they wouldn’t be able to see, because we’ve got the technology to do it.”