Hot Shots 2025: Billy Clapham

Over six years at the BBC Natural History Unit, Billy Clapham has repeatedly shown he can turn his hand to anything.

From detailed editorial research and contributor management to complex logistics, health and safety and the technical aspects of production, he’s repeatedly stepped up to the plate on blue-chip productions from BBC2’s Wild Scandinavia to BBC1’s Asia.

In 2023, after a live producer on Springwatch had to drop out at the last minute, Billy stepped in just weeks before the live TX and was rehired for the same job the following year. Again, on his current project Matriarch, on which he set up the shoot to film chimps in the rainforest, he filled in when series director James Mair fell ill.

“Chimps are one of the most challenging animals to follow, with complex health and safety and logistical arrangements,” says Mair. “Billy has found a way to navigate six decades of archive for a retrospective documentary, systematically, and shows skills for identifying complex behaviour and individual animals in a way that rivals our scientific consultants.”

Mair admires Clapham’s planning skills, interview preparation and confidence in raising potential production problems.

“As well as being passionate about the subject matter, I can trust Billy to run with a piece of work,” Mair says. “His clarity, good humour and emotional understanding mean the whole team, and our contributors, love working with him and see his potential shine through.”