Nat

It’s been four years in the making, now a staggering ‘real life’ Lion King tells the story of how one cub makes it all the way to the top

When the makers of National Geographic’s Lion started out on their four-year mission to tell the story of a pride of lions in the Masai Mara, they did not think they get the real-life version of The Lion King.

But after 52 shoots over 1400 filming days in Kenya and 1,000 hours of footage, they ended up focusing on the journey undertaken by eight-week old male Kio – the first natural history series to follow a lion throughout their full journey from a tiny cub to a king.

The four-part series is the brainchild of The Lion King director Jon Favreau and BBC Studios executive producer Mike Gunton, and has a score by renowned composer Hans Zimmer. Series producer Jane Atkins said it had been a rollercoaster of emotion. “We poured so much love into the project, so I just hope that passion comes through with the way audiences receive it. We want to make films that transport people.”

Lions have a high infant mortality rate, with more than 50% not making it past their second year – and male lions are notoriously hard to follow because they are always wandering off. Jane initially thought the main story would be about a female matriarch but she soon knew that Kio, who was incredibly close to his experienced mother Summer, had potential to become the main star. “I knew it was risky, because of all the statistics, but I was backing that story quite early on. To not have a clue right at the beginning what our end story was going to be was terrifying. But we thought we must be bold, ambitious and able to shift if we don’t get the story that we want. We were playing a very kind of high-stakes gamble the whole time.”

Mike said that when he pitched the project to National Geographic all those years ago, he could only do so in the vaguest terms. “My pitch was not to tell the Lion King, it was to tell the story of a lion pride,” he explained. “None of us knew that it would end up being a male but relatively quickly this male started to stand out as a potential character. But you’d be foolish to just follow him. We were following some adult females, we were following many other lions but as time went on, he became more and more a key character.

“As time goes on, it gets increasingly risky, because you’ve invested more and more in that individual, both emotionally and in terms of footage. As you get closer and closer to the end – which is when you run out of time and money – every day, you think, please don’t die, please don’t die.”

Across the four episodes Kio not only loses important family members, he also loses his home. But over time he proves himself an equal among his older brothers, becoming strong enough to fight rival males and together he and the brotherhood take over a new pride of females, and finally take control of a new kingdom.

Jane said she has found the filming process pulled at the heartstrings in more ways than one. “We were so in love with the characters, by the end I felt really emotional, not just because I was so proud of the team, but also – this sounds strange – I was so proud of this little cub who had made it. He had become this incredible adult male, and it’s like seeing my 14-year-old son, over those years, kind of become a man.”

She said the male lions had to fight hard to succeed, which wasn’t always easy to watch. “You feel incredibly protective, so it is like having your own son, and having to sort of let go of them a little bit.” She could only relax after three and a half years of filming. “We lived and breathed every second of it,” she said. “Jon Favreau was so nervous, he’d say ‘every time you phone me, I feel like you’re about to say something terrible’. His first question was always, ‘is Kio alive?’

At one point, one of the big characters does die and director of photography Sophie Darlington had to overcome her grief to carry on filming. “The way she died was incredibly sad,” Jane said. “We had meetings straight away in the office, and people were crying and there was a lot of upset, and then we had to ask Sophie to go back out to film the aftermath of what happened on Kio and the boys.”

Mike told the Mirror that it was nerve-wracking to make a drama featuring a cast over which they had no control with one of the biggest challenges simply keeping tabs on them. “They’re not collared so we rely on the guides to find them. Every morning before dawn you’d go to where you saw them last, and hope they’re there. If they’re not you drive around and hope that you can find them.”

He said the only script was the one that “nature has written” and explained: “Our job is to just gather and pick the moments of relevant excitement.”

He said the skills of those on the ground were phenomenal. “You are spending 90% of the time with nothing, and then, bang, something will happen almost out of the blue. That’s why the skills of the trackers and the camera teams are extraordinary, they know it’s coming, they’ve got that sixth sense.”

One shocking storyline involves Kio’s mother. “Viewers are going to be shocked by Summer’s story,” Mike warns. “We knew what happened, and it was an interesting filmmaking challenge, how you tell that story without the actual imagery. But you also have to be quite careful politically about how you frame that story.”

Mike found that while it was extremely challenging – it was also incredibly rewarding. “It’s been one of the most joyful things I’ve ever worked on. I say that because it all worked ou,” he laughed. “Imagine if after three and a half years they all died – I would probably be having a very different conversation.”

Mike, who works on many of the David Attenborough series for the BBC, added: “I know epic gets overused, but it does feel, genuinely, like an epic story. I think it’s a real privilege to do something that is this epic.”

In order to know precisely what they were filming, the team gave each lion its own identification card and quickly becoming expert at identifying up to 50 lions from different prides by name and family relationships.

The four episodes will be voiced by actor OJ Lynch – because Favreau wanted the series to use a “storyteller’s voice,” as if the audience was sitting around a campfire with an elder. Lynch previously played Mufasa in the West End version of The Lion King – and also used to work at BBC Studios’ Natural History Unit. “I knew him when he was a postboy about 40 years ago,” Mike says. “I just thought his voice was fantastic. I wanted a voice that wasn’t a famous voice but could be anybody from that part of the world, and Jon felt the same. We felt this was a story that could have been told at any time – 10 years ago, 100 years ago, a thousand years ago. It’s a story of all time.”

– Lion airs on National Geographic as a double bill from Thursday 20 August at 8pm and 9pm, and also streams on Disney +

England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt has been passed fit to return from injury for Thursday’s T20 World Cup semi-final against South Africa.

Sciver-Brunt, 33, who has not played since England’s second match of the tournament against Ireland after a recurrence of her calf issue, batted in the nets again on Wednesday morning.

She also trained on Tuesday at Lord’s and England have deemed her fit enough to return as her side attempts to win a World Cup for the first time since 2017.

“We are confident I am fully fit,” Sciver-Brunt told BBC Test Match Special.

Sciver-Brunt, who has used rare magnetic resonance therapy to help regain her fitness, is likely to replace Sophia Dunkley in England’s XI.

Batter Dunkley was seen in conversation with coach Charlotte Edwards shortly before Sciver-Brunt emerged to speak to the media.

While Sciver-Brunt batted for half an hour on Wednesday, appearing relatively free and able to come down the pitch to spinners, there are obvious risks involved.

She worked with England’s physio indoors at the start of the session but did not do any running or fielding drills outdoors.

There are less than 72 hours before Sunday’s final.

“We have tested it enough to be comfortable,” she said. “What will happen out on the pitch will happen.”

Assuming she comes through, Sciver-Brunt’s presence for the latter stages is a significant boost to England.

She is their best batter and, though Charlie Dean has stood up successfully in her absence, their captain. Sciver-Brunt, Heather Knight and Danni Wyatt-Hodge are the only players remaining from their last World Cup win.

England have lost their last two World Cup semi-finals against South Africa – at last year’s 50-over World Cup and the T20 version in 2023 – but go into Thursday’s match at The Oval as favourites, having progressed through the group stage unbeaten. They have also never lost a women’s international at The Oval.

South Africa have been unconvincing at times through this tournament but have reached the past three World Cup finals across formats as they chase their first World Cup win.

And captain Laura Wolvaardt admitted her batting line-up – blessed with powerful strokemakers such as Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Marizanne Kapp and Wolvaardt – has not been at “100%” and it has been “frustrating” they were not able to win games more comfortably.

“We have chatted about it, that if we do find ourselves in a position to kill the game earlier we are blessed with a lot of power in our line-up,” she said.

“We have that opportunity to go a bit earlier. Maybe tomorrow at The Oval suits us a bit better.”

Wolvaardt also swerved a question on whether she would be happy for Sciver-Brunt to have a substitute fielder, should the England captain injure her calf again.

Cricket’s laws state substitutes are allowed to replace players who suffer an injury during a match, rather than an issue carried in.

“As a captain it is always hard to plan for her,” Wolvaardt added.

“She is a world-class batter and is able to hit really weird areas.

“Setting a field is quite hard for her. Hopefully we are able to keep her quiet.”

Sciver-Brunt first injured her calf on 29 April, suffering what was then described by England as a “minor” tear when playing in domestic cricket.

She subsequently sat out series against New Zealand and India at the start of the international summer before returning for England’s World Cup warm-up matches.

The England captain came through warm-ups against Australia and India and the first match of the World Cup against Sri Lanka but reported ‘tightness’ in a win over Ireland 10 days ago.

She has not played since and England will either play their semi-final on Tuesday or Thursday next week, depending on other results.

“The one thing you need is time,” Worth said.

“You need time to allow the muscle to repair and then strengthen in the right way. Those timelines are tight, particularly given a history of previous injuries in the same area, but not impossible.”

Calf injuries are a regular issue for cricketers. England’s leading wicket-taker James Anderson had calf problems in the latter part of his career.

Worth said this is because of issues specific to cricket, like batters having to sprint from a standing start or bowlers slamming their front foot into the crease in their delivery stride, and the make-up of the muscle.

“You have two different types of tissue that come together,” he said. “You have your calf which is the upper bit and then the Achilles tendon.

“Wherever there are two types of tissue in terms of composition, that is often where there is a weak point.

“Things like taking a run, going from 0 to 100mph, are really difficult to replicate in rehabilitation.

“You have the immediate calming down on inflammation but tendons like load and need to strengthen.

“It is very difficult to get the balance between working the muscle enough and not pushing it too far.

“Quite often calf injuries are tricky because you feel like you have done the work and you put them back onto the field in a match situation and something goes again.”

England’s late wobble, in which Kemp was run out for two, comes with the caveat of the confusion caused by Sciver-Brunt’s retirement.

Earlier, faced with a low total, Wyatt-Hodge and Jones continued to attack but chipped catches to the ring for 16 and nine respectively. Capsey was bowled by a fine yorker by Orla Prendergast for five.

Afterwards, Sciver-Brunt and Knight’s composed partnership steered England to the brink of victory, until Knight was pinned lbw by Prendergast for 26.

The only England player who had a real off day was seamer Lauren Bell. She conceded a boundary with the first delivery of Ireland’s innings and was hit for four fours by Louise Little in a final over that cost 17 and boosted Ireland’s score.

In between, Ireland were unable to counter as England mixed spin with seam through the middle. Sophie Ecclestone took three wickets and Dani Gibson and Dean two apiece, as England dominated much of Ireland’s innings of 118-9.

Dean bowled accurately and found turn to induce false shots with 36% of her deliveries.

Ecclestone mixed her pace to have Rebecca Stokell stumped with a quicker ball and Arlene Kelly and Cara Murray gave looping catches and Gibson, who took 2-10 in two overs, had Ireland’s Prendergast bowled via an inside edge for 25.

Ireland, who limped on from 57-5, have now lost 19 T20 World Cup matches from 19, but this performance was more encouraging than Saturday’s defeat by Scotland.

They were good with the ball, but did not have enough runs to defend.