Piers Gibbon
| Piers Gibbon | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality | British | ||||
| Occupation | Television presenter, radio host and author | ||||
| Known for |
Television documentaries: Jungle Trip Dining with Cannibals The Witch Doctor Will See You Now Human Ape | ||||
| Website |
www | ||||
| |||||
Piers Gibbon is a British television and radio presenter, author and self-styled "adventurer".[1] He is best known as the host of the National Geographic Channel documentary series, The Witch Doctor Will See You Now.
Career
In the early 1990s, Gibbon worked as a business manager, including for public relations firm Lawson Dodd.[2] He left that role to begin his television presenting work:
He ended up presenting TV programmes [...] and drinking hallucinogenic ayahuasca with shamen. To be honest, we weren't entirely surprised.— Belinda Lawson, Lawson Dodd
Gibbon then studied human sciences at Oxford University. His thesis on Plant Use in Tribal Societies became the basis for his first Channel 4 documentary, Jungle Trip. At the same time, Gibbon was featured on a number of radio shows. He had a regular spot on Resonance FM where he and David McCandless received a Sony Award nomination for the documentary series The Good Drugs Guide.
Television
Gibbon has hosted a series of "adventurous documentaries" filmed in "less comfortable locales",[3] directly participating in many of the documentaries rather than simply observing the subjects and providing commentary.
During the filming of Jungle Trip, Gibbon found a species of plant he believed was unknown to Western science. He had a sample sent to the Kew Gardens where it was analysed and named in his honour.[4]
Gibbon's documentary series, The Witch Doctor Will See You Now, first aired in 2011. In each episode, Gibbon escorts two Americans to a different country to test the claims of various traditional medicines.[5] His stated aim was to test the healing powers and credibility of people that those in Western society describe as "witch doctors".
Host
| Show | Channel | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Jungle Trip | Channel 4 | 2000 |
| Tasting History | ITV | 2008 |
| Headshrinkers of The Amazon | Channel 5 National Geographic Channel | 2009 2011 |
| Dining with Cannibals Search for The Living Cannibals | National Geographic Channel | 2010 |
| The Witch Doctor Will See You Now | National Geographic Channel SBS2 | 2011 2013 |
Guest
- The Colbert Report (31 March 2011)
Books
Gibbon published his first book in 2010, entitled TRIBE: Endangered Peoples of the World. I was published by Cassell. It received positive reviews from Geographical Magazine[6] and the Daily Express[7]
References
- ↑ Excess Baggage (BBC Radio 4, 4 December 2010)
- ↑ Opinion: My Best Hire - Piers Gibbon by Belinda Lawson (PRWeek, 5 August 2005)
- ↑ Former cannibal tribe lets him pull up a chair by Andrea Mustain (NBC News, 4 April 2011)
- ↑ Fawning on flora by Pete Clark (Evening Standard, 19 December 2002) (subscription required)
- ↑ Q&A with Piers Gibbon: Goat Blood Bath (National Geographic Channel)
- ↑ Reviews by Pat Thomas (Geographical, January 2010)
- ↑ Review: Tribe by Piers Gibbon (Daily Express, 1 October 2010)
