Piers Gibbon
Piers Gibbon | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation(s) | 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)
