Of all the TV adventures I've had this has to be one of the most nerve wracking. When I got the call that they wanted me to be part of the Bristol Uni graduate team for the Christmas episodes I said yes without thinking. University Challenge is an institution, known for its fiendishly tough questions, catchy theme tune and being the basis or the best ever episode of 'The Young Ones'. Nearer the time I started to have serious doubts. Even sat at home with no-one watching I struggle to answer even the odd question and now I had agreed to struggle to do the same under the gaze of the nation and the most intimidating quizmaster known to man. What many people don't realise is that to even get into the normal university team you have to compete in lots of competitions and prove yourself a fountain of knowledge with lightening reflexes, but our graduate teams are made up of 'notable alumni' from the past 50 years who may have never been part of a quiz team in their lives.

Arriving on the day at the studios in Manchester in my geography teachers corduroy jacket that I bought in a charity shop in Bristol, I was relieved to see the other members of my team, and our opposition, were pacing the floor and looking as nervous as I. We all knew that in the following half hour we had a golden opportunity to make complete tits of ourselves by saying something dumb or being struck dumb - either would do.

After a reasonable amount of acceptable faff getting chair heights adjusted, camera angles sorted and buzzers tested, we were joined by the big man himself. Jeremy came over to each team and told us he thought we were very brave, which wasn't all that reassuring and then he settled in his chair and we were off.

The first few questions were just gobbledegook to me - poetry, politics and random geography, not my specialist subjects. I was starting to panic and was finding it hard to follow the convoluted nature of the questions, when almost without realising it I had hit the buzzer - I knew this one - "slugs & snails" I said.

"Hmmm, I'll let you have it" replied Jeremy adding that he only had slugs on the card.

Massive relief, I was out of the blocks. It was a close run battle with the lead changing a number of times. My knowledge of biology, rugby and animal charity slogans gave me a few more scoring opportunities (I'm sure they were dropped in their just for me). Being beaten to the buzzer was frustrating for all of us. It seemed so rare to know an answer, that hearing somebody claim 10 points for saying it was especially galling. With no clock visible it was only the increasing speed of Jeremy's delivery and his occasional barked "come on" during conferring that let us know we were coming to the end. Bong! The gong sounded and Leeds Uni had beaten us by 5 points. Done and dusted. We had all survived and nobody had made a fool of themselves. Both teams, Jeremy and all the production team were lovely folk and I'd had a blast. It was all over too soon.

As promised to @dickiedumdum this Blog will discuss what I know about becoming a wildlife presenter. Err, not a great deal I’m afraid. I was very lucky and kind of walked in the back door. Right place, right time type of thing.

I am typical of a lot of factual presenters (science, history, etc), in that I have a profession that links me to the subject material. I just happened to be the right Uni and year to feature in a docu-soap called ‘Vets School’ and ‘Vets in Practice’ that got me noticed. Lots of professional people appear on TV for all sorts of reasons, interviewed as experts, asked for opinions, and if they fare well then they’re asked again and then when a program maker is looking for a presenter they may get the nod. Lots of academics find themselves in a presenting role this way. It has the benefit of ‘having a proper job’. This has helped me keep grounded and given me the security of an income when TV work that I want to do gets a little thin on the ground.

So if you have a qualification or area of expertise then use it. News and current affairs are always looking for opinions. Don’t have to be extreme but do have to be interesting. BLOG, tweet, write - whatever. Contact your local radio station with interesting stories. Write articles or letters to specialist magazines. Phone Jeremy Vine and tell him to wind his neck in. This gives you a chance to build a profile and gain experience of ‘broadcast’. If you’re good, you may be asked again. If you’re not, work better at being ‘good’ (attend a presenter workshop at Wildscreen in the Autumn in Bristol).

I have no idea if this will work. For most it won’t, but enjoy the process. I still love doing late night interviews for Five Live when they have some conservation / veterinary story. It pays very little (or sometimes not at all) but it’s nice to be able to give an opinion on a subject that you care about passionately.

A lot of the current stable of wildlife presenters took the behind the lens approach. Martin Hughes-Games, Kate Humble, Chris Packham, Steve Backshall, Simon King all started TV behind the lens as researchers, cameramen, producers etc. Not all of them wanted to present from the start but when they did they were in the ideal place to give it a crack. Understanding how programmes are made, how to tell a story, how to write pieces to camera. These are the skills presenters need, and working in TV, even behind the lens is a great way to get them and also get access to the decision makers when they are looking for new talent. Getting a job in TV is not straightforward I know but, nobody said it was gonna be easy.

Key thing to remember is that TV doesn’t matter. it’s easy to think that the Idiot Lantern is the Daddy but there are many ways to communicate to the masses - radio, internet, out your bedroom window. Just enjoy the experience.