Monty Halls

Monty Halls (born 5 November 1966, England) TV Broadcaster and Explorer. Best known for his BBC Great Escape series, Monty Halls' Great Escape, Monty Halls' Great Hebridean Escape and Monty Halls' Great Irish Escape {Tigress Productions] where he lived and worked in remote parts of the UK with his dog and best friend Reuben. Monty Halls' other TV programmes - “Great Ocean Adventures”, co-produced by RDF Television, Channel Five, Scubazoo and Animal Planet and “Perfect Weapon” for the National Geographic Channel. He has also led a number of diving expeditions. He was an Expedition Leader for the marine conservation charity; Coral Cay Conservation.

Background

Halls attended Bedstone College,^[1] after which he was commissioned as a Royal Marines officer. His time in the Marines included a stint in the British Military Assistance and Training Team in South Africa, where he assisted with the integration of former ANC guerrillas into the South African Army.

At 29, having left the Marines, Halls decided to study Marine Biology at the University of Plymouth where he got involved with projects including the underwater filming of a rare species of crocodile, in Belize in partnership with the Natural History Museum. He graduated with a First Class Honours degree in 1999. More recently he has been concentrating on his television work.

Television host

In 2005, he presented a nine-part TV series called “Great Ocean Adventures” (Channel 5). A second series was broadcast in 2007. Memorable moments include Monty diving among a large number of Giant Humboldt Squid. In 2008 he co-hosted a National Geographic series, “Perfect Weapon”, looking at aspects of medieval weaponry.In 2008 Monty Halls left his home in Bristol for Applecross on the west coast of Scotland for the first of the three BBC 'Great Escape' series - "Monty Halls' Great Escape", where he tried to recreate the life of crofters for 6 months. In 2009 Monty then left for the Outer Hebrides to live and work as a nature warden on North Uist for six months. 2010 saw Monty live for six months in Connemara working with Irish Whale & Dolphin Conservation Group (IWDG) for six months. All of these series featured his popular dog Reuben.

Expedition Leader

In 2002 Halls led a group of adventurers and scientists (from the Scientific Exploration Society) to the sunken city of Mahabalipuram off Tamil Nadu (India), researched by Graham Hancock, and discovered 6 temples, which are still being explored.

Charity work

With his background as an ex-Marine and deeply moved when his close friend and best man, Major Jason Ward RM was killed in a helicopter crash on 21 March 2003, the second day of the Iraq War (Operation Telic). Halls supports military charities, in particular he is a Patron of Help for Heroes, a charity committed to improving the facilities for injured servicemen and women. As a marine biologist he naturally supports charities associated with the marine environment, and is also a Patron of Shark Trust.^{[citation needed]}

Monty Halls and The Underwater Channel

Halls is one of the 7 faces of The Underwater Channel. He is based predominately in the UK for The Underwater Channel and will be co-presenting our originally-produced monthly Underwater Channel program with Miranda Krestovnikoff.

TV Shows (UK names shown)

• Contestant and winner of Superhuman (2004) on Channel 4.^[2]
• Great Ocean Adventures (Season 1, nine episodes in 2005).
• Great Ocean Adventures (Season 2, eight episodes 2007).
• Perfect Weapon ^[3](Six episodes in 2008).
• Monty Halls' Great Escape (BBC Two, from 1 March 2009)
• Monty Halls' Great Hebridean Escape (BBC Two, from 21 April 2010)
• Monty Halls' Great Irish Escape (BBC Two, from 11 August 2011)

Writing

Monty Halls has written a number of books^[4] about diving. He writes a regular column for “Dive Magazine” in the UK.

Awards

In 2003 Halls was awarded the Bish Medal by the "Scientific Exploration Society" for his services to exploration. In December 2010 Halls was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science Degree by the University of Plymouth ^[5]

See also

• The Underwater Channel
• Marine biology
• Help for Heroes
• Shark Trust

References

1. ^ Bedstone College, where he was head boy. http://www.find-a-school.co.uk/news_article.asp?articleid=1204, retrieved 17 May 2008,
2. ^ Superhuman, http://www.channel4.com/science/microsites/S/superhuman/contestants/monty/monty_index.html, retrieved 17 May 2008
3. ^ Perfect Weapon, http://natgeochannel.co.uk/Programmes/Main.aspx?Id=643, retrieved 17 May 2008
4. ^ Monty Halls Books, http://www.montyhallsbooks.co.uk/, retrieved 17 May 2008
5. ^ http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/pages/view.asp?page=34447

External links

• Monty Halls' website
• Monty Halls at The Underwater TV Channel
• - Monty Halls blog
• University of Plymouth
• Help for Heroes
• Shark Trust
• Scubazoo

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Name	Halls, Monty
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Date of birth	5 November 1966
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