Baboons with Bill Bailey

Bill Bailey wants to give viewers the chance to really get under the animals' skin and follow the highs and lows of the baboons' everyday lives. By voicing the series, he brings their biology to life, narrating on three different troops that live alongside humans on a narrow strip of land. Here, baboon lives are rich and varied, with more politics, sex, violence and crime than might be found in the average soap opera. In the first programme, Bill introduces the mischievous Smitz troop. Living on the coastline, they have their eyes on the food and belongings of unwary tourists. Lurking in the bushes is a criminal mastermind - Merlin, the Fagin of the roadside, plotting his next heist. When whale-watchers flock to view magnificent marine mammals from the lay-bys, the brainy baboons are quick to break into every car, checking for anything that will make a baboon-style picnic.

In this episode, Bill introduces the Da Gama troop, who inhabit the urban jungle of the Cape Town suburbs and can often be found wreaking havoc on the nearby naval base. Every morning, these mischievous apes use the town like a giant playground and they have a great interest in human food. Given the chance, they will loot and pillage, but there is one thing that can thwart their plans - baboon monitors, a team of men hired to keep primates out of people's homes. This group of baboon bouncers do their best to control the troop - but as Bill explains, it is just like a giant game of cat and mouse.

The male baboons of the Smitz troop must go on the defensive to protect their land and families from Jimmy, an aggressive intruder. There is also a stranger making moves on the Tokai troop, but Clint's approach is worlds apart. While Jimmy bares his teeth, Clint tries gentler tactics, sitting slumped with his head down - but will the pacifist approach work with the Tokai troop's leader, Danny?

Comedian and wildlife enthusiast Bill Bailey presents a documentary series about the baboons who live near Cape Town in South Africa. Living in the midst of a town, the Da Gama troop make a fine living off their human neighbours, going through the bins or even snatching food from open windows - but there is one day that defines their calendar. Wednesday is bin day, and when the wheelie bins go out, the troop begins an ultimate treasure hunt - but can they eat their fill before the bin men arrive?

Comedian and wildlife enthusiast Bill Bailey presents a documentary series about the baboons living near Cape Town in South Africa. When fishermen arrive to unload their boats, they get carried away with the size of their catch and forget something important - they are in Smitz troop territory, and their cars are targets for a determined and thieving band of baboons. Plus a sports ground deep in the Tokai forest is taken over by the furry funsters - get ready for the Baboon Olympics!

Comedian and wildlife enthusiast Bill Bailey presents a documentary series about the baboons living near Cape Town in South Africa. In this episode, wily male baboon Merlin plans the raid of his life - breaking into a restaurant. Meanwhile, the rest of the troop chill out in a paddling pool, overweight gangster Jimmy trashes a vegetable garden and, in the Tokai forest, bachelor boys Clint and Manni gatecrash a children's birthday party.