Mark Evans (TV presenter)

Mark Evans is an English veterinary surgeon turned television presenter.

Early and personal life

Educated at Warwick School, Evans failed his A Levels the first time due to completing restoration work on a Triumph Herald 13/60 convertible.^[1] He graduated from the Royal Veterinary College at the University of London,^[2] where he won the silver medal for his surgical skills,^[1] and also met his wife Sarah.^[3] The couple have two sons, and live in Guildford, Surrey.^[2][3]

Veterinarian

Evans developed his career in private veterinary practise, mainly with dogs, cats and horses at Yew Tree practise in the Surrey Hills.^[1] He has written 12 books on animal care and welfare. He was the RSPCA's chief veterinary advisor between 2007 and 2010, causing some controversy in August 2008 after branding show dogs and dog shows as a "parade of mutants", resulting in the RSPCA withdrawing its support that year to the annual Crufts dog show.^[4]

Television

Evan's television career started in 1990 when he complained about an item on TV-am that made fun of fat pets, and was invited as a guest on the show giving advice to the owner of an obese cat.

In 1994, Evans was offered a partnership in a large veterinary practise, or to help develop a new animal-rescue based television series with Endemol. Concluding that he could save more animals in three minutes on television than in a life of service as a vet, he developed the format for Pet Rescue on Channel 4, becoming both presenter and an associate producer.^[3]

Evans has since presented over 1,000 shows,^[5] including shows based around pets, gardens, children's television and vehicles. In 2000 he founded Jungle TV, which has since co-produced all of his subsequent productions.^[2]

Animals

Evans has worked as a presenter and producer on several animal television shows including Pet Rescue and Inside Nature's Giants.

In 2013, Evans hosted a one-off documentary for Channel 4 called Dogs: Their Secret Lives. A full series followed, beginning on 19 August 2014, as well as a one-off live episode and a revisited episode, both airing in 2014.

In September 2014, Evans began hosting Operation Maneater, a three-part series for Channel 4. It was revealed that, during the filming, Evans had been clipped by a crocodile, leaving him with a split lip and broken teeth. Evans said "For the last 10 months, I haven't been able to bite using my front teeth so have had to tear my food into chunks to eat".^[6]

Engineering

In 1999, Evans co-devised the workshop-based "Is Born" format for Discovery Networks Europe. Since then, he has co-produced and presented ten series for Discovery Home & Leisure (now Discovery Real Time) and are often repeated on Discovery's Quest channel. The shows have transmitted in over 70 countries around the world.

• A Car Is Born (build of an AC Cobra replica) - 15 episodes
• A Plane Is Born (build of a 200 mph kit aeroplane) - 15 episodes
• A Car Is Reborn (total restoration of an E Type Jaguar) - 15 episodes
• A Chopper Is Born (build of a kit, two-seater helicopter) - 15 episodes
• A Bike Is Born - Harley (restoration of a Harley WLC45) - 5 episodes
• A Bike Is Born - Bonneville (restoration of a Triumph Bonneville T120R) - 5 episodes
• A Bike Is Born - Trike (build of a Boom Power Trike) - 5 episodes
• A Race Car Is Born (build of a Westfield race car) - 15 episodes
• A 4x4 Is Born (build of an extreme off road Land Rover) - 15 episodes
• An MG Is Born (restoration of an MGB Roadster) - 10 episodes
• Wreck Rescue - follows his journey to help inspire and motivate the restorers of five very different vehicles to achieve their own restoration dreams.
• Wood Wizard with Richard Blizzard (crafting wooden objects) 15 episodes

He also co-devised and presented Dream Machines - a vehicle restoration series on Channel 5.

Filmography

References

External links

• Mark Evans's Website
• Mark Evans's Twitter page
• Mark Evans's Facebook page
• Mark Evans at the Internet Movie Database