But not content to rest on the success of his hour-long documentary Quoll Farm – which was one of ABC TV’s top-rating programs in 2021 – the 62-year-old animal enthusiast decided he needed to showcase the story of another of Australia’s very special marsupials – the Tasmanian devil.

Plowright is currently in the final stages of filming his latest documentary – set to be called Devils’ Den – after spending almost 18 months living closely with devils in Tasmania’s remote North West.

More than 600 hours of footage will now be edited to produce a 55-minute documentary for the ABC, which is expected to air later this year.

Initially titled Devil’s Last Stand, Plowright and producer Simon Nasht have since decided to rename the documentary Devils’ Den, as they feel it is more fitting. The project is one of 21 documentaries that will share $4.6m in funding from the latest round of Screen Australia grants announced earlier this month and is also partially funded by Screen Tasmania.

Plowright endured wild winds, flooding and plenty of “blood, sweat and tears” (the blood came from the many leeches he encountered during filming) as he lived first in a farmhouse, then later in a caravan in the bush, as he filmed devils on multiple cameras at Woolnorth, which is located at the very tip of the state’s North West.

Plowright chose Woolnorth because he has a long history with the North West, having spent many years working in the region.

It was also an area thought to be free of the devil facial tumour disease, however, investigations are currently under way after a dead devil with facial lesions was recently found on the side of the road at Woolnorth and tested positive for the disease. The closest previous confirmed case was 20km away, but researchers say more information is needed before they know whether the case is an isolated one or proof the disease has spread.

Devil facial tumour disease is an aggressive non-viral, transmittable parasitic cancer that was first described in 1996 and has since decimated devil populations in Tasmania.

Small lesions or lumps in and around the mouth of devils quickly develop into large tumours on the face and neck (and sometimes other parts of the body). The tumours interfere with feeding and may also cover a devil’s eyes. Once the cancer becomes visible, it is almost always fatal and affected devils usually die within six months from organ failure, secondary infection, or starvation.

As director of Devils’ Den, Plowright’s aim was to provide an insight into the lives of these fascinating creatures, in a bid to reveal the epic struggle this unique marsupial is facing against both the fatal facial tumour disease and the impacts of human encroachment.

Plowright, who works internationally and has cinematography credits on David Attenborough productions, has long been captivated by devils.

After completing a film with cinematographer Nick Hayward in 2016 called Last Devils, the duo wanted to work on another project together to showcase more of Tasmania’s unique wildlife, and that’s how Quoll Farm eventuated.

Eastern quolls – which are smaller and less aggressive than our spotted-tail quoll – had long fascinated Plowright. He was drawn to the attractive, charismatic Tasmanian marsupial as it is found nowhere else on Earth (it is considered to be extinct on mainland Australia with the last sightings in Sydney in the early-1960s) and is rarely caught on film in any real detail – and rarely in the wild.

Plowright stumbled upon an abandoned farmhouse near St Marys, in the state’s North East, where he spent a year living alongside quolls, to create an enchanting, insightful and visually spectacular documentary, following the story of Clover, Buster, Sasha and other resident quolls, giving viewers a glimpse of what life is like for these often-misunderstood creatures.

Plowright became like a nightshift worker, filming quolls in the dark, and sleeping during the day and while the experience of living away from home for so long, especially in the depths of a Tasmanian winter, was challenging, he ultimately enjoyed the experience and was sad to farewell the quolls when filming ended.

Having made Quoll Farm, he had some idea what he was in for when it came to filming Devils’ Den, but there were still plenty of fresh challenges this time around.

But again, he says it was worth the long hours and late nights, as a devil film like this was something he desperately wanted to make throughout his career.

“I’d helped many people over the decades make films about devils, including David Attenborough,’’ Plowright explains.

“And I thought ‘here’s an opportunity now to make my own’ … this is the kind of film you really want to make all through your career.

“I have been based in the North-West corner of Tasmania for decades. I have always had a close association with devils at Woolnorth and in that area. And we’re getting to the stage now where it could be the very last chance to see a healthy population of devils in the wild.

He says there’s just something fascinating about devils.

“(During my career) I’ve spent tens of thousands of hours sitting out with devils in the wild, just observing their behaviours, and taking people to see devils as well,’’ says Plowright, who has worked as a wildlife tour operator and once owned East Coast Natureworld, at Bicheno.

“I just love them and this was an opportunity to really showcase what a natural, healthy group of Tasmanian devils looks like.’’

Plowright says most projects he works on for other people require a few days of filming, or a few weeks at most.

But very few projects devote as much time to filming as Quoll Farm and Devils’ Den have.

Producer Simon Nasht says one of the reasons Quoll Farm has been such a hit with audiences internationally (it screened in numerous places around the world, including Japan, France and the US, and won numerous awards, including a World Congress of Science and Factual Producers award for Best Host/Presenter in a Science/History or Wildlife Program) is because of the way Plowright immerses himself into the world of the animals he’s filming, telling their stories in a new, engaging and authentic way.

“We were very happy (with the way Quoll Farm was received),’’ Nasht says.

“Around the world it won many prizes, and people just seemed to warm to what Simon brings to his films and the empathy he has for animals, he really does know a lot.’’

He reveals that Plowright was initially reluctant to step in front of the camera for Quoll Farm, after spending most of his career behind the camera.

“It took some convincing,’’ Nasht explains.

“He’s a shy guy actually, most of the time. But I think the (film’s) success is really down to Simon getting in front of the camera. It’s just a great way of telling the story. We all accept these days that it’s not just about telling audiences something, it’s about making them care by connecting to their hearts.’’

Nasht and Plowright laugh that good wildlife docos take time because “you can’t tell animals what to do”.

The downside, of course, of spending so long on location, is that there is a huge amount of footage to wade through.

But Plowright feels his footage is in safe hands as he prepares to sit down with Darren Flaxstone, a UK-based Emmy Award-winning editor – one of the most experienced natural history editors in the world – who also worked on Quoll Farm. Flaxstone will fly to Tasmania to work on the project, along with a Tasmanian post-production team. The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra will again provide the musical score for the new documentary, just as the orchestra did for Quoll Farm.

“It’s pretty unique in that sense, in that the subject, the author/creator and the post-production team are all Tasmanian,’’ Nasht says.

“It’s very much a Tasmanian story.

“And it’s pleasing to see, having worked with Screen Tasmania, that it is now possible to do everything on a world-class basis from Tasmania.’’

Plowright’s obsession with wildlife began at the age of 8, when he started taming wild fox cubs in his home country of Wales.

“This required enormous tenacity and perseverance, spending many hours sitting outside the burrow convincing the cubs to play around me,” he recalls.

“I went on to document every fox burrow, badger sett and bird nest for miles around.

“My love and knowledge of flora and fauna became a passion, which developed into a lifelong occupation.”

Plowright has assisted many national and international broadcasters find appropriate species and filming locations for TV shows over many years, including the BBC Natural History Unit, Animal Planet, The Crocodile Hunter and American SeaWorld.

He came to Tasmania in 1981 – his dad was a farmer in the state’s North West – and he has been passionate about documenting, and protecting, Tasmania’s wildlife ever since.

“As our lives increasingly encroach on the natural world, it’s more important than ever
we learn to live with, rather than against, nature,” he said when promoting Quoll Farm in early 2021.

“As a filmmaker, I feel I must share my knowledge and foster understanding of nature in a way which will encourage others to engage with wildlife.

“When a person has a positive experience with a wild animal they unwittingly become a conservationist.’’

His hope for Quoll Farm, and also Devils’ Den, is that the films will help “misunderstood and charismatic characters” such as quolls and devils “to be accepted as a friend rather than a foe and be welcomed as a partner in the landscape”.

Although he has concerns for the future of Tasmanian devils, he remains positive that devils will continue to thrive, despite the challenges, and ultimately the documentary is intended to be a story of hope.

“Despite everything, the film is hopeful,’’ Plowright says.

“In my case, I’m trying really hard to capture things that aren’t possible in diseased areas.

Devils’ dens are notoriously impossible to find – you hear of people finding them under their house from time to time, but finding a den out in the wild is difficult to do. “We’ve captured some really lovely stuff. One of the things that has never been done well before is showcasing a mother devil raising her young. We have done this and we followed her for four months – it’s a nice warm story about these little devils as they move off into the world.’’

Despite already knowing a lot about devils, Plowright says there is always more to learn and he enjoyed the chance to get to know individual devils, and watch their personalities shine, while filming.

“One of the fantastic things which I love so much about devils is that they are all individuals, I get annoyed when people pigeonhole them, they’re such characters,’’ he says.

“I had an older male devil who walked up to me on a daily basis and was not the slightest bit bothered by me.

“And I’d say to him ‘why are you like this when all your other mates say ‘run away’?

“You do come across new and exciting things every time you’re out there, and obviously then you try and capture those things (on film).’’

Meanwhile, Nasht is hopeful that Devils’ Den will spark a wider conversation about important issues affecting devils and other animals. He says Tasmania has already lost one iconic creature – the thylacine – and it would be heartbreaking to see other animals, including devils, suffer extinction. So it was important to discuss issues such as speed limits, roadkill, land clearing and pollution within Tasmania’s fragile landscape.

And he says if anyone can spark those sorts of conversations, it’s Plowright. He says watching Plowright in action is like “watching Doctor Doolittle at work”.

“There have been lots of films made about devils over the years, but I don’t think any have really captured what Simon has as he lives with these animals,’’ Nasht says.

“He lives there through blizzards, and rain and floods and gets to know these animals in a very personal way and he brings us that relationship and that’s something pretty special.

“He lives and experiences the land the way these animals do and he comes to know them and lets us, as an audience, get to know them. It’s that authenticity, that genuineness … that soft message that this is what is at risk of being lost if we don’t make some adjustments in the way we interact with the landscape. Simon’s filmmaking has a beautiful way of engaging people in a conversation, not an argument.’’

Plowright says Woolnorth is a “magical” place and he will be sad to farewell the landscape and his devil friends who inhabit it.

He jokes that he’s “forgotten what home looks like”, but will be pleased to spend time with his family.

“I know when I leave I’m going to really miss it,’’ he says.

“It’s just been such a unique experience, I get a lot of joy out of it.

“It has been really special,’’ he adds, of working on the film.

“I feel it personally, I feel this sense that this is probably the last time (filming healthy devil populations in the wild) and it really upsets me. You get emotional about it because you can’t imagine that this is all going to change.

“I was thinking the other day, one of the big things that will happen there is that for the first time it is going to fall silent.

“You go out at night, and if you’re near some bush where there are devils you’re going to hear them, it’s just how it is. And to think that one day we might no longer hear them, well I think that is just so mind-blowing.’’ •

Devils’ Den is expected to screen on ABC TV later this year.