THIS WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS | | Magpies - beautiful bird or prowling predator? |
Inside Out investigates a roadside car dealer, the Magpie man, and
the legend of the Elizabethan painter Nicolas Hilliard. 听
Roadside dealer In this programme presenter Sam Smith follows
trading standards as they battle against illegal roadside car dealers.  | | The battle against illegal roadside dealers |
We
meet a car trader pretending to be a private seller in order to prevent the public
having the basic right as a consumer - the right to take back faulty goods. Many
cars sold by these roadside rogues are unroadworthy, and we watch trading standards
as they examine them and expose their hidden dangers.
We also interview
people unsuspecting people who have had their fingers burnt by buying these cars.
Hilliard We take a look back at the life of a man who is said
to have played a central role in crafting the image of Elizabeth I.
Starting out life as a London goldsmith, the painter Nicolas Hilliard's pictures
became the 'must have' accessory of Elizabethan England, and influenced many of
the painters of his time.  | | Magnificent miniature - Elizabethan master at work |
Born in Exeter, Hilliard was a master miniaturist who used unique techniques
to paint all the Elizabethan courtly 'movers and shakers', although his greatest
client was Queen Elizabeth I herself. In fact he created the infamous image
that we have of her today. Today miniaturist painting itself is undergoing
something of a renaissance, and we talk to people who have been influenced by
his work. Magpie man One man has taken extreme measures
to in order to solve one of the countryside's most pressing issues - the decline
of the British songbird!
Rod Brammer's passion is to protect a private
estate on the edge of Exmoor where songbirds thrive.  | | Magpie man - protecting the song birds of Exmoor |
By planting trees and other vegetation he has created a bird sanctuary
with a difference - only certain birds get protection. For 18 years Rod
has employed a radical strategy to control one particular predator of his beloved
song birds - he shoots Magpies.
But it's an approach that wildlife presenter
Chris Packham doesn't agree with.
In the film they debate the pros and
cons of Magpie culling. 听 | 
听听Inside
Out - South West: Monday September 5, 2005