Telford pair see Frozen Planet for themselves in Antarctic visit

Most people only get to experience the wonder of Antarctic's emperor penguins on their TV screen.

But for Telford couple Eddie Farlow, 56, and Marlene Loveitt, 63, it was a different story as they travelled thousands of miles to catch a rare glimpse at them.

The couple flew to Tierra Del Fuego in Argentina where they then got an ice-breaker boat to the Antarctic Peninsula.

Once there, the boat crashed into the ice to anchor before a helicopter took them to Snow Hill Island – home of the emperor penguins and focus of the BBC's Frozen Planet

The pair, from Hadley, were joined by a crew from the BBC who were filming for the TV hit series and the episode was aired last night.

Mr Farlow said: "We met the BBC crew on the boat and when we got there we were stuck for three days because the weather was so bad the helicopter could not take us to the island with the penguins on it.

"But eventually it cleared and we got to spend three days with the emperor penguins – it was out of this world.

"First they take you off the ice-breaker boat in a helicopter and fly you about a mile away from the penguins so you don't disturb them and then you walk."

Mr Farlow said the surroundings were eerily quiet.

"It's so empty, it's a real experience," he said.

"I have never experienced anything like it before. There was nothing for miles and miles. It's really like the end of the world.

"There were no real smells either. I thought the penguins might smell, but they didn't."

Once there, it was time for the pair to get up and close to the emperor penguins.

"They were just fantastic towards us and were not afraid at all," he said.

"We were not allowed to approach them, but quite a few of them came up to us, especially the younger ones.

"The baby penguins were very inquisitive and would come up closer than the adults. It was fascinating to see them in their natural habitat," Mr Farlow said.