The daughter of the man who founded Chester Zoo says it is a ‘privilege’ for her family to be the focus of an upcoming BBC TV show with an all-star cast.

This week, the zoo announced that Bafta-nominated actress Anne Reid and Royle Family star Ralf Little will be among those starring in BBC1’s Our Zoo, a miniseries based on the true story of the Mottershead family who established Chester Zoo in the early 1930s.

It will follow the journey of patriarch George Mottershead, played by Inspector George Gently star Lee Ingleby, an ex-serviceman who dreamed of building the first British zoo without bars, and the challenges he and his family faced along the way.

Life on Mars actress Liz White is set to play his loyal wife Lizzie Mottershead, mother to daughters Mew and June, and Transformers star Sophia Myles will portray mysterious aristocrat Lady Katherine.

Filming and principal photography for the show is already under way in and around the city, and the programme will air later this year.

George’s daughter June Williams, nee Mottershead, who was a four-year-old pupil at Chester's Ursuline School when her father bought the zoo in 1931, told The Chronicle she was ‘excited’ about seeing her family’s story aired on national TV.

“I’m looking forward to watching the show, it’s given me a new interest,” said June, now 87 and living on Oldfield Drive, Upton.

“When you get into your 80s, something like this opens a whole new world to you. I don’t watch a whole lot of TV but I’ve always loved the BBC.

“They’ve described us as an eccentric family but I thought we were just normal!”

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In the show, the character of June, played by upcoming actress Honor Kneafsey, is made to be older than she actually was at the time, but she still has clear memories of growing up surrounded by exotic animals.

“Although I was only four and a half when my father bought the zoo, I remember quite a lot,” she said.

“There was a bad reaction to it at first because I think people were frightened of the noise and whether the wild animals might get out.

“In those days Upton had lots of large houses and businessmen living there and they didn’t want something like this coming in and taking over.”

June grew up in Oldfield Manor, a stone’s throw from where she lives now, and shared her childhood home with all kinds of animals and birds.

She married in 1949 and spent time living in Australia and New Zealand before returning to Chester and working at the zoo.

These days, it’s hard for June to believe that the zoo has been going for more than 80 years.

“It’s all so far back now. I think that even some of today’s grandparents weren’t even born at that time!

“I’m very glad the story’s being told like this – I think it’s a privilege really,” she added.

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