All-round action man Monty Halls tells KATHERINE MACALISTER about his latest adventure

Monty Halls is a man’s man – head boy, Marine, sportsman, marine biologist, adventurer, explorer, daredevil – the list is endless. That he is articulate may therefore come as a surprise, but considering his most recent guise is as a TV presenter, he needs to be.

With a new five-part diving TV series on Channel 5 to promote, Monty is leaving his beloved Devon coastline to talk to us in person about his exploits. “I genuinely enjoy talking about the show and sharing the experiences I’ve had. I feel very fortunate to do what I do.”

But when you’ve spent five months underwater uncovering some of the most perplexing and unsolved global mysteries, you’d want to shout about it from the rooftops. “It’s been the most enjoyable and rewarding thing I’ve ever done, investigating genuine mysteries in some beautiful parts of the world, there’s no doubt about that.”

The results kick off next week but in the meantime you can see Monty for yourself at the Inorganic Chemistry Buildings next Thursday night.

Most well known for his BBC Great Escape series in which he lived and worked in remote parts of the UK and Ireland with his dog Reuben, Halls' other TV programmes include Great Ocean Adventures, Scubazoo, Animal Planet and Perfect Weapon.

But this is still his most daring and exciting mission to date. So was Monty scared? “Yes and you should be scared, it’s the ones who aren’t who make mistakes and get into trouble. “So while I wasn’t immobilised by fear, it heightens your awareness, like walking in a haunted house on your own. But that’s where the discipline kicks in because if you panic you’re in trouble.”

So did his Army career put him in good stead? “The Marine training definitely helps, it gives you a sense of identity so you don’t lose your head. It gives you a reference point.”

And yet for someone with such an obsession with the sea, it’s odd he didn’t serve with the Navy instead. “I didn’t think the Navy would be physical enough so I spent eight years in the Royal Marines instead and my first job was Troop Commander, so it was pretty hands on.”

Why did he leave a job so eminently well suited to his capabilities then? “There was nothing sinister about it.

“I didn’t get thrown out but when I was 29 I had to decide if it was what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, and as I loved marine biology, I thought it was time for a career change.

“And I’ve always loved the sea. My dad was in the RAF and we were stationed in Malta. “I remember swimming in the Med when I was just two years old and the colour of the sea, so it’s always been what I wanted to do.”

So Monty changed tack and went back to college to learn to be a marine biologist, funding his degree by taking people on adventures around the world, where his TV potential was spotted.

It was an astute move as it turned out. “Channel 5 asked me to come in and throw some ideas around, and as I was leaving I said – ‘you should do something on all the underwater mysteries by sending down a crack team of elite divers to solve them,’ and they commissioned it there and then.”

But even Monty was daunted by the undertaking itself. “Five months of deep dives in hostile environments where you die if you make a mistake, means you make sure you have the right gear and the right training,” he says.

So did they get into trouble? “There were one or two minor incidents but we had the best trained divers in the world and there’s not an ego between them. “Our team all have children they want to get home to which means you have a heightened sense of danger and are very aware of who relies on you,” he explains.

This applies to Monty too, he and his partner Tasmyn Smith have a two-year-old daughter Isla, making the transition from action man to home-body much easier.

”I love going home,” he smiles, “and anyway what the TV shows don’t show is the tedium. They make it look like one big adventure, so there’s always a story behind a story, the real adventure to be had is in getting the footage.”

But with Monty Halls planning the next series already, there’s no sign of his passion fading or his appeal waning. “It’s always been a very competitive market but I’ve got a nice niche thing going on here which is nice, although I’m 46 now and I’m sure there’s a 21 year old marine biologist waiting in the wings to steal my thunder,” he laughs. I’d like to see them try.

SEE IT An Evening with Monty Halls will take place at the Inorganic Chemistry Lab, South Parks Road, Oxford, on Thursday November 21 at 7pm. Monty’s new series Dive Mysteries with Monty Halls starts on November 25, Channel 5 at 9pm.