Enter the world of mini-monsters, where an allotment in Bristol provides the drama, conflict and tragedy normally associated with the plains of Africa. This is the world of one female earwig, from the moment of being orphaned at birth through to her own motherhood.

Armour-plated mole crickets, pseudoscorpions, shrews, hedgehogs, worms, thrushes, snails and centipedes have walk on parts in the drama. And why do earwigs have wings but don't fly? Do they really crawl into human ears? And what about those pincers?

For producer Martin Hughes-Games a discovery of his own: he accidentally sucked an earwig into his mouth and says: "It was as if I had a mouthful of battery acid and chilli powder. As far as I know nobody knew earwigs could produce such a noxious chemical cocktail."