Derek vs Derek (2026) (15) | Post-film Q&A with Dr Sam Rose

On a country road in Devon, intensive dairy farmer Derek Banbury is horrified at the “devastation” of  his neighbour’s once productive farm. Dubbed  a “maverick rewilder” by the media,  Derek Gow is an unrepentant ex-sheep farmer hellbent on turning his land into an oasis for nature.  

As climate change impacts Britain (with the wettest winter ever recorded), Derek vs Derek tells the gently comedic story of two visions of farming colliding in the Devon countryside. A maverick rewilder is set on creating a haven for nature while next door a dyed-in-the-wool intensive dairy farmer is hell bent on producing food on an industrial scale. As the two Dereks and other neighbours square off about everything from wild boar invasions and stork nesting to hedge trimming, this film asks what’s really at stake for us all. In the face of accelerating biodiversity loss and a fragile farming system struggling to cope, can the warring factions find a middle ground that allows nature to flourish and, at the same time, produces enough food for us all?

Shot over three years the film charts the two Derek’s turbulent relationship, as tempers fray, wild animals run amok, and the land is radically transformed. Made by award-winning director James Dawson, it’s a film about land use and farming told by farmers. Blunt, funny and heartwarming in equal measure.