The recent BBC series Paparazzi has generated "unprecedented" requests from photographers hoping to get a few tips of the trade.

The three-part documentary series followed the fortunes of top celebrity photo agency Big Pictures, and studied its tactics of catching celebrities unaware and getting that all-important first shot.

And the BBC says that since the programmes aired it has attracted a lot of response from an unusual source.

David Cartwright, head of press at BBC Wales, which makes the programme, said: "We have been sending copies to television previewers, but this is the first time we have been contacted by picture desks asking for tapes.

"A couple of agencies have expressly said they want to show it to their own photographers to teach them a thing or two."

From talking their way onto hotel balconies to snap celebrity holidaymakers in bikinis or less, to stakeouts near celebrity homes in the hope of getting an unguarded moment on film, Paparazzi showed how the professionals get their shots.

With offices in London and Sydney, the agency is led by Darryn Lyons, and as well as looking at the agency's work and examining the issues surrounding privacy and the market for paparazzi shots, it also turned the lens on Darryn at his home in Australia.

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