David Attenborough fronts a six-part chronicle that tracks animals from their first breath to their own breeding attempts, shot across 29 countries over three years by the BBC Natural History Unit. Ultra-high-definition cameras capture barnacle goslings leaping 400-foot Greenland cliffs, fur-seal pups hiding from orcas in a New Zealand rainforest pool and a humpback mother recruiting a lone male to shield her exhausted calf from sharks, behaviour never previously filmed.
The production pioneered 4K acquisition for the NHU and mixed pin-sharp 5.1 surround so that off-screen calls shift with every cut, a technique usually muted in wildlife films. Each 50-minute episode on BBC One was followed by a ten-minute Life Story Diaries segment showing how sequences were gained, from pole-cam rigging on an Arctic ice floe to 400 hours of stake-out for a single orchid-mantis hatch.
Premiered in Bristol on 14 October 2014 to mark eight decades of BBC broadcasting in the city, the series rolled out internationally on BBC Earth, CBC in Canada and, retaining Attenborough’s voice-over, on Discovery in the United States. Composer Murray Gold supplied a full orchestral score, while executive producer Mike Gunton and series producer Rupert Barrington distilled 1,600 shooting days into six hours that drew 4.2 million UK viewers for the opening episode and won BAFTA’s 2015 Specialist Factual award.
Production Details
BBC One / 1 Season / 6 Episodes / 2014
Producer(s): Mike Gunton
Cinematography: Mike Gunton
Music: Murray Gold
Main Cast
David Attenborough as Self - Presenter
