Yep, another David Attenborough post…….continuing the habit of watching episodes of Attenborough sir on BBC earth .
He’s been there for decades, the definitive accompaniment to the best wildlife television in the world. He’s certainly been there for whole lifetime, but for me from last 3-4 months I am on a steady diet of Attenborough. There have been so many memorable moments over this time, but how do you choose your favorite? Well let me help you by telling you the important part these wonderful programmed have played ….
There are so many wildlife programs around . There is Animal Planet and Discovery Channel, but I prefer BBC churning out its endless and inspiring series and documentaries. I’m sure there are *some* that don’t have David Attenborough as an accompaniment but I don’t remember them. Indeed it is just the way of the world as far as I am concerned, if a wildlife film got made then the laws of the universe meant David Attenborough brought in to do it.
I am searching online for bits of his landmark series. Life on Earth when I was really small. That stunning piece of work was watched by 15 million people in the UK and a further 500 million worldwide. Essentially though, it was before my time and I was too young to appreciate it in 1979.
I think my first recollection of actually making a point of watching his programs recently in this year when its aired on BBC earth. Than my search never ends, to find more and more about there vast experiences about natural world. It sealed my fascination with the natural world, and especially its fiery, explosive volcanic side. I also remember being fixed to the spot with my jaw open, watching David Attenborough appear weightless in a NASA aero plane. After that I was hooked, and that distinctive voice became my essential companion for any program about the natural world.
His every show about animal or about plants, later became my absolutely unmissable viewing each week. Funnily enough it is frequently overlooked and forgotten these days in favor of the many series that David Attenborough actually presented in the flesh, but it still had the signature class, fascination and beauty of the BBC Natural History Unit.
Even though he only provided the narration, that was enough to make it his own. memorable episodes that spring to mind include the one following the millions of crabs that swarm over Christmas Island (Kingdom of the Crabs)……
I think it remains my favorite of all his work, and it had some memorable scenes that still move me just thinking about them.
The devotion and endurance of the emperor penguins standing motionless, lasting-out the endless Antarctic winter. The desiccated remains of a seal in one of the driest places on earth, perhaps over a thousand years old. The staggering efforts made by tiny chinstrap penguins to reach nesting grounds hundreds of meters up steep rocky slopes. The heartbreaking way a penguin escapes a mauling by a seal, waddles blood-stained up a slope, settles down and then 'goes to sleep’.
But what about a favorite moment? Well…..I think it’s obvious by now that I can’t pick just one moment. I’ve already mentioned so many. Even the great man himself can’t narrow it down to any manageable degree, as illustrated by his choice of his favorite clips on the BBC website. Take a look, doubtless it will be a trip down memory lane for you. Careful though! You could be there a long time.
Snow leopards. The first shot the Planet Earth team got of an elusive snow leopard, barely visible through heavy snow, was almost like a dream. Very beautiful and extremely moving. I couldn’t find the clip itself, but here’s the next best thing.
Wolf chasing a caribou. I think this might have been from the very first episode of Planet Earth, and the way it was filmed without disturbing the wildlife, the ease that the camera follows them, the beauty and scale the new technology allowed instantly upped the ante in terms of wildlife filming. It was stunning and utterly gripping. Watch the caribou’s sad, unavoidable fate.
And lastly, two scenes I only saw a couple of months ago from a recent program, Attenborough’s Egg Hunt:
Connect to Conserve. World’s smallest lemur he manages to convey the difficulties of species protection in just three minutes, showing how far conservation has come since the days of trying to protect a single species and failing to understand the complexity of ecosystems.
Indri Encounter. In this charming clip he gets to fulfill a life-long ambition that he failed to do when he was first in Madagascar 50 years ago. Very touching.
So favorite Attenborough moments.
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