The sequence where a spitting cobra launches venom at a visor-wearing Attenborough used a captive cobra taken from a local zoo. Thisarticlewas originally written and published by Earth.Org and is republished here as part of an editorial partnership. Attenborough count: 11, including sailing to the Galapagos and sitting among giant tortoises; riding a donkey into the Grand Canyon and then looking at fossils; walking over stromatolites (rocks produced by ancient bacteria) in Australia; and diving among corals in a gaudy crimson wetsuit. 9) The Trials of Life Episode 1: Arriving. Though Attenborough himself confesses that he is not an expert inornithology, his pure joy and excitement, particularly with the birds of paradise, is so infectious that makes viewers want to learn more too. The signals are conveyed to a loudspeaker on his extraordinary hat, which has a helpful counterweight so it doesnt flop over one ear. Yep, David Attenborough has a magic electric-eel-detecting hat. Each of the 50-minute episodes takes audiences from the deepest oceans to the coldest winters in the Arctic, demonstrating its beauty while highlighting how these ever-changing ecosystems will likely collapse in the near future if we do nothing to protect them. Attenborough count: 4, including watching giant pandas in zoos (as examples of non-opportunists); and attending an Indian festival where rats are ubiquitous and welcome. Animals and plants named after Sir David Attenborough, How to identify birds on the move in spring, 10 facts you (probably) didnt know about Sir David Attenborough, Attenborough defends the use of studio shots in Blue Planet II, Blue racer snake guide: how to identify, are they venomous, and where theyre found, Sir David Attenborough on tackling climate change, Sir David Attenborough on people and their relationship with nature, The best scores for natural history programmes. Attenborough count: a record-breaking 18, including deliberately touching a nettle to show how its sting works; holding up the biggest pitcher plant Nepenthes raja, large enough to catch small rodents; walking among the giant sequoias; and demonstrating the rapid movements of the sensitive mimosa. It has an extension that looks and smells like a wingless female wasp; when a male tries to carry her away, the plant rapidly swings the fake female, repeatedly smashing the males head against its pollen tubes. Also, I think this episode might feature the first appearance of Attenborough in a blue, short-sleeved shirt, which would later become almost a uniform. Highlight: A huge troop of geladas grazes in the Ethiopian highlands. Highlight: A carnivorous bladderwort goes hunting. Conflict 45AF, a working prototype of an autofocus 4x5" camera. Highlight: Attenborough meets a pair of monogamous royal albatrosses, whove been together for 20 years. They grab the termites jaws and sting it in the only vulnerable place on its headin its mouth., 37) The Life of Birds Episode 5: Fishing for a Living. A mummified crabeater seal has been lying there for about 3,000 years. Attenborough count: 7, watching a sloth come down to the ground to defecate in its preferred spot (its vulnerable there, and no one knows why it bothers); eating lunch and filming a shot in time-lapse while the sloth does basically nothing; and watching salt-mining elephants on an infrared camera. He continues, escalating: And again. Attenborough count: 7, including walking towards a plovers nest while the bird tries to distract him by feigning a broken limb. The BritBox hot list: From The Hunt with David Attenborough to Trevor McDonald's Death Row - best documentaries to watch There's a wealth of documentaries from acclaimed broadcasters on BritBox, all created to educate viewers on everything from nature and space to travel and crime. Documentary A fresh new approach to the global lockdown and the uplifting stories that have come out of it. Second, Attenborough meets King Clone, a ring-shaped creosote bush that started growing between 10,000 and 12,000 years old, soon after the Mojave desert first appeared. . And as it was doing so, it was emptying the lava chamber deep within the Earths crust beneath the sea. In this documentary series, David reveals the extraordinary wildlife stories and unseen wilderness of our seven unique continents with an environmental message. Though David Attenborough only served as a narrator in this documentary, MAKE A POSITIVE STEP - JOIN THE EO MOVEMENT TODAY, Earth.Org is powered by over 150 contributing writers, Key Takeaways From David Attenboroughs New Film, A Life on Our Planet. In a modern documentary, this material would be confined to 10-minute Making Of segments that suffix episodes; standing alone, they sit awkwardly with the rest of the oeuvre. Richard Attenborough, Baron Attenborough of Richmond-upon-Thames, was born in Cambridge, England, the son of Mary (ne Clegg), a founding member of the Marriage Guidance Council, and Frederick Levi Attenborough, a scholar and academic administrator who was a don at Emmanuel College and wrote a standard text on Anglo-Saxon law. This website . The series took place across seven episodes, visiting each of the planets seven continents to explore the diversity of the flora, fauna, and geology of each the first time this had been done by the BBC Natural History Unit. Highlight: Its either the sight of a marine iguana still gamely running around despite having a Galapagos hawk on its back and really big talons in its face, or two white-bellied sea eagles fighting over the same fish, spiraling downwards in a mesmerizing helix. In one thrilling sequence, a pair of mating green turtles is harassed by one male after another, until the duo risk drowning because their weighed down by so many would-be suitors. The five-part series focuses on a different force of nature each episode, exploring how each has played its part in shaping and supporting wildlife around the globe. Highlight: The improbable, spectacular mating dances of the incredible birds of paradise, including the six-wired (tip-toeing; iridescent chest patch; head filaments), the greater (jumping; squawking; tail like Trumps hair), the blue (hanging upside-down; flaring out electric blue cape; sounding like a faulty modem); and the superb (er clacking while looking like a black face with a blue smiling mouth, idk, just watch it, okay?). The Private Life of Plants was the first of Attenboroughs series focused on a particular group of organisms. The noise was almost certainly the loudest noise that has ever echoed round the earth in recorded history. David Attenborough Documentaries. He sees archerfish shooting down their insect prey with bullets of spittle; surfing snails devouring a jellyfish; and the mighty leatherback turtle, excavating a nest in the sand and laying its eggs. Weve seen bumbling penguins, but the sight of chinstrap penguins fording torrential streams and climbing up cliffs stands out; they do so to reach their partners and chicks nesting high on the slopes. The Trials of Life was the third in the Life series and focused on rites of passage in the animal world such as birth, growing up, fighting and mating. And now a camera with a motor drive. A female dwarf Siberian hamster releases a perfume that summons males from all around. Instead, he found a female gorillas curious hand on his head. ); descending into the deep ocean in a submersible. The next was for an interview at his London house, where he showed me his fossil collection. Thank goodness he caught some of it. Here we take a look at his incredibly impressive career presenting and narrating some of the best natural history documentaries to have been made, from 1954, right the way through to 2023. Highlight: You cant help but love the joy on Attenboroughs face as he sits in the passenger seat of a glider, soaring on thermals next to griffon vultures. Highlight: The beavers, felling trees to make a dam, building a lodge so sturdy that its bear-proof, and living up to stereotype by being inordinately busy. Attenborough count: 5, including dropping a pig-nosed turtle shell into a jar of water and watching it hatch; antagonizing an American alligator which antagonises him back; and once again catching up with those Galapagos tortoises (I bet the leafcutter ants are jealous). Highlight: Its a tie. David Attenborough Documentaries - IMDb Attenborough count: 3, including saying, As long as I keep downwind of it, theres no reason why it should be particularly disturbed by my presence, as he walks literally next to a giant anteater, while talking loudly. Viewers will discover all types of animals, fungi and bacteria that are able to create light and glow in the dark including the luminous plankton that light up coastal waters, as well as rarely seen deep sea fish. Attenborough count: 9, including watching ants farming aphids; seeing a feather-legged bug impale the ants that it attracts; and uncorking a vial of minuscule fairy wasps, whose wings look like hairy paddles. The film follows 15 narratives showing the lives of various animals living in and near the oceans that make up two-thirds of the planets surface, including the migratory journeys of grey whales and polar bears struggles in the Arctic. Highlight: In Denmark, a snail has been infected by a flukea parasitic flatworm, which must get inside a bird to complete its life cycle. Though he had. Our Planet | How to save our planet Koyaanisqatsi (1982) | Director: Godfrey Reggio - IMDb user rating: 8.3 - Metascore: 72 - Runtime: 86 minutes | "Koyaanisqatsi" is a Hopi word that translates to "life out of balance . Join Attenborough as he and a team of deep-sea explorers showcase the mysterious and luminescent creatures of the world. It's our home, as you've never seen it before. retraced BBC Wild Isles star David Attenborough's wildlife adventures in Pembrokeshire - discover the best puffin-spotting walks, nature and accommodation options for a . Attenborough explores familiar creatures such as fireflies and the luminous plankton that help create the Milky seas effect, and introduces luminous deep sea animals ranging from the vampire squid to the viperfish. Highlight: That first shot of Attenborough talking straight into the camera about evolution. It might seem that hes absolutely motionless, he says inexplicably, as an uncooperative hoverfly zips around in front of him. Meanwhile, a female chinchilla rejects a suitor by squirting urine in face, a female cockroach drags her mate around by his genitals, and a female jacana (a long-toed bird that walks on lily pads) coerces a male into sex and then destroys his clutch. Beautiful. Baby animals find their way in the worldwith help. Stars: David Attenborough, Pierce Brosnan, Peter Scoones Votes: 40,904 2. They are made of mud and they absorb moisture from the colony above. Attenborough count: Er, between 8 and 10, depending on whose finger is in a couple of shots. Always two there are with long-tailed manakins. For a thousand miles in all directions, there is nothing but ice. Curiosity might not kill the cat, but it certainly gets the cat a face full of quills. Spiny lobsters go on long marches, honey bees waggle to communicate the location of plants, eels swim from the Sargasso sea to the rivers of their birth, rufous hummingbirds fly over mountain ranges, and Arctic terns fly from pole to pole and back again. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments.David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet | Official Trailer | Netflixhttps://youtube.com/NetflixA broadcaster recounts his life, and the evolutionary history of life on Earth, to grieve the loss of wild places and offer a vision for the future. Wherever the going is good, the parasite inserts a tube and draws off the nettles sap, says Attenborough. Then, it makes a clicking, whirring noise. Across 13 episodes, David Attenborough sought to explain the origins of life on our planet and how that has left us with the species that exist today. Highlight: The sea slug Glaucus devours a jellyfish and repurposes its stings for its (the slugs) own defense. Spring in the Antarctic, and Attenborough catches up with albatrosses, penguins, and crabeater seals (the most numerous large mammal in the world, except for us). 50) The Living Planet Episode 8: Sweet Fresh Water. The time to make such a series had come, not because time-lapse photography was new, but because computer control of cameras meant you could track a plants progress millimetre by millimetre over periods of days and weeks. And later, he squats next to an eel thats sitting on a river bank, taps its head and tail with electrodes, and gets it to light up some bulbs. It was originally released in 2011. Floppy elephant calves play at being adults; baby scorpions ride on mums back, and elephant-seal pups guzzle the fattest of high-fat milk. Exceptions include the pistol shrimps (sonic claws), rattlesnakes (full body wrestling), and giraffes (neck-fu). Our Planetdetails all the different impacts climate change has on living creatures, and is expertly narrated by Attenborough, who has moved beyond to just a passive commentator but an advocate of change. So it sends its broodsacs (full of larvae) into the snails eyes, transforming them from slender stalks into grotesque pulsating popsicles, which look like juicy grubs. And thats a car alarm. He says its the oldest known living organism in the worldits record would now be hotly disputed but its age is undeniably incredible. No, this list focuses on the big series that he himself wrote and presented, the ones that are most marbled with his influence, the ones that feature his beaming face along with his velvet voice. When most people think about birds, they think about animals that can fly, but this is not what distinguishes them many insects can fly too, as do bats and as could pterosaurs and pterodactyls. Attenborough count: 11, including twanging a rattan cane to summon its defendersangry ants, which then sting him painfully; standing in the hollow interior of a still living oak; walking among orchids in a greenhouse, each of which depend on its own special root fungus; and pointing out the buds and blooms of Rafflesia, a fly-pollinated parasite that has the worlds largest flowers and that stinks of rotting meat. Watching mudskippers haul themselves onto land; cradling a dead coelacanth on a beach at the Comoro Islands, where the first live one was seen; and holding the aptly named goliath frog (its roughly cat-sized). 4) Life in the Undergrowth Episode 4: Intimate Relations. The caterpillar of the Alcon blue butterfly turns ants into babysitters by mimicking the sounds of queens. In this relatively brief and inevitably brilliant series, he not only supplies the commentary, in that voice we know as well as our own, but hes back doing what he does best: popping up all over the world to show and explain, with humour, wit, and charm. The end result is more nuanced and often wryly amusing natural history TV than you will usually find elsewhere. To feed themselves, acorn woodpeckers store acorns in holes they drill into trees; oxpeckers eat ticks off giraffes but also sip blood from wounds that they keep open; and crossbills prize open pine cones with beaks whose halves can move sideways. 26) Life in Cold Blood Episode 2: Invaders of the Land. I met Attenborough twice. Fans will be pleased to hear that Planet Earth III is rumoured to be coming out in 2022. They decided that Jack would tell his bosses that the BBC was interested in covering an expedition, while Attenborough would tell his that he had discovered such a trip was going ahead and that he might get permission to accompany it. Atypical of his usual nature documentaries, Attenborough takes a more critical tone in Our Planet, condemning humans treatment of the natural world, which makes his message of hope all the more effective as he talks about the solutions in combating the climate crisis at the conclusion of the film. All of this works because of Attenborough. Highlight: Attenborough goes fishing in the Amazon, sort of. Many hail David Attenboroughs The Blue Planet as one of the best nature documentary series of all time, lauded for its comprehensive coverage of marine life and ecosystems, as well as stunning music and cinematography. 65) The Life of Birds Episode 9: Problems of Parenthood. 39) The Life of Birds Episode 1: To Fly or Not to Fly. David Attenborough, in full Sir David Frederick Attenborough, (born May 8, 1926, London, England), English broadcaster, writer, and naturalist noted for his innovative educational television programs, especially the nine-part Life series. Like its predecessor, The Living Planet pushed the boundaries of film techniques and styles. But since its a list of episodes, the winner is this underappreciated jewel from the crown of Attenboroughs oeuvreThe Trials of Life. 51) The Living Planet Episode 11: The Open Ocean. Their sight, their hearing, their sense of smell, is so similar to ours that we see the world in the same way they do. Sir David Attenborough explains how humans can take charge of our future and save our planet. Highlights: Attenborough offers flowers to a pika, a rabbit-relative that looks like a hamster. An odd episode, this. 61) The Life of Mammals Episode 5: Meat-eaters. The new documentary explores the 50-year legacy of Stallone's impact on Hollywood. The worlds entire population of spectacled eider ducks gather on half a dozen blocks of ice. 2) Life on Earth Episode 12: Life in the Trees. The show consists of seven episodes, chronicling the natural history of these regions and how threats including global warming and climate change are affecting the landforms and the survival of native animals.