The BBC Natural History Collection 2 featuring Life

Take a tour around the globe with the newest natural history programming from the BBC. Recent advances in macro, micro, time-lapse and high definition filming allow our film crews to reveal like never before the remarkable adaptations that plant and animal species have developed to survive and thrive on our truly astonishing planet. Life is the epic follow-up to the BBC's monumental Planet Earth, Life presents 130 stories from the frontiers of the natural world. Packed with excitement, revelation and entertainment, this remarkable 10-part blockbuster captures unprecedented, astonishingly beautiful sequences and demonstrates the spectacular and extraordinary tactics animals and plants have developed to stay alive. The Galápagos Islands are a living laboratory, a fertile, lush land in its prime that contains an incredible diversity of life. Wild China lifts the veil on the world's most enigmatic and magnificent country, delving into its vibrant habitats to reveal a land of unbelievable natural complexity. In a kaleidoscope of color and energy, Ganges reveals how this remarkable river has shaped the wildlife, culture and beliefs of India. Life in Cold Blood uses the very latest technology to overturns the myth that cold blooded life is slow, solitary and primitive, and reveals these creatures to be as dramatic, social, sophisticated and passionate as warm blooded animals. These five landmark series totaling over 20 hours, plus behind the scenes extras that show the remarkable lengths the camera crews took to capture these stunning images.

Life
From the award-winning BBC Natural History Unit, makers of Planet Earth and The Blue Planet: Seas of Life, this is the original UK broadcast version of Life, with narration by renowned naturalist David Attenborough and music by Oscar® and Emmy® winning composer George Fenton In Planet Earth, we brought you the world as you've never seen it before. Now, get closer with Life. Four years in the making, filmed over 3000 days, across every continent and in every habitat, with breathtaking new high definition filming techniques developed since Planet Earth, Life presents 130 incredible stories from the frontiers of the natural world, 54 of which have never been filmed before. Packed with excitement, revelation and entertainment, this remarkable 10-part blockbuster captures unprecedented, astonishingly beautiful sequences and demonstrates the spectacular and extraordinary tactics animals and plants have developed to survive and thrive.

Galapagos
If you can't book a cruise today, watch this breathtaking series instead, and you'll see what astonished Darwin when he visited the islands in 1835: Blue-footed boobies showing off their feet in the world's most colorful mating dance. Surfing sea lions. Diving lizards. And the giant, century-old tortoises for which the islands are named. Nowhere else on earth can you see such incredible diversity of life, now captured for you in this gloriously filmed threepart series from the BBC and National Geographic. "Even if you don't have HDTV you'll be swept away by the pin-sharp quality of wildlife images you won't find anywhere else on Earth."-Daily Mirror. "Typically awesome BBC wildlife footage"-Independent

Wild China
Journey to the mystical, mysterious land of splendor and romance! Filmed entirely in stunning high-definition, Wild China lifts the veil on the world's most enigmatic and magnificent country, delving into its vibrant habitats to reveal a land of unbelievable natural complexity─beyond the Great Wall and Beijing's Olympic Stadium. Get an amazingly personal look at China - before the world sets its sights on the host country of the 2008 Summer Olympics. Travel across one of the oldest civilizations on Earth - from the glittering peaks of the Himalayas to the barren steppe, the sub-Arctic to the tropical islands, through deserts both searingly hot and mind-numbingly cold and marvel at a dazzling array of mysterious, beautiful, wild and rare pandas, monkeys, snakes and elephants, while tribal minorities such as the Dai keep ancient Buddhist ceremonies alive. This landmark series provides unprecedented access to a land of astonishing natural complexity, breathtaking landscapes, rare and surprising wildlife and colorful people.

Ganges
This sumptuous series tells the story of one of the most extraordinary rivers in the world - the Ganges. Follow its journey from mountain to sea, and discover how it touches the lives of every living thing in India.
Embark on an epic journey through India as the very best photography captures the majestic scenery of the Ganges and its beautiful, surprising and often dramatic wildlife. Looking both within its flowing waters and beyond its banks, these three films reflect the whole basin and the many sources and tributaries.
Travelling from the stark beauty of the Himalayas to the rich wilderness of the Sunderbans, witness the dramatic lives of iconic and lesser-known animals - from tigers, elephants and rhino, to the tiniest wild pigs. Marvel at architectural wonders including the Taj Mahal and Shahjahanabad, the ancient cities of Hariwar, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Vikramshilla and Guar, and be amazed by the incredible colour and richness of contemporary Indian culture.

Life in Cold Blood
Some things must be seen to be believed. This five-part series is one of them. Join celebrated broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough for a remarkable reptile's-eye view of a rarely seen cold-blooded world. See the balletic courtship of saltwater crocodiles, watch as deep-frozen painted turtles return to life, wonder at battles between monstrous giant Japanese salamanders, and the dangerous mating rituals of enormous tortoises. Astounding high-definition photography captures extraordinary and previously unseen behavior in intimate detail. A co-production from the BBC and Animal Planet.

 

Life

The Challenges of Life
Introducing the extraordinary things animals and plants must do in order to survive and thrive. Witness capuchin monkeys smashing open palm nuts with stone ‘hammers', hippos launching from the water into the air and chameleons stealing prey from a spider's web. Sprint with cheetahs as they band together to tackle ostriches; watch dolphins form perfect rings of mud to trap fish and swim with a seal as it struggles to escape attacking killer whales in the ice of Antarctica.

Reptiles and Amphibians
From icy wastes to arid deserts, reptiles and amphibians have used their ancient, cold-blooded body plan along with sophisticated behavioral innovations to master the harshest environments on the planet. See Komodo dragons hunting buffalo, sea snakes with one of the most toxic venoms in the world that breed in caves, the seemingly suicidal leaps of a waterfall toad, the tender giant African bull frog that digs water channels to save not only its own young, but that of others too; and lizards that can walk on water.

Mammals
New filming techniques reveal behavior that was previously impossible to capture in extreme locations. Fly among one of the largest migrations on Earth, as more than ten million fruit bats leave the Congo basin and converge in a few special trees in Zambia to feed, sprint with the tiny, extraordinary-looking sengi as it escapes a predatory lizard, see 30 polar bears gather to feed on a bowhead whale carcass and witness the biggest fight on Earth - male humpback whales battling for a female.

Fish
Fish can fly, sense electricity, swim at over 100mph and even walk on land. From the open ocean to coral reef and storm-ravaged surf to the freshwater springs of Kenya, swim with sharks, mudskippers and convict fish. See the hilariously named "sarcastic fringe-head" fighting for its home territory; hunt with sailfish; glide with flying fish; enter the secret world of courting sea-dragons; and even join the epic journey of the tiny, cliff-climbing goby.

Birds
Birds are supremely adaptable, capable not only of flying at phenomenal speeds and covering great distances, but of displaying a murderous nature, running on water in pursuit of love and even of building intricate structures. Using aerial camera techniques, Life flies with the birds and explores their incredible diversity and behavior: dodging the piratical frigate birds; soaring with the lammergeyers; dancing with a thousand flamingos in the lakes of Africa; and witnessing the extraordinary displays of spatula-tailed hummingbirds, western grebes and bowerbirds as they all attempt to attract a mate.

Insects
Insects are the most diverse animal group on the planet. The key to their success is their unique ability to reshape themselves. They possess fearsome weapons, yet can display surprising tenderness and sophisticated behavior. Take to the skies with millions of monarch butterflies in Mexico, see a beetle spray boiling chemicals at its enemies, witness giant bees fight to the death over females, join the marching columns of grass cutter ants and spend a jeopardy-filled day with damsel flies.

Hunters and Hunted
Every day, in the jungles, grasslands, deserts and frozen wastelands, battles are won, fought and lost between carnivores and their prey. See cheetahs join forces to bring down an ostrich, a tiny stoat take on a rabbit ten times its size, elephant seal pups snatched from their nursery pool by a killer whale, the antics of a squirrel as it outwits a rattlesnake and at an amazing 2,000 frames per second, the strike of a bulldog bat flying at 60 mph.

Creatures of the Deep
Using specially developed underwater tracking time-lapse techniques, LIFE takes a journey to the unchartered corners of the ocean. It's here the newest discoveries are being made and the strangest creatures live, from huge spider crabs which gather in their thousands, seeking safety in numbers as they shed their protective shell, to cross-dressing giant squid. Join a 250-strong pack of Humboldt squid on a hunting expedition, see the ultimate self-sacrifice of a Pacific giant octopus mother who starves to death tending her young and dive under the permanent ice of Antarctica to see a seething carpet of starfish as they devour a seal pup carcass.

Plants
The drama of the plant world is impossible to view with the naked eye. But using the latest time-lapse technology, all is revealed: how a Venus flytrap snaps shut and imprisons its prey and how the animal-like grasping hooks of the cat's claw creeper and the sticky pads of the Boston ivy help in their fight for light. Fly with the seed that inspired the design of gliders, watch the fastest growing plant on Earth rocket up two feet a day and discover the water-trapping abilities of the bizarre dragon's blood tree, which oozes red sap from its branches.

Primates
Primates are uniquely intelligent - engaging in problem solving, communication, tool use and intimate social interplay. Primates are uniquely intelligent, engaging in problem solving, communication, tool use and intimate social interplay. In the Congo, meet a tightly bound group of western lowland gorillas led by an ancient silverback, whose chest-beating sends shockwaves more than a mile through the undergrowth. See grey Phayre's leaf-monkey mothers in Thailand battling for the privilege to babysit bright orange newborns, encounter the violent disputes of a thousand hamadryas baboons and join chacma baboons shark egg hunting on the coast of South Africa.

Galapagos

Born Of Fire - The series begins with the birth of the islands and an exploration of what makes them unique. They were born out of volcanoes and are plumbed directly into the heart of the planet - 1,000 km off South America they are at the centre of many different ocean currents which bring an extraordinary mix of life to their shores and they are constantly changing.

This is one of the most volcanically active regions on earth with well over 60 eruptions in the last 200 years. The team captured the latest eruption of Sierra Negra when a huge column of smoke was cast in the sky and over a million cubic metres of lava were shed per hour on the first day.

As for the wildlife, the mixture of cold and warm waters support a wide range of marine creatures, including vast shoals of hammer-head sharks and the distinctive Galapagos garden eels. For land animals, getting to Galapágos is a lot tougher. Those that have made it had to cross the open ocean on rafts of vegetation, swept out from the mainland on flash floods.

The Islands That Changed The World - When Charles Darwin visited the Galapágos Islands on 15 September 1835, his experiences and studies of the unique environment would change the understanding of life on Earth. With dramatic reconstruction and stunning wildlife images, Galápagos explores the hidden side of the islands, revealing why, more than any other place, they are a showcase for evolution.

Through their movement on continental plates, they have spread into a group of islands each with its own character, ocean currents and climate. Life on the islands has been forced to adapt to change or die.

Tortoise shells have changed shape to fit the island they inhabit; flowers have become yellow to attract the only bee that made it here; finches have turned into warblers; and cormorants have lost the power of flight - trading it for streamlining and a magical life searching for fish in the sparkling Galapágos waters.

But not all life here is confined to the Galapágos. Frigate birds come from miles around, sperm whales visit the waters to breed and human visitors also come to see the environment that changed the course of history.

Forces of Nature - The geological forces at work in Galapágos are complex and unpredictable; so too are the many ocean currents that unite here.

Among the 13 islands and over a hundred rocky outcrops and islets, nowhere is more unforgiving and more unpredict¬able than the island of Fernandina, crowned by the most active of all volcanoes. Yet female land iguanas are forced to climb over 1,000 metres to its summit to find the only warm, soft sandy patches in which to lay their eggs.

The ever-changing islands, with eruptions occurring every few years, make it hard to find a foothold. But mangroves are inventive pioneers, their salt-tolerant seeds settling on unforgiving lava terrain to create dense labyrinths of vegeta¬tion which are crucial nurseries for fish, offering precious shade from the equatorial sun. Even on the most exposed shorelines, fur seals find daytime shelter in lava grottos, formed by volcanic lava flows.

The remotest island, Roca Redonda, is little more than 300 metres tall but it still forms an important platform for nesting seabirds. Like all the other islands, under-sea exploration reveals that it's just the summit of an enormous undersea volcano.

Wild China

The Great Rice Bowl - Eight times the size of the UK and bathed in a humid sub-tropical climate, southern China is a vast land of endless hills and glistening emerald rice paddies. In the far south-western province of Yunnan, the hillsides have been carved over many centuries into a spectacular array of rice terraces spanning two thousand metres vertically from the mountain tops to the floor of the Red River valley. This is quintessential rural China - a landscape where pyjama-clad peasants still follow wooden ploughs pulled by steaming water buffaloes on the hillsides, while in the lowlands noisy combine harvesters reap fields cultivated with the aid of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Further east in Guangxi province, men in conical bamboo hats dance for their tame cormorants, urging them to dive for fishes in the limpid waters of the Li River. In China, every aspect of rural life is closely bound up with nature. For the colourful Miao community of hilly Guizhou Province, the arrival of swallows in the spring is used to determine the start of the rice-planting season. The paddies provide not just rice, but also fishes and frogs which breed in the flooded fields. However, this is no wildlife paradise. In the Chinese countryside wildlife is seen as a resource to be used by people and the south has a long tradition of eating wild animals of all kinds. Nature, however, is tenacious and resourceful. In the more rugged hills where agriculture is impractical, monkeys still patrol the forested hillsides, beautifully-patterned venomous snakes hide in the undergrowth and bizarre giant salamanders lurk in the rocky stream beds. Almost half of southern China is occupied by limestone hills which have the peculiar property that the rock is dissolved by rainwater, creating the spectacular egg-carton landform known as karst. In Yunnan, the karst forms a spectacular maze of eroded pinnacles known as the Stone Forest - a famous tourist attraction. Beneath the surface of the karst lie vast caverns traversed by mysterious subterranean rivers which are home to blind cave fishes. China contains thousands of kilometres of subterranean passageways, often of vast dimensions and filled with glittering arrays of stalactites and stalagmites. Much of this spectacular underworld is only now beginning to be explored by adventure-seeking cavers. The caves shelter huge colonies of nesting swifts as well as bats, including one remarkable species which specializes in catching fishes from the local rivers, while rare black leaf monkeys clamber along tiny ledges in the darkness in search of safe sleeping-places. East of the karst lies a vast lowland area known as 'the land of fish and rice', bordered by the spectacular sandstone pinnacles of Zhangjiajie and the soaring granite mountains of the Huang Shan, festooned with thousand-year old pine trees. Recently, nature reserves have been established in this area to protect endangered creatures such as the dwarf Chinese alligator and to safeguard vast flocks of water birds, such as tundra swans and rare Siberian cranes, which find a winter haven in the relatively warm southern lakes.

The Forests of Shangri La - Hidden beneath billowing clouds, in China's remote south west, are perhaps the richest natural treasures in all China. The snow-capped Hengduan Mountains - an easterly extension of the Himalaya - sweep down across the Tibet border into northern Yunnan Province as a series of towering north-south aligned ridges. They were formed as part of the massive uplifting of rock strata along the length of the Himalayan chain when the Indian subcontinent crashed northwards into Asia as a result of continental drift. Between the Hengduan Mountain ridges run three great parallel valleys which channel the three great rivers of tropical south-east Asia: the Salween, the Mekong and the Yangtze. Between them, the mountains and rivers form effective barriers to the east-west movements of animals and plants, providing perfect conditions for animals and plants to evolve into unique and distinctive forms, each confined within its own valley. However, the valleys have had an even more profound effect on the local ecology. They act as funnels drawing the warm moisture-laden winds of the South Asian monsoon northwards, deep into the heart of the mountains. As a result, valleys way to the north of the tropics are cloaked in luxuriant vegetation - a unique mix of tropical jungle trees, typical mountain species such as rhododendrons and camellias and vast stands of fast-growing bamboos which are attacked by peculiar burrowing bamboo rats. This unexpected jungle paradise is home to dazzling birds, such as golden pheasants; jewel-like sunbirds and the extraordinarily colourful Temminck's tragopan with its peculiar peek-a-boo courtship display. In the treetops Gibbons sing their haunting songs to the dawn and monkeys compete for fruit with giant tree squirrels. In their upper reaches, where the altitude produces more pronounced seasonal changes, the valleys take on a very different character. Here are deciduous woodlands filled with colourful flowers: azaleas, forsythias, clematis, dogwoods and polyanthus. Many of these are now well-known to gardeners in the West, thanks to the efforts of pioneering botanists in the late 19th and early 20th Century who braved the river torrents to collect specimens of Chinese plants for sale in Europe and whose reports of paradise-like valleys lost among the mountains gave rise to legends of Shangri-La. Best known of these was Joseph Rock - a swashbuckling Indiana Jones like character who made a remarkable record of his travels including some of the earliest known botanical photographs in colour. Rock also filmed his party crossing river torrents on rope 'death-slides'. Local tribal people still cross the rivers in this way, carrying livestock and other produce between their home village and the local markets, although these days wire-hawsers have supplanted the old hemp ropes. Higher still on the mountain slopes, coniferous forests are home to richly-furred red pandas and yeti-like Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys which subsist almost entirely on an unlikely diet of feathery tree lichens. But the richest forests of all are those which lie to the south of the mountains, where the Salween and Mekong rivers finally escape the mountains. This is the real tropical jungle, home to China's last wild elephants - a popular tourist attraction - and colourful tribal minorities such as the Dai, who protect sacred forests surrounding their villages and celebrate their culture in an annual water-splashing ceremony when they anoint statues of the Buddha with river water.

Tibet - The size of Western Europe, the Tibetan plateau covers a quarter of China. This vast windswept wilderness is one of the world's most remote places, bounded by the glacier-strewn Himalayas. At 9km high and 2900km long, the Himalayas are the real Great Wall of China. Up on the Tibetan plateau the Himalayas dictate the nature and rhythms of life, creating a world where the air is thin, snow falls in summer, and persistent winds and storms rip across the hauntingly beautiful landscape. This is a land of superlatives - with the world's loftiest mountains and monasteries, its highest-dwelling creatures and its deepest gorges. But this brutal region is home to incredible wildlife, such as the rare chiru. When discovered by travellers in the Middle Ages, the dazzling horns of these antelopes prompted tales of unicorns. Hunted for their fine fur, known as 'shahtoosh', in the last century chiru were driven to near extinction. Today there is a ban on poaching but they are still difficult to find since the area where they live, the Chang Tang, is so vast and remote. But we were able to film their spectacular rut, where the males joust like fencers in temperatures that plummet to minus 40oC, and where the air is so thin that just breathing is a challenge. Here brown bear and the crafty Tibetan fox can be seen hunting the rabbit-like pikas, and herds of formidable wild yak migrate endlessly across the vast open spaces, sure footed and totally at home in the ice and snow. Meanwhile the argali sheep, the world's largest with its dramatic spiralling horns, gather together in winter to endure the worst weather on the planet. There are more large creatures here than anywhere else in China, but also some remarkable miniature ones that have managed to survive in this uniquely inhospitable environment. Up on the slopes of Everest the highest predators on earth - jumping spiders - hunt for springtails. The Chinese call these gymnastic predators 'fly tigers'. The plateau is littered with hot springs that bubble and belch clouds of sulphurous steam. Downstream the springs turn into warm-flowing rivers which are patrolled by cold blooded snakes that wait patiently in the water, their heads bobbing like fishing floats, for an unsuspecting fish. Thanks to the hot springs these are the highest dwelling snakes in the world. Tibet not only has unique and extraordinary creatures, it also has a unique culture, defined by a union of ancient shamanic beliefs and over one thousand years of Buddhism. This hybrid religion has nurtured remarkable beliefs: life is respected, and good deeds to living creatures are reckoned to assure a better rebirth, and eventual enlightenment. The monasteries are the engines that drive this extraordinary culture. The land is imbued with magic, and there are even secret kingdoms that have been rendered invisible. We were able to film the Yarlung Gorge, 3 times as deep as the Grand Canyon and rarely seen by outsiders. Tibetan Buddhism and the beliefs of millions are focused on Mount Kailash - a remote mountain in the far west of Tibet where culture and landscape converge. Buddha achieved enlightenment here, and four major rivers flow from this region. Tibet's many glaciers and rivers and its impact on the weather systems of Asia and the Indian subcontinent means this landscape and ancient culture provides a crucial life support system for much of the planet.

Beyond the Great Wall - The Great Wall of China was built by the ancient Chinese emperors to keep out the fierce warrior tribes that live to the north. Their lands were considered to be hostile and uninhabitable. Conditions in northern China can be severe, with terrible Siberian winters and searing, hot, stormy deserts. These conditions have shaped the characters of some of China's most rugged and fascinating people and wildlife. North-east China still has dense forests with Wild Boar and just a few Siberian tigers, the world's largest cat. Ethnic minorities like the Hezhe people fish through holes in the ice, and surprisingly, a handful of people still herd reindeer. The frozen forests give way to great grasslands, home to over 5 million Mongolians. Their ancestor, Genghis Kahn, left a legacy of horsemanship which is unrivalled anywhere in the world. We travel through the ancient capital of Xanadu and join the annual summer horse-racing festival of Nadam before continuing on to the beginning of China's vast deserts. Here, the Great Wall finally comes to an end after 5000 winding kilometres at the fortress of Jiayuguan. Beyond this place are deserts for hundreds of miles, including the world's largest shifting sand desert - the Taklamakan, whose name means 'You go in and you never come out'. People risked their lives to cross these deserts to get their hands on valuable Chinese silk, and the routes the traders took became known as the Silk Road. Great fortunes and mighty kingdoms were built on trade in silk, and incredibly, it all comes from the woven cocoon of a humble little insect: the Silk worm. To get the silk across the desert and out of China along this famous trade route was only possible with the aide of a desert specialist animal: the camel. Because they can carry heavy loads across sandy deserts, and need to drink only every few weeks, they were the perfect ally. Great towns were built as trading posts and some, like Turpan, survive today. Turpan is famous as an oasis town that brings water from distant mountains, through underground tunnels that were built thousands of years ago. The water allows the growth of grapes, which this region is famous for. But not all Silk Road towns endured as well as Turpan - many are just ghost towns, swallowed back up by the desert. The last town on the trade routes before leaving China for central Asia is Kashgar which is still a thriving market town. The people here hardly look Chinese, and many live in China's remotest corners. Nomadic Kazakhs herd their livestock in the Heavenly Mountains, but when winter comes, they pack up their tents and move down into the desert regions of the Junggar Basin, the westernmost part of the Great Gobi desert. Snow blankets the desert in winter, and the Kazakhs' livestock must compete with wild animals for the sparse grass that they eat. This is home to some of the world's last wild horses, as well as gazelles and even wild hamsters! The Kazakhs here continue 6000 years of tradition of hunting with Golden Eagles, but their lives are beginning to change is this rapidly modernising country. Enormous cities, like Harbin, now protect modern Chinese from the harshness of China's northern climates. Each year, the Harbin Ice Festival is a chance to celebrate the beauty of the north. The Chinese do it in their own special style: giant ice-carving competitions covered in neon lights turn the city into a Technicolor wonderland.

Land of the Dragon - While much of western China is mountainous and relatively thinly populated, the eastern side, between the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers, is a place of great cities, of heavy industrialization and intensive agriculture. China's heartland with its predominantly Han ethnic population is the centre of a five thousand year old civilization which has created landmarks such as the Great Wall, the Temple of Heaven, and Beijing's Olympic Stadium. But this densely populated area is also home to some of China's most charismatic creatures. The elusive giant panda has always been considered incredibly tricky to film in the wild. It's so secretive and sensitive to noise that researchers have barely caught a glimpse of one as it moves swiftly through the dense bamboo. However we were able to film not only pandas foraging for frozen bamboo leaves in the snow covered mountains of the Qinling Mountains, but also the entire courtship and mating rituals of these wonderful creatures, never filmed before. The sounds were like Chewbacca in a pub brawl! We were also able to film the rare golden snub-nosed monkey and the formidable and aggressive golden takin - a fabulous creature said to be the original owner of the Golden Fleece. When male takin clash horns during their rut, the sound reverberates around the mountains like a gunshot. Since the 1950s, China has undergone massive development and change, bringing many environmental problems. Following a century of aggression from outside forces, Chairman Mao sought to re-build China's dignity. Faced with massive logistical problems, Mao's first concern was to feed the Chinese population. His policies replaced the ancient wisdom of 'harmony between man and nature' with a new dictum: 'man must conquer nature'. Making China self reliant in steel production resulted in 10% of China's forest being felled, causing long term ecological damage. But behind the politics, the relationship of the Chinese to their environment and its creatures is in fact deep, complex, and full of surprises. A visit to a Chinese medicine shop reveals the extraordinary means they will use in an attempt to balance the 'ying and yang' forces within the body and achieve a harmonious balance in the universe. Other natural forces are more tangible, such as the Yellow and Yangtze rivers which helped to shape and nurture Chinese civilisation. The raging torrent of the Yellow River's Hukuo falls are evidence of the massive forces that, once they had been tamed, brought fertility to their fields. The Chinese believed the rivers were carved by dragons, and respect for the dragon may have contributed to protecting the rare Chinese alligator, which still survives around the Yangtze. And there are further success stories. In 1982 there were just seven crested ibis left in the world, but following a conservation programme there are now 500. Such conservation successes are signs of a gradual turnaround in attitudes towards wildlife and the environment which suggest a return to the ancient concept of harmony with nature - offering a glimmer of hope for the future of wild China.

Crowded Coasts - From the eastern end of the Great Wall, China's coast spans 14,500 kilometres and more than five thousand years of history. This is a place of huge contrasts: futuristic modern cities jostling traditional seaweed-thatched villages, ancient tea terraces and wild wetlands where rare animals still survive. Each year, endangered red-crowned cranes make an epic journey along the coast between their northern breeding grounds and their winter refuge close to Shanghai. Along their route they skirt the shallow Bohai Gulf where traditional seaside communities collect shellfish from the fertile mud and cultivate vast seaweed farms which they share with wild swans, known as 'winter angels'. Out in the gulf, rocky Shedao Island is infested with venomous snakes lying ambush for the twice-yearly influx of migrating birds, which use the island as a resting point. The gulf waters are enriched by fertile sediment from the Yellow River, boosted by agricultural fertilizers which stimulate the growth of plankton, in turn providing food for plagues of jellyfish. Each summer, armadas of fishing boats set nets to trap the jellyfish, which in China are eaten as a delicacy. Heading south along the coast, the Dafeng salt marsh reserve is home to the remarkable water-loving Milu deer, rescued from the brink of extinction in the 19th Century when a small herd was established in England's Woburn Abbey. Returned to the wild in China they now flourish under strict government protection. Beyond the Yangtze River estuary lies the vast city of Shanghai - China's financial capital. On nearby Chongming Island, traditional bird hunters use their skills to lure migrant wading birds into their traps - allowing them to be weighed, measured and fitted with identification tags as part of an ambitious conservation project. South of Shanghai, the cloud-wreathed granite mountains of Fujian Province are home to one of China's oldest tea-growing cultures, that of the Kejia people. The Kejia live in circular communal houses where they produce fine oolong, or 'black dragon' teas. Ancient tea-trading routes follow the coast to ports from which junk-rigged sailing ships once plied the world's oceans. These are treacherous waters, battered by tropical cyclones. Lying at the outer margins of the Pearl River estuary, Hong Kong's sheltered deep-water harbour provides the best-protected anchorage in southern China, boosting its fortunes as a trading centre. Surprisingly, it is also China's foremost bird sanctuary - sheltering vast numbers of tropical migrants, including a quarter of the world's black-faced spoonbills. The outer estuary is also home to China's last remaining - and highly protected - White Dolphins. South of Hong Kong lies the glittering turquoise expanse of the South China sea, studded with islands and remote coral reefs. Closer to the mainland, most of the coral has been damaged and the reefs severely over fished, though there are now efforts being made to replant coastal mangroves and protect remaining fish stocks. At the southern limit of China's coast lies the tropical paradise island of Hainan - a favourite with Chinese holidaymakers. Here macaque monkeys are protected for the amusement of tourists, and ancient calligraphy carved into the rocks announces the 'end of the world' - China's final frontier. The issues that face China today, increasing pressures on resources, quality of environment and living space, are those that face us all. If there is any country in the world equipped to solve environmental problems on a vast scale it has to be China, with its tremendous human resources and powerful political control. The path it chooses will affect not just its own people and its natural environment, but the rest of the world too.

Ganges

Daughter of the Mountains - High in the cold peaks of the Himalayas is the sacred source of the river Ganges. This is one of the most breathtakingly beautiful landscapes on Earth. We follow the river's journey to the lush foothills, where our superb natural history photography captures the last wild herds of elephants that live by the riverbank, as well as tigers, otters and peacocks.

River of Life - We continue downstream, to the fertile central plains of the Ganges and her tributaries. Travelling through 5,000 years of civilisation, we visit one of the oldest and most sacred cities in the world, Varanasi. Whilst Sarus cranes and troops of macaques thrive on these plains, other animals - such as the unique Gangetic river dolphins and gharial crocodiles - struggle to survive here.

The Tiger's Realm - We enter the teeming delta, where the river Ganges meets the sea. Here modern cities such as Calcutta join with the ancient swamps of the Sunderbans. This amazingly diverse wetland, barely filmed before, is home to giant lizards, man-eating crocodiles and forests full of monkeys. Here the tiger is still king, and man is on the menu.

Life in Cold Blood

The Cold-Blooded Truth - Reptiles and amphibians are as dramatic in combat, colourful in their communication and tender in their parental care as other animals. They also live their lives on a totally different time scale and harness their energy from the sun. The Cold Blooded Truth reveals the secret of their success.
Sir David Attenborough begins the story on the Galapagos Islands, among massed ranks of marine iguanas. Stunning thermal imagery reveal how these lizards bask in the sun until they are as warm as he is, and then pour like hot golden lava into the cold sea as the heat they have accumulated powers their dives.
In California, side-blotched lizards fight for the best sun-baked rock-piles to use as radiators. Here, the females choose the males with the hottest rocks as mates.
Mediterranean wall lizards have also discovered a novel heat source. They bask on the bizarre Dead Horse Arum flowers that produce living heat as a by-product of making a disgusting odour to attract flies. Sat on theses hotplates, the lizards get heat and regular meals of flies.
Surprisingly, on a chilly, windswept island off the coast of South Africa, David finds a riot of reptiles - the highest concentration of angulate tortoises on Earth. They, too, sunbathe to power their hot-blooded jousting, using "lances" on the front of their shells. A "tortoise cam" reveals just how they flip each other over in these vicious fights.
But reptiles don't waste their energy, and they use solar power very efficiently. Snakes will remain still for days before striking with lightning speed. They can switch instantly from "pilot light" to "full power", and their bodies respond with a biochemical explosion of activity. Amazingly, their livers double in size in two days and their hearts can grow by 40%.
Reptiles can be sensuous, too - the tenderest courtship is surprisingly performed by the ultimate cold-blooded killer on Earth today - the saltwater crocodile. The five-metre-long gigantic male gently caresses the much smaller female while blowing bubbles to reassure her.
Having revealed the truth about life in cold blood, David looks at some possible exceptions to the rule. After examining the oldest reptiles of all, the dinosaurs, he finds that they collected heat just like their modern relatives using solar panels. But that the sheer size of the Tyrannosaurus rex would have helped it retain heat so well that it was effectively warm blooded.
Finally, David meets a modern giant reptile that is also an exception to the cold-blooded rule. The ancient leatherback turtle is the largest of living reptiles. As the female lays her eggs, thermal cameras reveal that her internal body temperature is above that of her surroundings..

Invaders of the Land - chorusing frogs in Panama, Sir David Attenborough asks how amphibians first managed to invade the land. The Australian lungfish, an ancient relative of the amphibians that can breathe air, and the giant Japanese salamander, one of the largest amphibians on Earth, give vital clues about their first tentative steps. These giant land invaders also demonstrate fiercely protective parenting skills.
In a disused goldmine, David finds salamanders that no longer need water. The mine walls glisten with dozens of female western slimy salamanders guarding their eggs and young. They are ready to put up a fight against other predatory hungry females, who see their young as a source of nourishment.
The primitive worm-like caecilians demonstrate parental care never filmed before. The mother produces a rich secretion and the young lap it up like milk and, more bizarrely, they also eat her skin, tearing at it like mini sharks. She is unharmed and regularly feeds her babies in this way.
But in some amphibians the fathers do the work. The male of the beautiful poison arrow frog, in Peru, carries each of his tadpoles on his back before depositing them into their own individual breeding pools. He guards them, and, when one needs feeding, calls in the female - leading her to the right pool, where she lays an infertile egg as food.
A TV first reveals the intensely protective parenting of the marsupial frog, in Australia, who guards his clutch of eggs until they are ready to hatch and then straddles them to allow the tiny white tadpoles to wiggle into two special pouches on his hips. He carries his growing family around for several weeks and then "gives birth" to tiny, perfect froglets.
In Panama, David meets the rare golden frog - filmed for the last time in the wild. It communicates with its rivals and mates by semaphore in the form of gentle hand waves.
Amphibians have even made it to the driest of places. The rain frogs in South Africa live underground, emerging from the soil when the first rains arrive. The males are too small to grasp the fat females so produce glue that helps them stick. Unfortunately, it makes them stick to other males, too. Once paired, the females dig underground - taking the tiny attached male with her. Below the soil, she makes a special chamber for her eggs and even secretes a moist foam to provide the young with their very own underground pond.
Finally, David ends up in the baking deserts of Australia. Even here, a desert spade foot toad can live without water for two years - living proof that amphibians have truly conquered the land.

Dragons of the Dry - From iguanas emerging out of a tropical swamp to a face-to-face encounter with a monitor lizard in the Australian desert, David Attenborough traces the lizards' colonisation of the Earth as they ultimately became the Dragons Of The Dry.
The first step in their success was the evolution of hard shelled eggs. In Australia, lace monitors lay eggs in termite mounds leaving the babies with a problem when it comes to hatching - an adult has to dig them out. Once freed, like many small lizards, they take to the trees for safety.
Male jacky dragons use their tree perches to display by head bobbing and arm waving. Sometimes, they fight to back up their signalling and the loser admits submission with a slow arm wave. In Florida, David encourages an anole to display by using a mirror to simulate a rival. It head bobs and then flashes a vibrant red dewlap flap on its throat at the "imposter".
But the real masters of colourful display are the chameleons. In Madagascar, David meets the smallest in the world - the minute pygmy leaf chameleon. In Malawi, there is a joust between two dinosaur-like Mellor's chameleons and, in South Africa, a Cape dwarf chameleon gives birth to a litter of young in a tree. As the babies drop, their fall is broken by a sticky substance that catches on the branches.
The secrets of the chameleon's hunting technique are revealed as the action is slowed down by up to 80 times using an ultra-high-speed camera. The tip of the tongue actually grasps and enfolds the prey.
New discoveries are also made about the elusive pygmy blue-tongued skinks. David tempts one out of its burrow with a fishing rod, and a special probe camera reveals the secrets of its underground family life. The babies remain with their mothers for weeks just like birds in a nest.
Less touching, but more dramatic, is the free-for-all mating frenzy of the brilliantly coloured South African flat lizards. Females are constantly harassed by ardent males and have to thrash them with their tails and flailing arms to keep them under control. Equally impressive are the bizarre wrestling bouts of the Mexican beaded lizards, which can last over an hour. Males circle and grasp each other, eventually locking together to form an arch while still trying to push each other over. The one that gains the most submissions is the winner.
Other lizards owe their success to deceit rather than strength. In South African deserts, baby bushveld lizards mimic the black and white warning colouration and stiff legged, hunched gait of a beetle. It serves as protection because this particular beetle has a very unpleasant form of defence. David experiences at first hand how it squirts acid at predators. Finally, he returns to the baking deserts of central Australia, home to the bizarre ant-eating thorny devil and the largest of Australian lizards, the 5ft-long perentie - a true Dragon of the Dry.

Sophisticated Serpents - David Attenborough examines the fascinating lives of the most misunderstood group of reptiles - the snakes - and reveals that their simplistic body design has contributed to their success.
Snakes evolved from humble burrowing, legless lizards to become some of the most highly developed predators on Earth. In America, David spies on a timber rattlesnake as it hunts warm-blooded prey at night. A purpose-built camera traps and infrared cameras reveal the complex strategy used to set up an ambush. And, for the first time, the lethal strike is captured on camera in the wild.
Although venom is a lethally effective weapon, most snakes prefer not to bite as they can get hurt in the process. But, there are other ways to deliver venom as David demonstrates. Wearing a mask (to avoid being blinded), he tests the accuracy of a spitting cobra.
One of the biggest challenges for snakes is swallowing a large meal. An X-ray camera reveals the remarkable technique of an egg-eating snake as it devours, crushes and regurgitates an egg many times larger than its own head. More remarkable still is the shocking feat of a giant python swallowing a huge gazelle.
Giant male king cobras will fight over a mate but they have a ‘gentlemen's agreement' not to use their potentially fatal bites. Instead, they sway in a hypnotic, rhythmic dance, trying to press each other to the ground. Mating king snakes also try and avoid fatal encounters, too. They eat other snakes and can identify friend from foe by following seductive scent trails. When a pair meets, the male soothes the female by vibrating his body alongside hers. Conveniently, he has two penises so can mate from either side.
After courtship comes birth, and the cameras capture a mammoth reptilian water birth as 15 live baby yellow anacondas are born and swim to the surface to take their first breath. David says: "These most sophisticated animals cope with life's challenges and they do it with elegance and grace."

Armoured Giants - The intimate lives of some of the largest and most impressive animals alive today - crocodiles, turtles and tortoises - are revealed in this final programme. All of them are covered in thick scales that have turned into armour, yet, despite their tough exteriors, these animals are capable of astonishing behaviour and warm-hearted interaction.
David Attenborough begins the story of these ancient armoured giants in the Galapagos Islands among the beautiful volcanic mists, where he finds the biggest and most long-lived of all reptiles - the giant tortoises. Observing the difficulties they face, David says: "Making love in a suit of armour is not easy." Luckily, these tortoises have a solution - their shells are specially shaped so that the mating pair fit together like spoons.
Green turtles mate in the water and face a different problem. Filmed in exquisite detail, a mass of green turtles in a stunning tropical blue sea passionately fight for a mate. The tension increases as several males frantically jostle to attach themselves to the female, almost drowning her in the process. Eventually, the attacking males give up and the mating pair breaks free to take a life-saving breath of air.
In Australia, David reveals newly-discovered behaviour. On a flooded road by a small river, over 40 huge saltwater crocodiles gather and work together to feast on migrating fish. Just like bears feeding on salmon, they gather together especially for this event and dramatically pick off fish as they leap through the air. This is remarkable behaviour, since these crocodiles are highly territorial and have to suppress their aggression when they are massed together.
And there are surprising moments of compassion, too. Perhaps most touching of all is a female spectacled caiman, which has to escape the onset of a drought while looking after a whole crèche of babies belonging to other caiman mothers. Their only chance of survival is if she can lead them on a migration across a parched wasteland fraught with danger. The female rises to the challenge and leads the youngsters to a new life-saving pool of water.
Finally, David concludes that the primitive reputation of reptiles and amphibians is far from the truth. In fact, they are very sophisticated - especially in the way they use energy. David says: "At a time when we ourselves are becoming increasingly concerned about the way in which we get our energy from the environment, and the wasteful way in which we use it, maybe there are things that we can learn from Life In Cold Blood."

 

Life

"An amazing visual feat."
--Jonathan Storm, The Philadelphia Inquirer, March 21, 2010

"Gasp inducing clarity.... Prepare to be amazed."
--Matt Roush, TV Guide, March 21, 2010

"Dazzling vision of nature."
--Robert Philpot, Fort Worth Star Telegram, March 21, 2010

"Nature is hot."
--Gloria Goodale, Christian Science Monitor, March 21, 2010

"Series of stunning beauty"
--Mike Hughes, TV America (syndicated), March 20, 2010

"Life is rich, rare and pure video gold. Life is bigger than all of us."
--Tom Shales, The Washington Post, March 19, 2010

"It's eminently essential TV ... Pupil-popping visual eloquence."
--Tom Shales, The Washington Post, March 19, 2010

"An 11-part series that's nothing short of mind-blowing - a shocking view of just how vibrant and dynamic our terrestrial brethren actually are."
--Daniel Stone, Newsweek, March 19, 2010

"Brace for a stunning armchair adventure, one that's surprising, beautiful, moving and dangerous - just like life."
--Joanne Ostrow, The Denver Post, March 19, 2010

"Fire up your flat screen"
--Robert Bianco, USA Today, March 19, 2010

"An amazing spectacle."
--Jacqueline Cutler, Tribune, March 21, 2010

"The reason flat screens, blu-ray and high-definition TV were invented.... Dazzling and precise"
--Mary McNamara, The Los Angeles Times, March 18, 2010

"that's what "Life" can do: make one weep over the fate of a species once relegated to nightmares and science fiction."
--Mary McNamara, The Los Angeles Times, March 18, 2010

"photography that is so gorgeous that every frame could win an Oscar..."
-- Linda Stasi, New York Post, March 18, 2010

"Discovery Channel's extraordinary and extraordinarily beautiful 11-part series, "Life," ...is narrated by Oprah Winfrey, who does a bang-up job, giving the voiceovers just the right tone - joyful when it calls for it, serious when it's needed, tense when required."
-- Linda Stasi, New York Post, March 18, 2010

"'Life' picks up beautifully where ‘Planet Earth' left off ... delivering a sumptuous, high-definition romp through astounding nature footage that quite simply defines the best Discovery Channel can be."
-- Brian Lowry, Variety, March 17, 2010

"...the most remarkable sequences might be the ones that illustrate the lengths to which the filmmakers went to bring back this footage. They're hunting big game, all right, and they've bagged another veritable treasure trove of it."
-- Brian Lowry, Variety, March 17, 2010

"For those reared on "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom," well, we ain't in Kansas anymore. The imagery is spectacular... Take it as praise of the highest possible order that ‘Life's' jaw-dropping pictures and panoramic scale are enough to overshadow even Oprah's presence."
-- Brian Lowry, Variety, March 17, 2010

"The sequences in the series could fill more than a few movie trailers. ... astonishing ... gripping... "
--Brian Stelter, The New York Times, March 18, 2010

"...gorgeous natural history series ... Informative and fun."
-- Tom Gliatto, People, March 29, 2010

"Another stunning beauty ... Grade: A"
-- Verne Gay, Newsday, March 17, 2010

"Life takes cameras where few have been."
-- Bruce Schwartz, USA Today, March 18, 2010

"...stunningly beautiful ... filled with surprising close-ups of Earth's most mysterious creatures in action."
-- John Griffiths, US Weekly, March 29, 2010

"With one incredible sight after the next, this mesmerizing miniseries shows just how alike humans and animals are in our everyday fight to adapt and survive in an ever-changing world."
--Len Feldman, National Enquirer, March 22, 2010

"Eye-boggling ... Stunning ..."
--Ken Tucker, Entertainment Weekly, March 10, 2010

"At least as far back as the baby-boomer touchstone Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, the nature-TV genre has been constructed in this manner, but never so gorgeously. We are left to gawp and admire. A-"
--Ken Tucker, Entertainment Weekly, March 10, 2010

"Get your popcorn and wow-meters ready!"
--Ileane Rudolph, TV Guide, March 2010

"...it actually brought a lump to my throat."
-- Julie Vandal, Elle, April 2010

"But it's fair to say that after the popularity of "Planet Earth,'' the Discovery Channel confronted the pressure-packed question of whether it could produce another water-cooler show. The question's answer? That's "Life.''
--Don Aucoin, Boston Globe, March 19, 2010

"Brilliant"
--Don Aucoin, Boston Globe, March 19, 2010

"Bottom Line: An astonishingly close-up look at the glory and eccentricity of nature. ... honestly, there's never been anything like "Life.""
--Barry Garron, The Hollywood Reporter, March 19, 2010

"the ingenuity of Mother Nature to adapt species to their surroundings will elicit gasps of admiration from viewers. That was my reaction."
-- Seth Arenstein, Cable360, March 17, 2010

"But this is no mere sequel. In tone, pacing and even narration, everything about "Life" feels fresh and newly wondrous. That is saying something, when you consider that "Planet Earth" set the bar ridiculously high for nature documentary series."
-- Aaron Barnhart, Kansas City Star, March 17, 2010

Re: Oprah: "... the perfect choice for "Life."
-- Aaron Barnhart, Kansas City Star, March 17, 2010

"The Oprah Winfrey-narrated extravaganza, 'Life,' (captures) some of the most exotic, sensationally filmed moments of our planet's natural history..."
-- Christian Science Monitor, March 15, 2010

"...Discovery's freshest, fiercest perspective on the primal beauty of plant and animal existence in a series that's been four years and 150 worldwide expeditions in the making."
-- Channel Guide Magazine, March 2010

"...some of the most jaw-dropping scenes ever captured on film."
-- Channel Guide Magazine, March 2010

"Coming on the heels of Planet Earth, ...Life takes the natural history genre a step further, using ultra high-speed high-def digital photography to capture animal behavior that, in some cases, has never been seen before."
-- Emmy, Issue No. 1 2010

"As with Planet Earth, the real wonder is how the hell they got those images."
-- Outside, March 2010

"...full of how'd-they-get-that-shot moments..."
-- More, March 2010

Galapagos

"...a quite brilliant new wildlife seriesa quite brilliant new wildlife series ... What an array of truly bizarre creatures..." -Express On Sunday

"...Breathtaking landscapes and the incredible tameness of the islands' wildlife made perfect backdrops for the BBC's new three-part series, Galapágos..." Stuart Winter, Express On Sunday "...stunning..." -People

"Galapágos was a revelation. Living up to the high standards of natural-history camerawork, this had a painterly beauty, but its defining character was the narration of Tilda Swinton, which treated the words as if they were poetry and gave the whole film a haunting feel ... This documentary also showed that geography is not a dusty thing of latitudes and isobars, but the study of a profound mystery." - Daily Telegraph

"Essentially a well-shot nature programme with a bit of history thrown in..." -Guardian

"Galapágos works on two levels - three if you count the drama-documentary on the arrival of Charles Darwin that ... commences just a few minutes before this breathtaking opening instalment concludes. At its simplest it is a story, rather well and thoroughly told, of the geology and natural history of the Galapágos Islands ... we may be familiar with the diversity of the animals - finches, tortoises, iguanas - but we have never before seen them photographed in such intimate, crisp, digital clarity. This first episode has some especially striking sequences of sea lions fighting and surfing, of one cutting through a school of fish, and an eerie one of iguanas diving 30 feet to graze on algae on the ocean floor. This is glorious to behold." -Financial Times

"This magnificent three-part series, shot in high definition, is stunning." - Daily Express

"One ought to be blase about the BBC's natural history films by now, but no. Galapágos is stunning. The programme makers filmed for 18 months using high-definition cameras and aerial photography techniques, and the result is a series of heart-stopping beauty and drama. There are sea lions fighting on the beach, pirouetting in the water and surfing giant waves; squadrons of blue footed boobies diving into the water like Stuka bombers; marine iguanas sneezing the excess salt out of their bodies; finches thoughtfully removing the parasites from giant tortoises; and albatrosses performing a mating dance of astonishing elegance ... make sure you watch this." - The Times

"...typically awesome BBC wildlife footage." - Independent

"This lush and lavish nature-doc transports viewers to the breathtaking and unique landscapes of the Galapágos archipelago ... Even if you don't have HDTV you'll be swept away by the pin-sharp quality of wildlife images you won't find anywhere else on earth." - Daily Mirror

Ganges

"Extraordinary cinematography ... This film is a classic." - National Geographic

"Ganges is simply stunning, one of the finest efforts of the finest TV natural history unit in the world."
- Paul Hoggart, The Times

"This is television documentary-making at its sumptuous best. The camera lingers lazily on its subjects, both animal and human, while the film stock's colours are turned up to maximum intensity. The end result is an intelligently made visual treat and an intriguing tribute to one of the world's greatest rivers."
- Robin McKie, Observer

"...an outstanding travelogue ... Lyrically written and beautifully filmed..." Stephen Pile, Daily Telegraph

"The photography ... is mind-blowing, allowing for a near-synaesthesic experience; the Indian tourist board should be delighted." - Ali Catterall, Guardian

"The filming was spectacular, real eyeball ecstasy..." - AA Gill, Sunday Times

"There is nothing groundbreaking ... It merely does what the BBC's Natural History Unit does better than anyone else - it takes you to a breathtakingly beautiful part of the world and shows you sights that only a fortunate few are ever likely to see in person ... it films an astounding richness of people and wildlife, from the snow leopards of the Himalayas to the ridiculous monkeys of Rishikesh. If you are in the right frame of mind, it is the most beautiful, exotic and restful programme of the week."- David Chater, The Times

"A cross between travelogue and natural history film, this series is irresistible for the armchair traveller ... gorgeous..." - Anna Frame, Daily Express

"If you like breathtaking scenery, you're in for a treat ... the filmmakers have made an exquisite programme, where even a clump of sliding mud looks stunning. All it would take is a David Attenborough voiceover and you could be watching Planet Earth. OK, you may learn more about animals and plants from ol' Davey boy, but did Planet Earth have cheeky macaque monkeys that pull on people's trousers to beg for food and look so adorable you want to get the next flight to India? Did it heck!" - Jane Simon, Daily Mirror

"...this programme is a cinematographic treat bringing knowledge and understanding of an often overlooked area." - Katie Toms, Observer

Life in Cold Blood

"It is astonishing, beautiful, repulsive, terrifying, funny, surprisingly touching and often just plain weird. Life in Cold Blood is a grand tour of the world's most extraordinary reptiles and amphibians, a festival of slime, scales and bizarre behaviour."  - Paul Hoggart, The Times

"Employing lots of snazzy tricks to film congregations of crocodiles, lounges of lizards and messes of iguanas, Attenborough is at his best surveying landscapes from the Galápagos Islands to the Mediterranean and enlightening us to the mating rituals of gekkos, the patience of puff adders and the appetite of pythons ... this is a top-notch hour packed with affectionate, spectacularly beautiful, lethally fast and vastly sophisticated cold-blooded beasts."  - Gareth McLean, Guardian

"It [salt-water crocodiles mating] is an exhilarating piece of filming, matched by a host of other gems ... And over these wonders presides the ever enthusiastic figure of Attenborough: engaged, articulate and patient; the godfather of wildlife documentaries. It is effortless, intriguing and utterly sublime; TV that entertains and educates with painless ease."  - Robin McKie, Observer

"Attenborough tells us reptiles can be surprisingly tender, and not in the cooked sense. He showed us turtles stroking each other's faces and crocodiles blowing bubbles at their mates through their noses. Granting these creatures feelings and motivations plucked from the canon of human philosophy, theology and Victorian fiction gives the audience permission to feel empathy and, after that, higgledy-piggledy feelings of guilt, responsibility, affection and fraternity."  - AA Gill, Sunday Times

"The first instalment of Life in Cold Blood was marvellous, like spending 50 minutes in a strange, knobbly, moonlit prehistoric world, entirely silent except for the eerie sonic boom made by just-hatched baby gharials ... Seeing a python swallowing a deer whole (Antoine de St Exupéry was right, it did resemble a hat, sideways) also convinced me that the beauty of reptiles is not how like us they are, but how different."  - Hermione Eyre, Independent On Sunday

"We come, of course, to gawp and there was plenty to gawp at. Singed on my retina are the armadillo lizard that turns itself into a barbed wire spiral, the South American waxing monkey frog that smears itself with its own suncream and the python that we saw eating a deer. The photography was sometimes mind bogglingly clever. On an island off Minorca we saw a fly enter the nasally challenging dead-horse arum plant pursued by a Balearic lizard. The next shot we had was from inside the plant."  - Andrew Billen, The Times

"He chuckles happily when a lizard bites his hand. He watches approvingly while two leopard lizards get acquainted ... while the sight of gigantic python swallowing a whole deer fills him with awe. Here is the mythic presenter cosying up to frogs, alligators and marine iguanas, captured by the finest wildlife photography in the world. Where does the BBC go from here?"  - David Chater, The Times

"Don't think of reptiles and amphibians as ‘slow, dim-witted and primitive,' says David Attenborough. These are creatures that can be ‘lethally fast, spectacularly beautiful, surprisingly affectionate and extremely sophisticated'. And gloriously telegenic too, as we're shown such marvels as the mating dance of saltwater crocodiles, killers that can weigh a tonne but delicately blow bubbles at each other during courtship."  - Jonathan Wright, Guardian

"I watched Life in Cold Blood ... with my sons, aged nine and 12. They were spellbound."  - Brian Viner, Independent

"Reptiles aren't most people's favourite creatures with their scaly skin and weird, bulging eyes, but David Attenborough finds them so amazing you can't help but start agreeing with him."  - Anila Baig, Sun