Life on Earth (TV series)
| Life on Earth | |
|---|---|
 Region 2 DVD cover | |
| Genre | Nature documentary |
| Presented by | David Attenborough |
| Composer | Edward Williams |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Christopher Parsons |
| Producers |
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| Running time | 55 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | BBC Two |
| Release | 16 January – 10 April 1979 |
| Related | |
| The Living Planet | |
Life on Earth: A Natural History by David Attenborough is a British television
During the course of the series presenter David Attenborough, following the format established by Kenneth Clark's Civilisation and Jacob Bronowski's The Ascent of Man (both series which he designed and produced as director of BBC2), travels the globe in order to trace the story of the evolution of life on the planet. Like the earlier series, it was divided into 13 programmes (each of around 55 minutes' duration). The executive producer was Christopher Parsons and the music was composed by Edward Williams.
At a cost of exceeding £1 million ($1.2 million), it was an immense project that involved filming over 100 locations around the world and took three years in the making by a team of 30 people with the help of more than 500 scientists.[1][2] Highly acclaimed as a milestone in the history of British wildlife television, it established Attenborough as not only the foremost television naturalist, but also an iconic figure in British cultural life.[2] It is the first in Attenborough's Life series of programmes and was followed by The Living Planet (1984).
Filming techniques
Several special filming techniques were devised to obtain some of the footage of rare and elusive animals. One cameraman spent hundreds of hours waiting for the fleeting moment when a
The cameramen took advantage of improved film stock to produce some of the sharpest and most colourful wildlife footage that had been seen to date.
The programmes also pioneered a style of presentation whereby David Attenborough would begin describing a certain species' behaviour in one location, before cutting to another to complete his illustration. Continuity was maintained, despite such sequences being filmed several months and thousands of miles apart.
Gorilla encounter
The best remembered sequence occurs in the twelfth episode, when Attenborough encounters a group of
There is more meaning and mutual understanding in exchanging a glance with a gorilla than with any other animal I know. Their sight, their hearing, their sense of smell are so similar to ours that they see the world in much the same way as we do. We live in the same sort of social groups with largely permanent family relationships. They walk around on the ground as we do, though they are immensely more powerful than we are. So if there were ever a possibility of escaping the human condition and living imaginatively in another creature's world, it must be with the gorilla. The male is an enormously powerful creature but he only uses his strength when he is protecting his family and it is very rare that there is violence within the group. So it seems really very unfair that man should have chosen the gorilla to symbolise everything that is aggressive and violent, when that is the one thing that the gorilla is not—and that we are.
When Attenborough returned to the site the next day, the female and two young gorillas began to groom and play with him. In his memoirs, Attenborough describes this as "one of the most exciting encounters of my life". He subsequently discovered, to his chagrin, that only a few seconds had been recorded: the cameraman was running low on film and wanted to save it for the planned description of the opposable thumb.[3]
In 1999 viewers of
Critical and commercial reception
The series attracted a weighted average of 15 million viewers in the UK, an exceptionally high figure for a BBC documentary back in the late 1970s.[4] It was also a major international success, being sold to over 100 territories and watched by an estimated audience of 500 million people worldwide.[4][5][6] However, Life on Earth did not generate the same revenue for the BBC as later Attenborough series because the corporation signed away the American and European rights to their co-production partners, Warner Bros. and Reiner Moritz.[7]
It was nominated for four
Episodes
| No. | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Infinite Variety" | 16 January 1979 | |
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The episode begins in the South American rainforest whose rich variety of life forms is used to illustrate the sheer number of different sponges and jellyfish to the many variations of coral and its associated polyps, is discussed in detail. The fossilised remains of jellyfish are shown within the Flinders Ranges of Australia, and are estimated to be 652 million years old. | |||
| 2 | "Building Bodies" | 23 January 1979 | |
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The next programme explores the various sea-living sea lilies, starfish and sea urchins on the Great Barrier Reef. Segmented worms developed to enable sustained burrowing, and well-preserved fossils are found in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia. These developed into trilobites and crustaceans, and the horseshoe crab is shown nesting in vast numbers on Delaware Bay. While the robber crab breeds in the sea, it is in all other respects a land animal and Attenborough uses it to exemplify the next evolutionary step. | |||
| 3 | "The First Forests" | 30 January 1979 | |
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This instalment examines the earliest land vegetation and horsetails were among the first such species. Insects then evolved wings to avoid climbing and the dragonfly (which once had a wingspan of 60 centimetres) is one of the most successful. The elaborate wingbeats of the damselfly are shown slowed down 120 times. Some plants, like the cycad enlisted the insects to transport pollen, while others, like the conifer, spread spores. Over a third of forests contain conifers and the giant sequoia of California is the largest living organism of any kind: it grows to a height of 112 metres. The conifer secretes resin to repair its trunk, and this survives as amber . Within it, insect specimens have been found that are 200 million years old. In fact, at this time, every insect known today was already in existence. | |||
| 4 | "The Swarming Hordes" | 6 February 1979 | |
| This episode details the relationship between . The green tree ants of south-east Asia are shown to display the most extraordinary co-operation when building their nests. | |||
| 5 | "Conquest of the Waters" | 13 February 1979 | |
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This programme looks at the swim bladder to aid buoyancy. Coral reefs contain the greatest variety of species, many of which are conspicuously coloured to ward off predators or attract mates. Their habitat, with its many hiding places within easy reach, allows them to remain so visible. However, the open ocean offers no such refuge, so there is safety in numbers—both hunters and hunted swim in shoals and have streamlined bodies for pursuit or escape. Most species that live below the thermocline , in the freezing depths of the ocean, have never been filmed, and these are largely represented by still photographs. | |||
| 6 | "Invasion of the Land" | 20 February 1979 | |
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The next instalment describes the move from water to land. The fish that did so may have been forced to because of pipa , embedding them within the skin of the parent itself. | |||
| 7 | "Victors of the Dry Land" | 27 February 1979 | |
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This episode is devoted to the evolution of diamondback rattlesnake is described as the most efficient at despatching its prey. | |||
| 8 | "Lords of the Air" | 6 March 1979 | |
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This programme focuses on birds-of-paradise are shown. All birds lay eggs, and the range of different nesting sites and parenting skills is explored. Finally, Attenborough visits Gibraltar to observe migratory birds. These rely on thermals when flying overland and use height to conserve energy when crossing oceans. It is estimated that some 5,000 million southbound birds cross the Mediterranean Sea each autumn. | |||
| 9 | "The Rise of the Mammals" | 13 March 1979 | |
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This instalment is the first of several to concentrate on womb between them provide a degree of safety and a continuity of sustenance which is unparalleled in the animal world." | |||
| 10 | "Theme and Variations" | 20 March 1979 | |
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This episode continues the study of mammals, and particularly those whose young gestate inside their bodies. Attenborough asks why these have become so varied and tries to discover the common theme that links them. Examples of primitive mammals that are still alive today include the tiger moth, have developed techniques to confuse and evade them. Aquatic mammals superseded sea-going reptiles such as the plesiosaur. The whales' immense size is related to the retention of body heat. The dinosaurs' growth was limited by the strength of their bones but the whales only rely on water to support their weight, and so have been able to grow into the world's largest animals. Some of those shown include humpbacks, narwhals, killer whales and dolphins. The latter use echolocation in much the same way as bats, and Attenborough observes one finding objects in the water even after it has been blindfolded. | |||
| 11 | "The Hunters and Hunted" | 27 March 1979 | |
| This programme surveys mammal herbivores and their predators. The herbivores began to populate the forests when the dinosaurs disappeared, and many took to gathering food at night. To prepare for winter, some store it in vast quantities, some hibernate and others make do as best they can. However, the carnivores joined them, and when a drying climate triggered the spread of grass, they followed their prey out on to the plains. Grass is not easily digestible and most animals that eat it have to regurgitate it and chew the cud. Out in the open, the leaf-eaters had to develop means of protection. A few species turned into burrowers: examples include the blind mole-rat, which is completely underground, and the prairie dog, which is not. The capybara—the largest rodent—spends much of its time in the water. Those that evolved long legs and hooves, such as the zebra and impala, seek safety in speed, while larger creatures, such as the rhinoceros, rely on their armoured hides. The elephant is the world's largest land animal and is virtually invulnerable. Cheetahs and lions are attracted by those that herd in large numbers, like wildebeest. The cheetah uses its considerable speed while the heavier lion is a social predator, mostly using co-operation and stealth to capture its victims, and its methods are explored in detail. Meanwhile, a pack hunter, such as the hyena, has immense stamina and will eventually wear down its quarry, easing the kill. | |||
| 12 | "Life in the Trees" | 3 April 1979 | |
| The penultimate instalment investigates the primates, whose defining characteristics are forward-facing eyes for judging distance, and gripping hands with which to grasp branches, manipulate food and groom one another. The programme begins in Madagascar, home to the lemurs, of which there are some 20 different types. Two examples are the sifaka, which is a specialised jumper, and the indri, which has a well-developed voice. Away from Madagascar, the only lemur relatives to have survived are nocturnal, such as the bushbaby, the potto and the loris. The others were supplanted by the monkeys and a primitive species that still exists is the smallest, the marmoset. However, Attenborough selects the squirrel monkey as being typical of the group. Howler monkeys demonstrate why they are so named—their chorus is said to the loudest of any mammal—and their prehensile tails illustrate their agility. However, such tails are not characteristic of monkeys that inhabit Africa and many of them, such as vervets and baboons, are just as happy on the ground. Others have moved elsewhere, and the macaques of Koshima in Japan have learned to wash their food before eating. Most apes have taken to swinging from trees, and their feet are just as versatile as their hands. They include the orangutan, the gibbon, the chimpanzee and the primate with whom Attenborough has arguably his most famous encounter, the mountain gorilla. | |||
| 13 | "The Compulsive Communicators" | 10 April 1979 | |
| The final episode deals with the evolution of the most widespread and dominant species on Earth: humans. The story begins in Africa, where, some 10 million years ago, apes descended from the trees and ventured out into the open grasslands in search of food. They slowly adapted to the habitat and grew in size. Their acute sense of vision led to them standing erect to spot predators, leaving their hands free to bear weapons. In addition, the primitive apemen (Anthropopithecus) also had stones that were chipped into cutting tools. Slowly, they grew taller and more upright, and their stone implements became ever more elaborate. Furthermore, animal hunting expeditions required a degree of co-operation to achieve a successful outcome. Therefore, Attenborough argues, such foresight, teamwork and planning must have meant some skill at communication. Homo erectus gradually spread from Africa and reached Europe some 800,000 years ago, where a drop in temperature led to him inhabiting caves. Such creatures evolved further and learned to use flint for weapons, animal skins for clothing, and fire for warmth and preparing food. Their brains became fully formed and, using the walls of their caves as a canvas, they painted and eventually learned to write. Homo sapiens had arrived. However, Attenborough warns, just because humans have achieved so much in such a comparatively short period of time, it may not mean that they will be around forever. | |||
1997 Revision
A shortened series, using the footage and commentary from the original, was aired in 1997, edited down to three episodes: early life forms, plants, insects, and amphibians in the first; fish, birds and reptiles in the second; and mammals in the third.
DVD, Blu-ray and book
The series is available in the UK for Regions 2 and 4 as a four-disc DVD set (BBCDVD1233, released 1 September 2003) and as part of The Life Collection. In 2012 the series was released as a four-disc Blu-ray set (released 12 November 2012).
A hardback book, Life on Earth by David Attenborough, was published in 1979 and became a worldwide bestseller. Its cover image of a Panamanian red-eyed tree frog, was taken by Attenborough himself,[9] became an instantly recognisable emblem of the series. It is currently out of print.
A revised and updated edition of the book was published in 2018 to favourable reviews. Most if not all of the images in the 2018 edition are new, but the text remains substantially the same as the original.
Music
"I started using the filters and voltage control of the VCS 3 on conventionally created classical sounds by the orchestra. It made possible all sorts of marvellous explorations of new sounds which could then be made into music."
— Edward Williams, speaking in 2009
The score was never intended to be released commercially, but Williams had 100 copies pressed as gifts for the musicians involved. One of these LPs found its way into the hands of Jonny Trunk, owner of independent label Trunk Records, who negotiated the licence from the BBC. The soundtrack was finally released on 2 November 2009.[9]
References
- S2CID 147822719.
- ^ S2CID 203491267.
- ISBN 0-563-48780-1. pp. 289–291.
- ^ S2CID 140748030.
- ^ Paxman, J. (17 October 2007). "Heros of the Environment: David Attenborough". Time. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
- ISBN 9780415519144.
- ^ Clarke, Steve (1 January 1998). "Tribute to BBC Natural History Unit: Bestsellers Overseas". RealScreen.com.
- ^ ""Life on Earth" (1979)". uk.Imdb.com. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
- ^ a b Power, Mike (2 November 2009). "Release of Life on Earth soundtrack delivers music as pioneering as the show". The Guardian.
