Despite being 88, David Attenborough is more productive than ever. The first episode of the BBC’s new six-part series, Life Story, is slightly more sentimental than any of his previous nature documentaries. Instead of narrating the whole way through, Attenborough is seen getting involved with the animals, most notably with a shot of him lying within touching distance of a meerkat family.
As usual with Attenborough documentaries, there is a huge variety of wildlife included. This is partly why they make for such rich viewing enriching experiences, furthered by exquisite cinematography. Life Story in no way differs. Every single detail on a baby praying mantis (about half a centimetre) can be seen. Having such refined images intensifies one’s appreciation of the world in which we all live and share.
This opening episode, “First Steps”, is not only wondrous, but humbling. A large amount of focus is given to the very early days of Barnacle goslings. To protect their young, Barnacle geese nest on cliffs or stand alone along columns of rock 400ft high. In this way there is no danger from ground predators. However, there is a price to pay.
Once the goslings are three days old, they must risk their lives by literally jumping off the cliffs and tumbling down to the ground to meet their awaiting parents. Otherwise they will starve.
Watching a tiny, fluffy creature embark on such a descent is more terrifying than most 21st century horror movies. Yet it simultaneously reminds the viewer how hard survival really is, and how cushioned (arguably) our own lives have become. Few of the goslings survive.
The cold reality of the camera, coupled with the warmth of Attenborough’s voice, strikes a balance between objectivity and sentimentality that only he has really mastered.
“First Steps” also includes one of the most mystifying creatures: the humpback whale. For humpbacks, the calving and mating season coincide, resulting in fights between males and chases after females (regardless of whether the females already have calves to look after). If ever power was a living organism, and moved in slow motion, it would be the humpback whale.
Despite the seeming aggression, later on in the episode a mother calls for aid from a male to help ward off sharks that have sensed her weakening calf. The male blows a wall of bubbles around the calf, stifling the sharks and saving it. Such behaviour, as noted by Attenborough, has never before been filmed.
Another memorable mention is the jerboa. Proportionally speaking, these tiny hopping rodents have longer ears to body length than any other animal. As a result, their hearing is remarkably acute, so much so that even the call of a wild owl makes it jump. There is a great shot of the creature trying to get to sleep, and simply cannot due to being constantly woken up by sounds.
Featured further are lion cubs, ahead-of-their-time seal pups (in New Zealand they found a practice pool away from the sea, thus avoiding danger), sharks and albatrosses.
The last fifteen minutes of this episode is devoted to the actual filming of the wildlife. This adds a more practical element to the otherwise glorified depiction of filmmaking.
Cameramen Tom Hugh-Jones, Mateo Willis and Mark Payne-Gill spent whole days at a time watching and waiting for the Barnacle goslings to jump off the cliffs. It took three separate attempts to capture the falls (the positioning of the cliffs obscured the view in the first two).
The patience the men conveyed was greatly admirable, maintaining the tension as the period of waiting was communal, shared between the crew and we the viewers, albeit a much lesser wait for us.
Like feature films, it is rare to find a television documentary that is original. When this does happen, it is an almost supernatural feeling. With less of the dramatic music and more natural realism, the first episode of Life Story is such an example.
Tessa Glinoer
Click here for more TV Reviews
Watch Life Story on BBC One, Thursdays at 9pm. The first episode is now on BBC iPlayer.
Get in touch with us on Facebook & Twitter, or leave a comment below.
