Lemur Street [DVD]

Lemurs. My initial thoughts extended to: meh. They're not especially cute, they don't lend themselves to being made into adorable iconic cartoon characters, and on the surface, they're probably the least lovable of all the primates. How wrong I was! How curiously and exceedingly wrong.

Lemur Street tells the story of two rival lemur groups: the Graveyard Gang and the Tornado Troupe. (I much prefer the Graveyard Gang - tis impossible not to have a favourite...) Both groups are led by females; Graveyarders are led by Crystal who is serene and regal; Tornados are led initially by Electra and, after she is deposed through violence, by Amazon, who is feisty and aggressive.

The episodes detail their battles and their mating habits (they have lots of them!), their new babies and as the worst drought for a decade hits Madagascar, it follows their daily hunt for food and water.

For me, there are 3 stars of the show. The first being Gizmo, and if his fate doesn't make you cry, I'm not sure anything can. Gizmo is the first son of Tornado queen Amazon, and it may be him that draws you in so deeply. Later in the series, she has another baby - Orinoko. He is the second star of the show, and he reaches dizzying new heights of cuteness. Finally, old ugly Peg-leg is the stand-out character of the entire documentary. He has only 3 legs after being attacked by a dog, but he's wily as a fox. After a forest fire, his best friend, Derek (nice but dim), goes missing and, growing increasingly anxious without his bud, Peg-leg risks leaving his troupe to go back 4km in search of him and their renuion is genuinely touching.

There are extreme highs and lows in here: we witness the deaths of 3 baby lemurs and the cameras don't shy away. Seeing a mama lemur unable to leave behind the body of her dead baby was hard. I dunno, I had to leave the room a couple of times because I couldn't bear it, but if you're made of tougher stuff, you should be ok.

On the flipside, you've not lived til you've seen ivory-coloured shifaka lemurs hopskipdancing sideways on their hind legs with arms out-stretched for balance. Equally, you'll grin from ear to ear when you see those stripey tails bouncing along the top of long grasses as the lemurs they're attached to are hidden from view - truly wonderful. And perpetually randy Flash is laugh out funny as he incessantly strokes his tail in a bid to look sexy. He manages to pick the most inopportune of moments, making him an adorable inadvertent comedy genius.

Coming home from work, I found myself looking forward to watching this. You get completely drawn in to their world and you *want* to spend time with them. I suppose the best recommendation I can give is to say I've just bought all 3 seasons of Meerkat Manor as it's made by the same people. But I'll be watching Lemur Street again soon, too, and if you want something funny, and touching and innocent and peaceful to watch, there's nothing on earth I'd recommend more highly than this.

PS - keep your eyes open for the tortoise that goes like the clappers. Quite extraordinary!

Lemur Street is the latest in a long line of infectious tv series following the lives of animals told in a soap like dramatic fashion. If you are a fan of similar TV shows like Monkey Business, Meercat Manor, any of the Big Cat shows, or indeed anything with David Attenborough then you will enjoy this. There isn't anything particularly new here (unless you've never seen a lemur before), as we follow two neighbouring gangs of ring tailed lemurs while they struggle for territory, forage for food, try to survive and protect their families. Narrated by Martin Shaw to keep viewers aware of the unfolding actio, Lemur Street is a wonderfully filmed series which teaches us about these beautiful creatues, and is interesting, funny, sad, but ultimately rewarding as we get a glimpse of the daily habits of the Graveyard Gang and The Tornadoes. The Lemurs are the stars of the show and like the series mentioned above, you will soon find a favourite whether it be Peg Leg or Amazon, and hope that they will triumph.

As i am a fan of animals and animal tv shows (and am known to have had the odd lemur on my shoulder) I caught most of this when it was originally aired. The first episode introduces to most of the characters and background before launching us Hollywood style into a full scale battle as the Tornadoes invade the Graveyard Gang for food. From here in every other episode we follow the back and forth action between the two groups, entwined by softer family moments such as grooming and playing- this is the way of nature, that we are all ultimately the same albeit separated by mere parts, meaning that we will defend our own to the death. Of course it is survival of the fittest, and these leads to a few genuine tear jerker moments- anyone who followed the story of Toto on Big Cat Diary will know what i mean. This may mean some parents will be wary of showing their children one particular episode, but the majority of the series is joyful and uplifting. Any show which teaches children about the animal kingdom is a must in my view.

Overall this is one of the best TV shows of its kind, and one of the best things shown on TV last year. If you're an animal lover, or even have a passing interest in lemurs or animal documentaries then you will find a lot to love here. It is not remotely as bloody as some series- lemurs are herbivores and there isn't too much predatory action so those who shy away from these types of show when an animal is killed will be able to watch. Entertaining throughout, hopefully the success of this show will lead to more of the same.

This series proved to be a fascinating insight into the world of Lemurs with stunning photography and filming which must have taken ages to put together. That aside, the story follows two troupes of Lemurs, The Tornados and the Graveyard Gang. The former are hooligans led by a somewhat despotic Queen and the latter are more refined in a lemur kind of way.

The DVD's focus on their perpetual warring with each other over food, territory and females and is highly amusing for the most part but do be warned, Nature is red in tooth and claw and there is one sad part on DVD 1 that nearly had me in tears..........however, this is the wild and only the fittest survive!

It was lovely to see some of the other Lemur species too, particularly the spectre like Sifakas leaping sideways across the road.

A thorougly enjoyable production which will give pleasure over and over again.