Amazon.co.uk Review
In 1979 David Attenborough presented Life on Earth, the first wildlife blockbuster series, a chronicle of three-and-a-half billion years of natural history. The Living Planet followed five years later, an equally ambitious 12-part documentary which spanned the globe with portraits of each of the major geographical regions which offer home to life. Attenborough demonstrates how even in the most hostile of environments, from the volcanic "Furnaces of the Earth" to "The Frozen World" of mountains and tundra, the Arctic and Antarctic, live maintains a foothold. He takes us to "The Northern Forests", the "Jungle", "Seas of Grass" and "The Baking Deserts", and ever the genial host, details how in all its endless diversity, life is ingeniously suited to its surroundings. With breathtaking imagery we meet our fellow inhabitants, from penguins to polar bears, lions to scorpions, oaks to eagles, and journey on to "The Open Ocean" and the "New Worlds" which mankind itself is rapidly fashioning through ever more radical technological change. The series ends with an impassioned environmental plea which rings even more urgent now than in 1984. The Trials of Life (1990) and The Private Life of Plants (1994) further detail The Living Planet. --Gary S. Dalkin
Amazon.co.uk Review
Originally broadcast in 1984 The Living Planet followed five years after David Attenborough's first wildlife blockbuster series, Life on Earth. This was an equally ambitious 12-part documentary that spanned the globe with portraits of each of the major geographical regions that offer a home to life. Attenborough demonstrates how even in the most hostile of environments, from the volcanic "Furnaces of the Earth" to "The Frozen World" of mountains and tundra, the Arctic and Antarctic, live maintains a foothold. He takes us to "The Northern Forests", the "Jungle", "Seas of Grass" and "The Baking Deserts" and ever the genial host, details how in all its endless diversity, life is ingeniously suited to its surroundings.
With breathtaking imagery we meet our fellow inhabitants, from penguins to polar bears, lions to scorpions, oaks to eagles, and journey on to "The Open Ocean" and the "New Worlds", which mankind itself is rapidly fashioning through ever more radical technological change. The series ends with an impassioned environmental plea which rings even more urgent now than in 1984. The Trials of Life (1990) and The Private Life of Plants (1994) further detail the Living Planet.
On the DVD: The Living Planet is presented complete in this DVD box set, with a total running time of 660 minutes (12 x 55 minutes). --Gary S Dalkin
DVD Description
Filmed on five continents, The Living Planet examines one by one each of the earth’s environments, seeing how living organisms survive and thrive in conditions which range from the Arctic to the tropical. Also revealed is how creatures in similar habitats thousands of miles apart have adopted intriguingly similar solutions to their common problems. The series begins at the beginning, how huge forces formed the earth, how continents move and how the planet has become so varied. The next 10 episodes concentrate on different environments: the frozen Poles, the northern forests, jungle, grasslands, deserts, the sky, rivers and lakes, tidal shores, islands, and oceans. The final programme looks at how humans have changed the earth’s habitats, destroying but also creating new ones. It also looks at what the future may hold for the whole community on our amazing living planet.
