''The Life of Mammals'' is a
nature documentary
A nature documentary or wildlife documentary is a genre of documentary film or series about animals, plants, or other non-human living creatures, usually concentrating on video taken in their natural habitat but also often including footage of tr ...
series written and presented by
David Attenborough
Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and author. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, the nine natural histor ...
, first transmitted in the United Kingdom from 20 November 2002.
A study of the evolution and habits of the various
mammal
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...
species, it was the fourth of Attenborough's specialised surveys following his major trilogy that began with ''
Life on Earth Life on Earth may refer to:
Science
* Life
* Earliest known life forms
* Evolutionary history of life
** Abiogenesis
Film and television
* ''Life on Earth'' (film) (''La Vie Sur Terre''), a 1998 Malian film
* ''Life on Earth'' (TV series), a 197 ...
''. Each of the ten episodes looks at one (or several closely related) mammal groups and discusses the different facets of their day-to-day existence and their evolutionary origins. All the programmes are of 50 minutes' duration except the last, which extends to 59 minutes.
The series was produced by the
BBC Natural History Unit
The BBC Studios Natural History Unit (NHU) is a department of BBC Studios that produces television, radio and online content with a natural history or wildlife theme. It is best known for its highly regarded nature documentaries, including '' ...
in conjunction with the
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...
. The executive producer was
Mike Salisbury and the music was composed by
Dan Jones and
Ben Salisbury
Ben Salisbury (born 1970) is a British composer, particularly known for his work in film and television. He has also worked as a co-writer, arranger and musician with a number of bands. He studied music at Newcastle University and Bournemouth U ...
. It was later shown on
Animal Planet
Animal Planet (stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American multinational pay television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established on June 1, 1996, the network is primarily dev ...
.
Part of David Attenborough's ''Life'' series, it was preceded by ''
The Life of Birds
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'' (1998), and followed by ''
Life in the Undergrowth'' (2005). However, in between the former and this series, David Attenborough presented ''
State of the Planet
''State of the Planet'' is a three-part environmental documentary series, made by the BBC Natural History Unit, transmitted in November 2000. It is written and presented by David Attenborough, and produced by Rupert Barrington. It includes inter ...
'' (2000) and narrated ''
The Blue Planet
''The Blue Planet'' is a British nature documentary series created and produced by the BBC. It premiered on 12 September 2001 in the United Kingdom. It is narrated by David Attenborough.
Described as "the first ever comprehensive series on t ...
'' (2001).
Background
The mammals are such a widespread, varied and successful group of animals that Attenborough had previously devoted no fewer than five episodes of ''Life on Earth'' to them. Nevertheless, there was much that remained untold and behaviour that was not hitherto filmed. ''The Life of Mammals'' was intended to be his definitive account of the subject.
Attenborough took on the series at the suggestion of the
BBC Natural History Unit
The BBC Studios Natural History Unit (NHU) is a department of BBC Studios that produces television, radio and online content with a natural history or wildlife theme. It is best known for its highly regarded nature documentaries, including '' ...
. The naturalist's wife, Jane, had died in 1997, midway through the making of ''The Life of Birds'', which had caused its postponement. However, Attenborough had been grateful for the fact that there was still work to be done to ensure its completion. Similarly, he was glad of another opportunity to keep himself occupied:
"''The Life of Birds'' was transmitted in the autumn of 1998, and was sufficiently well received for the Unit to ask me if I would like to tackle another similar series about another group of animals. How about mammals? I was in my mid-seventies but I decided I would rather do that than sit at home by myself."
Production
Despite his age, Attenborough travelled just as extensively as in all his previous productions, with each episode leapfrogging to a multitude of locations around the world.
The filming, as ever, provided many challenges. To capture footage for the first time of
skunk
Skunks are mammals in the family Mephitidae. They are known for their ability to spray a liquid with a strong, unpleasant scent from their anal glands. Different species of skunk vary in appearance from black-and-white to brown, cream or ginge ...
s foraging in a cave of
bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most ...
s, extra protective measures had to be taken for the crew, as it was a very hostile environment. The air was full of
ammonia
Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous was ...
, the main occupants urinated copiously from above, and other inhabitants included flesh-eating
maggot
A maggot is the larva of a fly (order Diptera); it is applied in particular to the larvae of Brachycera flies, such as houseflies, cheese flies, and blowflies, rather than larvae of the Nematocera, such as mosquitoes and crane flies.
...
s and a
rattlesnake
Rattlesnakes are venomous snakes that form the genera ''Crotalus'' and ''Sistrurus'' of the subfamily Crotalinae (the pit vipers). All rattlesnakes are vipers. Rattlesnakes are predators that live in a wide array of habitats, hunting small anim ...
.
For a sequence featuring
grizzly bear
The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America.
In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horri ...
s at close quarters, the camera team were accompanied by Buck Wilde, an ursine specialist. When a bear was too inquisitive he was able to command it to turn away simply by raising his hands. However, a cameraman confessed that at the time, he was sure there would come a moment when the animal would just continue towards them regardless.
[Sourced from behind the scenes features on the DVD.]
To get themselves up into the canopy of a
tropical rainforest
Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equatori ...
the crew used a catapult to fire a fishing line 100 metres into the uppermost branches. This was then attached to a rope and pulley counterbalance system. The difficulties involved were first actually finding an ideal tree, and then, having settled on one, watching out for passing
snake
Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...
s and
primate
Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians (monkeys and apes, the latter including huma ...
s en route to the top.
Big cat
The term "big cat" is typically used to refer to any of the five living members of the genus '' Panthera'', namely the tiger, lion, jaguar, leopard, and snow leopard.
Despite enormous differences in size, various cat species are quite similar ...
s that hunt nocturnally, such as
lion
The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...
s,
leopard
The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...
s and
tiger
The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on u ...
s, had never been extensively filmed doing so before. But the latest
infrared
Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...
technology revealed behaviour that had previously been guessed at from evidence discovered the next day.
The series was among the first to benefit from the features of
digital television
Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an innovative advanc ...
. After each episode's transmission on
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
, terrestrial viewers were shown a ten-minute featurette on an aspect of its making. Those with digital equipment had the option of switching to an interactive quiz, hosted by Attenborough.
Themes
In his previous natural history series, Attenborough had been reticent about describing man's impact on the
natural environment
The natural environment or natural world encompasses all life, living and non-living things occurring nature, naturally, meaning in this case not Artificiality, artificial. The term is most often applied to the Earth or some parts of Earth. Th ...
(unless it was relevant to the content, as in the last episode of ''
The Living Planet
''The Living Planet: A Portrait of the Earth'' is a BBC nature documentary series written and presented by David Attenborough, first transmitted in the UK from 19 January 1984.
The sequel to his pioneering '' Life on Earth'', it is a study of t ...
'' or ''
The First Eden
''The First Eden: The Mediterranean World and Man'' is a BBC documentary series written and presented by David Attenborough, first transmitted in the United Kingdom from 8 March 1987.
It comprises four programmes, each of 55 minutes' duration, ...
''). However, since ''
State of the Planet
''State of the Planet'' is a three-part environmental documentary series, made by the BBC Natural History Unit, transmitted in November 2000. It is written and presented by David Attenborough, and produced by Rupert Barrington. It includes inter ...
'', the presenter had become more publicly outspoken on the subject. In the final programme of this series, "Food for Thought", he took the opportunity to put the case explicitly for finding ways to deal with
overpopulation
Overpopulation or overabundance is a phenomenon in which a species' population becomes larger than the carrying capacity of its environment. This may be caused by increased birth rates, lowered mortality rates, reduced predation or large scale m ...
.
Episodes
DVD and book
The series is available in the UK for Regions 2 and 4 as a 4-disc DVD (BBCDVD1128, released 7 April 2003) and as part of ''
The Life Collection''. Its special features include six "behind the scenes" featurettes, fact files, a photo gallery, the original score and a special 10-minute video-to-music montage.
The accompanying book, ''The Life of Mammals'' by David Attenborough (), was published by
BBC Books
BBC Books (also formerly known as BBC Publishing) is an imprint majority-owned and managed by Penguin Random House through its Ebury Publishing division. The minority shareholder is BBC Studios, the commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasti ...
on 17 October 2002.
Both DVD and book have been translated to other languages.
The Dutch version of the DVD produced by
Evangelische Omroep
Evangelische Omroep (EO, English: ''Evangelical Broadcasting'') is one of the twelve member-based broadcasting associations contributing to the Netherlands Public Broadcasting system. It has as its mission to bring people into contact with Jesus ...
removed all references to (amongst others) evolution, fossils, and continental drift. The narration by David Attenborough has been replaced by a not always accurate Dutch translation, and cuts were made to the episodes. The tenth episode was not broadcast at all on Evangelische Omroep, and is not included on the EO DVD of the series.
The Dutch version of the book includes the full text of the original book, as did the Dutch language version of the programme broadcast on the Belgian broadcaster
Canvas
Canvas is an extremely durable plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, shelters, as a support for oil painting and for other items for which sturdiness is required, as well as in such fashion objects as handbags ...
.
References
External links
*
''The Life of Mammals''on the
Eden website
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Life of Mammals, The
2002 British television series debuts
2003 British television series endings
BBC television documentaries
Discovery Channel original programming
Documentary films about nature