David Attenborough's Natural History Museum Alive
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''David Attenborough's Natural History Museum Alive'' is a 2014 British
documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
. Written and presented by
David Attenborough Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and writer. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Studios Natural History Unit, the nine nature d ...
, it aired on
Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...
on
New Year's Day In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day is the first day of the calendar year, January 1, 1 January. Most solar calendars, such as the Gregorian and Julian calendars, begin the year regularly at or near the December solstice, northern winter ...
2014. The documentary was filmed at the
Natural History Museum, London The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum (Lo ...
, and uses CGI imagery to bring life to several of the extinct animal skeletons in the museum, including ''
Archaeopteryx ''Archaeopteryx'' (; ), sometimes referred to by its German name, "" ( ''Primeval Bird'') is a genus of bird-like dinosaurs. The name derives from the ancient Greek (''archaîos''), meaning "ancient", and (''ptéryx''), meaning "feather" ...
'', the giant moa and
Haast's eagle Haast's eagle (''Hieraaetus moorei'') is an Extinction, extinct species of eagle that lived in the South Island of New Zealand, commonly accepted to be the of Māori mythology.
, ''
Gigantopithecus ''Gigantopithecus'' ( ) is an extinct genus of ape that lived in southern China from 2 million to approximately 300,000–200,000 years ago during the Early Pleistocene, Early to Middle Pleistocene, represented by one species, ''Gigantopithecus ...
'' (contrasting prevailing expert opinion; presented as
bipedal Bipedalism is a form of terrestrial locomotion where an animal moves by means of its two rear (or lower) limbs or legs. An animal or machine that usually moves in a bipedal manner is known as a biped , meaning 'two feet' (from Latin ''bis'' ...
and more
hominin The Hominini (hominins) form a taxonomic tribe of the subfamily Homininae (hominines). They comprise two extant genera: ''Homo'' (humans) and '' Pan'' (chimpanzees and bonobos), and in standard usage exclude the genus '' Gorilla'' ( gorillas) ...
than pongine), the
dodo The dodo (''Raphus cucullatus'') is an extinction, extinct flightless bird that was endemism, endemic to the island of Mauritius, which is east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The dodo's closest relative was the also-extinct and flightles ...
, '' Glossotherium'', ''
Smilodon ''Smilodon'' is an extinct genus of Felidae, felids. It is one of the best known saber-toothed predators and prehistoric mammals. Although commonly known as the saber-toothed tiger, it was not closely related to the tiger or other modern cats ...
'', ''
Gigantophis ''Gigantophis'' is an extinct genus of giant snake containing a single species, ''G. garstini''. Before the Paleocene constrictor genus '' Titanoboa'' was described from Colombia in 2009, ''G. garstini'' was regarded as the largest snake ever r ...
'', '' Ichthyosaurus'' and the London-based replica of the famous '' Diplodocus'' skeleton, '' Dippy''. The documentary was well-received, and won a TV
BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...
in the specialist factual category. A 3D companion book for the documentary was released under the same name. 'The Making of David Attenborough's Natural History Museum Alive' was also released to accompany the documentary. An immersive iOS app called 'Museum Alive' was released to accompany the film. On February 19, 2025, 11 years after its original release, it premiered in America on
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
as part of the TV series
Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...
under the title “Museum Alive with David Attenborough."


References


External links

* at Sky.com * 2014 documentary films BAFTA winners (television series) British documentary television films Documentary films about prehistoric life David Attenborough Films scored by Ilan Eshkeri Films shot in London Sky UK documentaries Natural History Museum, London 2014 films {{sci-documentary-film-stub