‘WHAT I GOT FOR CHRISTMAS’
PART ONE
Christmas often brings a lot of nature-related gifts to my stocking. As David Attenborough is a giant amongst naturalists, it’s no surprise that one of his DVD box sets features amongst those gifts.
Dynasties follows five groups of animals as they struggle to survive and provide a future for their offspring. This beautifully shot series made me “ooh” and “aah” in amazement as the dramatic action unfolded and I was given a front seat to never-before-seen intimate footage of otherwise familiar animals.
Dynasties maintains the same high standard of wildlife-filmmaking as previous BBC nature documentaries and again makes us wonder…”what would we ever do without David Attenborough?”
Each of the episodes are gripping and taught me something new…a quality I look for in wildlife documentaries. The footage is incredible as a result of the latest technology being used to capture all aspects of these animal’s lives.
The only thing I didn’t like about this documentary is the over-use of the word “dynasty”. The concept works though. It has given us a chance to appreciate how the power of one lioness can keep a pride together and how a chimpanzee can fight from the brink of death to maintain its status at the head of its group. The unusually personal footage of the female tiger and her cubs is utterly endearing and wonderful to see.
Whilst there is a variation in the species focussed upon (chimpanzees, lions, penguins, painted wolves and tigers), it might have been nice to see even more variety. I am biased as orcas are my favourite of all animals, but an episode on orcas could have been incredible to see and would have been relevant to the concept.
Some of the most interesting parts of the programme are the ‘behind the scenes’ aspects. Who wouldn’t want to know how this amazing footage made it onto our television screens?
Sometimes a little controversy can accompany the ‘making-of’ portion of the programme as the question of whether to intervene in life or death situations is widely discussed.
The ‘Dynasties’ film crew received some criticism for helping penguins trapped in a hole of ice. I think it’s quite safe to say that the BBC experts understand the consequences of intervening and whether a situation calls for it. On this occasion the help seemed appropriate and I breathed a sigh of relief as the penguins waddled to safety. Nature is brutal though and at times when an average person may want to rush to save the day, it is not appropriate to interfere. The BBC understands this concept all too well.
One thing all of these epic BBC wildlife documentaries really achieve is attracting an audience that includes people who otherwise are not interested in nature. Much alike to Blue Planet II and Planet Earth II, Dynasties becomes an event that must be seen by everyone, regardless of whether they are normally interested in nature.
This front-row seat to these animal’s lives educates us in the most spellbinding manner. Long may the BBC continue to work their magic and keep our curiosities fulfilled with these excellent-quality programmes.
Get the accompanying book:
Read more:
Should the team has rescued the penguins? Learn more here.
Have a look at the BBC website to see more about Dynasties!
Read more about how Dynasties was created