One of the nation's most popular presenters examines twenty marvels of the natural world from his extraordinary and pioneering experiences. How did Sir David track down a giant earthworm? Why does he respect rats? What was the first bribe in nature? Why do well known foods often have two names? And where can you see evidence of the earliest life on Earth? His enthusiasm is as infectious as ever, and conveys a unique fascination on topics as diverse as the Kiwi, Hummingbirds, Monsters, Butterflies, Chimps, Cuckoos, Fireflies and Elsa, the famous lioness. So listen to these stories to find out why rats should be respected and which insects emerge from the ground only once every 17 years...

David Attenborough: New Life Stories features all 20 episodes of the BBC Radio 4 series. This series was originally broadcast between 18 February and 01 July 2001.

The series seems to be Attenborough's memories of some of the highlights of his time on the numerous Life... series he's broadcast for the BBC. Several of these tales I've heard before on the DVDs from those series, but it was still interesting to hear them again.

This series throws its net wide and so we learn about the relatively new discovery of pre-Cambrian fossils; the possibility of monsters that have still to be proved; and a past chameleon pet that belonged to Attenborough.

Each story is told in Attenborough's own unique and engaging style, but I was slightly alarmed to hear that on some recordings Attenborough's speech was slow and a little slurred - as though he'd recently suffered a mild stroke. But then some recordings are fine.

I was a little confused by the title of this series as the front of the CD merely refers to it as New Life Stories, while the inner sleeve notes state that this is series two. This three disc collection lasts for 3 hours, 20 mins and contains a booklet of programme notes for each episode.

This collection is worth buying for the Joy and George Adamson episode alone. Here Attenborough recounts his time with the Adamson family who were the inspiration behind the movie Born Free, after they raised a lion cub called Elsa who they let free back into the wild and she later returned with cubs of her own.

9

Darren Rea