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On the coast of Christmas Island a beach is painted crimson
by the bodies of a million scarlet crabs, all choosing the
same moment to lay their eggs in the sea. In East Africa an
elephant calf is born and the females in the herd crowd around
the newcomer, collaborating in looking after their young.
On a Patagonian beach sea-lions lounge in supposed safety
as a tall wave, concealing the huge presence of a killer whale,
thunders towards the shore. David Attenborough examines these
stories and many more as he surveys the entire animal kingdom...
Trials of Life looks at animal behaviour, examining why
creatures behave as they do and showing that their lives are
a series of problems to be faced and overcome. You may think
that this collection has already been released. However, this
four disc version is the first time that this series has been
available in its uncut version.
This
series starts by looking at the first trial that a new-born
creature must survive - that of being born. The second episode
looks at the art of surviving childhood, and so on into adulthood
and mating to provide the next generation.
Many
interesting and educational aspects of the animal kingdom
are examined throughout this series. These include inter-species
working relationships. Some are symbiotic whilst others are
parasitic. One of the most interesting symbiotic relationship
is between one species of bird and man. This rather strange
relationship sees the bird enticing humans to follow it, sometimes
for miles, to a bees nest where there is honey on offer. Because
the bird can't get to the honey, it employs humans to retrieve
some for his own use hoping that in return he will leave some
behind for the bird.
Another
area of interest is that of fighting within the same species
- over territory, food and mates. With the larger, more vicious
animals, they never usually come to blows, but if they do
they still manage to hold back from seriously harming each
other - if it can be avoided. This
also looks at the life of chickens and examines the origin
of two well known human sayings: "pecking order"
and "hen pecked". Hens have a peck order which they
follow. When feeding, the more dominant birds will peck the
lower birds out of the way (hence pecking order) and the lowest
bird in the group will be pecked by the most birds (hence
hen pecked).
It
was also interesting to discover that vervets, a species of
monkey,
have the nearest form of communication to man's speech. They
have specific calls that each represent a single word. And
did you know that barnacles
have the longest penis in comparison to their size? That's
one to trot out at the next dinner party you attend.
There
are many heart-warming as well as chilling scenes - the killer
whales' attacking a collection of sea-lions is probably the
most unnerving, as the whales play with their prey - tossing
the poor sea-lion calves around in the sea like toys.
The
only extra included in this collection is a 50 minute "making
of" documentary which includes interviews with some of
the experts who helped the BBC crew get the amazing shots
that they did. It also reveals that this series took three
years to film. But, I think you'll agree, the results were
certainly worth it.
As
with Attenborough's other wildlife programmes, Trials of
Life is not only entertaining and educational, some of
the photography is stunningly beautiful. Your life will certainly
be enriched for watching this series.
Pete
Boomer
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