Life - Narrated by David Attenborough

From the award-winning BBC Natural History Unit, makers of Planet Earth and The Blue Planet: Seas of Life, this is the original UK broadcast version of Life, with narration by renowned naturalist David Attenborough and music by Oscar® and Emmy® winning composer George Fenton In Planet Earth, we brought you the world as you've never seen it before. Now, get closer with Life. Four years in the making, filmed over 3000 days, across every continent and in every habitat, with breathtaking new high definition filming techniques developed since Planet Earth, Life presents 130 incredible stories from the frontiers of the natural world, 54 of which have never been filmed before. Packed with excitement, revelation and entertainment, this remarkable 10-part blockbuster captures unprecedented, astonishingly beautiful sequences and demonstrates the spectacular and extraordinary tactics animals and plants have developed to survive and thrive.

The Challenges of Life
Introducing the extraordinary things animals and plants must do in order to survive and thrive. Witness capuchin monkeys smashing open palm nuts with stone ‘hammers', hippos launching from the water into the air and chameleons stealing prey from a spider's web. Sprint with cheetahs as they band together to tackle ostriches; watch dolphins form perfect rings of mud to trap fish and swim with a seal as it struggles to escape attacking killer whales in the ice of Antarctica.

Reptiles and Amphibians
From icy wastes to arid deserts, reptiles and amphibians have used their ancient, cold-blooded body plan along with sophisticated behavioral innovations to master the harshest environments on the planet. See Komodo dragons hunting buffalo, sea snakes with one of the most toxic venoms in the world that breed in caves, the seemingly suicidal leaps of a waterfall toad, the tender giant African bull frog that digs water channels to save not only its own young, but that of others too; and lizards that can walk on water.

Mammals
New filming techniques reveal behavior that was previously impossible to capture in extreme locations. Fly among one of the largest migrations on Earth, as more than ten million fruit bats leave the Congo basin and converge in a few special trees in Zambia to feed, sprint with the tiny, extraordinary-looking sengi as it escapes a predatory lizard, see 30 polar bears gather to feed on a bowhead whale carcass and witness the biggest fight on Earth - male humpback whales battling for a female.

Fish
Fish can fly, sense electricity, swim at over 100mph and even walk on land. From the open ocean to coral reef and storm-ravaged surf to the freshwater springs of Kenya, swim with sharks, mudskippers and convict fish. See the hilariously named "sarcastic fringe-head" fighting for its home territory; hunt with sailfish; glide with flying fish; enter the secret world of courting sea-dragons; and even join the epic journey of the tiny, cliff-climbing goby.

Birds
Birds are supremely adaptable, capable not only of flying at phenomenal speeds and covering great distances, but of displaying a murderous nature, running on water in pursuit of love and even of building intricate structures. Using aerial camera techniques, Life flies with the birds and explores their incredible diversity and behavior: dodging the piratical frigate birds; soaring with the lammergeyers; dancing with a thousand flamingos in the lakes of Africa; and witnessing the extraordinary displays of spatula-tailed hummingbirds, western grebes and bowerbirds as they all attempt to attract a mate.

Insects
Insects are the most diverse animal group on the planet. The key to their success is their unique ability to reshape themselves. They possess fearsome weapons, yet can display surprising tenderness and sophisticated behavior. Take to the skies with millions of monarch butterflies in Mexico, see a beetle spray boiling chemicals at its enemies, witness giant bees fight to the death over females, join the marching columns of grass cutter ants and spend a jeopardy-filled day with damsel flies.

Hunters and Hunted
Every day, in the jungles, grasslands, deserts and frozen wastelands, battles are won, fought and lost between carnivores and their prey. See cheetahs join forces to bring down an ostrich, a tiny stoat take on a rabbit ten times its size, elephant seal pups snatched from their nursery pool by a killer whale, the antics of a squirrel as it outwits a rattlesnake and at an amazing 2,000 frames per second, the strike of a bulldog bat flying at 60 mph.

Creatures of the Deep
Using specially developed underwater tracking time-lapse techniques, LIFE takes a journey to the unchartered corners of the ocean. It's here the newest discoveries are being made and the strangest creatures live, from huge spider crabs which gather in their thousands, seeking safety in numbers as they shed their protective shell, to cross-dressing giant squid. Join a 250-strong pack of Humboldt squid on a hunting expedition, see the ultimate self-sacrifice of a Pacific giant octopus mother who starves to death tending her young and dive under the permanent ice of Antarctica to see a seething carpet of starfish as they devour a seal pup carcass.

Plants
The drama of the plant world is impossible to view with the naked eye. But using the latest time-lapse technology, all is revealed: how a Venus flytrap snaps shut and imprisons its prey and how the animal-like grasping hooks of the cat's claw creeper and the sticky pads of the Boston ivy help in their fight for light. Fly with the seed that inspired the design of gliders, watch the fastest growing plant on Earth rocket up two feet a day and discover the water-trapping abilities of the bizarre dragon's blood tree, which oozes red sap from its branches.

Primates
Primates are uniquely intelligent - engaging in problem solving, communication, tool use and intimate social interplay. Primates are uniquely intelligent, engaging in problem solving, communication, tool use and intimate social interplay. In the Congo, meet a tightly bound group of western lowland gorillas led by an ancient silverback, whose chest-beating sends shockwaves more than a mile through the undergrowth. See grey Phayre's leaf-monkey mothers in Thailand battling for the privilege to babysit bright orange newborns, encounter the violent disputes of a thousand hamadryas baboons and join chacma baboons shark egg hunting on the coast of South Africa.

New animal behaviors
• The first filming of a humpback whale mating contest called a heat run - the largest animal battle on Earth
• Three cheetah brothers hunting together to bring down ostriches twice their size
• Stalk-eyed flies ‘growing' their eyes out on long stalks
• Dolphins filmed from the air ‘mudringing‘ - creating circles of mud to entrap fish
• Giant starfish devouring a dead giant Pacific octopus, filmed in time lapse
• Komodo dragons bringing down an animal 10 times their size - a real life drama that lasted over two weeks
• A pebble toad rolling down a mountain, bounching like a rubber ball, to escape a tarantula
• Thousands of pink starfish, urchins and monster nemertean words feeding on a dead seal under permanent ice in Antarctica, filmed over a month in tracking time lapse phtography
• The male Vogelkop bowerbird building an ornate seduction parlor that lures in a willing mate
• A mass spider crab molt where thousands of crabs come to mate and shed their too-tight shells
• Capuchin monkeys cracking open palm nuts with rocks, while the young ones slowly learn the method from the adults
• Probably the largest gathering of polar bears ever filmed, they confront one another around a huge whale carcass
• Tiny goby make an epic journey up Hawaiian waterfalls, 400 feet high, to lay their eggs in safe pools
• Greater bulldog bats hunting fish - filmed at 2000 frames per second
• Shot at night, massive numbers of Humboldt squid cooperatively hunting for sardines

Filming techniques
• The Heli-Gimbal - the HD Heli-gimbal produces rock-steady aerials from a lens with a zoom range from 10-800mm (equivalent to 1100 mm lens with a super 16mm camera). This allowed the LIFE team to film a spectacular range of aerials and dramatic "zoom outs" that take viewers from intimate close-ups of individual animals to massive wide-angle scenics and allows previous unfilmable behavior to be shot from the air
• Extreme High-Speed Photography - There are now extreme high-speed digital cameras that record images at very high resolution at speeds as high as 1,000 frames per second. The main adantage of these cameras compared to high-speed film cameras is they work directly onto a hard disk which is continually recording. Previous high-speed film cameras were really only practical in studios, but these new digital cameras can be taken out into the field, allowing the LIFE team to record animal behavior in a totally fresh way
• Low Light Photography - Extremely sensitive color HD, low light cameras can now provide new images and insights into nocturnal behavior
• Underwater Time-Lapse Sequences - New rigs that allow HD time-lapse underwater filming in natural environments (rather than tanks) have never been possible before and deliver stunning footage of new and natural behavior in the oceans
• Macro Photography - Chip-in-the-tip cameras, remote control "Ant-cam," and super-sensitive video cameras allow new insights into the world of the smaller creatures. With full depth of field and eye-level viewpoints, they give images that no longer look like traditional macro
• Additional Breakthrough Imaging Systems - New types of microscopy, infra-red, and ultrasonic imagery took the LIFE team into unexplored realms, from the deep ocean to the subterranean world

"An amazing visual feat."
--Jonathan Storm, The Philadelphia Inquirer, March 21, 2010

"Gasp inducing clarity.... Prepare to be amazed."
--Matt Roush, TV Guide, March 21, 2010

"Dazzling vision of nature."
--Robert Philpot, Fort Worth Star Telegram, March 21, 2010

"Nature is hot."
--Gloria Goodale, Christian Science Monitor, March 21, 2010

"Series of stunning beauty"
--Mike Hughes, TV America (syndicated), March 20, 2010

"Life is rich, rare and pure video gold. Life is bigger than all of us."
--Tom Shales, The Washington Post, March 19, 2010

"It's eminently essential TV ... Pupil-popping visual eloquence."
--Tom Shales, The Washington Post, March 19, 2010

"An 11-part series that's nothing short of mind-blowing - a shocking view of just how vibrant and dynamic our terrestrial brethren actually are."
--Daniel Stone, Newsweek, March 19, 2010

"Brace for a stunning armchair adventure, one that's surprising, beautiful, moving and dangerous - just like life."
--Joanne Ostrow, The Denver Post, March 19, 2010

"Fire up your flat screen"
--Robert Bianco, USA Today, March 19, 2010

"An amazing spectacle."
--Jacqueline Cutler, Tribune, March 21, 2010

"The reason flat screens, blu-ray and high-definition TV were invented.... Dazzling and precise"
--Mary McNamara, The Los Angeles Times, March 18, 2010

"that's what "Life" can do: make one weep over the fate of a species once relegated to nightmares and science fiction."
--Mary McNamara, The Los Angeles Times, March 18, 2010

"photography that is so gorgeous that every frame could win an Oscar..."
-- Linda Stasi, New York Post, March 18, 2010

"Discovery Channel's extraordinary and extraordinarily beautiful 11-part series, "Life," ...is narrated by Oprah Winfrey, who does a bang-up job, giving the voiceovers just the right tone - joyful when it calls for it, serious when it's needed, tense when required."
-- Linda Stasi, New York Post, March 18, 2010

"'Life' picks up beautifully where ‘Planet Earth' left off ... delivering a sumptuous, high-definition romp through astounding nature footage that quite simply defines the best Discovery Channel can be."
-- Brian Lowry, Variety, March 17, 2010

"...the most remarkable sequences might be the ones that illustrate the lengths to which the filmmakers went to bring back this footage. They're hunting big game, all right, and they've bagged another veritable treasure trove of it."
-- Brian Lowry, Variety, March 17, 2010

"For those reared on "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom," well, we ain't in Kansas anymore. The imagery is spectacular... Take it as praise of the highest possible order that ‘Life's' jaw-dropping pictures and panoramic scale are enough to overshadow even Oprah's presence."
-- Brian Lowry, Variety, March 17, 2010

"The sequences in the series could fill more than a few movie trailers. ... astonishing ... gripping... "
--Brian Stelter, The New York Times, March 18, 2010

"...gorgeous natural history series ... Informative and fun."
-- Tom Gliatto, People, March 29, 2010

"Another stunning beauty ... Grade: A"
-- Verne Gay, Newsday, March 17, 2010

"Life takes cameras where few have been."
-- Bruce Schwartz, USA Today, March 18, 2010

"...stunningly beautiful ... filled with surprising close-ups of Earth's most mysterious creatures in action."
-- John Griffiths, US Weekly, March 29, 2010

"With one incredible sight after the next, this mesmerizing miniseries shows just how alike humans and animals are in our everyday fight to adapt and survive in an ever-changing world."
--Len Feldman, National Enquirer, March 22, 2010

"Eye-boggling ... Stunning ..."
--Ken Tucker, Entertainment Weekly, March 10, 2010

"At least as far back as the baby-boomer touchstone Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, the nature-TV genre has been constructed in this manner, but never so gorgeously. We are left to gawp and admire. A-"
--Ken Tucker, Entertainment Weekly, March 10, 2010

"Get your popcorn and wow-meters ready!"
--Ileane Rudolph, TV Guide, March 2010

"...it actually brought a lump to my throat."
-- Julie Vandal, Elle, April 2010

"But it's fair to say that after the popularity of "Planet Earth,'' the Discovery Channel confronted the pressure-packed question of whether it could produce another water-cooler show. The question's answer? That's "Life.''
--Don Aucoin, Boston Globe, March 19, 2010

"Brilliant"
--Don Aucoin, Boston Globe, March 19, 2010

"Bottom Line: An astonishingly close-up look at the glory and eccentricity of nature. ... honestly, there's never been anything like "Life.""
--Barry Garron, The Hollywood Reporter, March 19, 2010

"the ingenuity of Mother Nature to adapt species to their surroundings will elicit gasps of admiration from viewers. That was my reaction."
-- Seth Arenstein, Cable360, March 17, 2010

"But this is no mere sequel. In tone, pacing and even narration, everything about "Life" feels fresh and newly wondrous. That is saying something, when you consider that "Planet Earth" set the bar ridiculously high for nature documentary series."
-- Aaron Barnhart, Kansas City Star, March 17, 2010

Re: Oprah: "... the perfect choice for "Life."
-- Aaron Barnhart, Kansas City Star, March 17, 2010

"The Oprah Winfrey-narrated extravaganza, 'Life,' (captures) some of the most exotic, sensationally filmed moments of our planet's natural history..."
-- Christian Science Monitor, March 15, 2010

"...Discovery's freshest, fiercest perspective on the primal beauty of plant and animal existence in a series that's been four years and 150 worldwide expeditions in the making."
-- Channel Guide Magazine, March 2010

"...some of the most jaw-dropping scenes ever captured on film."
-- Channel Guide Magazine, March 2010

"Coming on the heels of Planet Earth, ...Life takes the natural history genre a step further, using ultra high-speed high-def digital photography to capture animal behavior that, in some cases, has never been seen before."
-- Emmy, Issue No. 1 2010

"As with Planet Earth, the real wonder is how the hell they got those images."
-- Outside, March 2010

"...full of how'd-they-get-that-shot moments..."
-- More, March 2010