Life on Earth 

David Attenborough's groundbreaking study of the evolution of life on our planet.

Star:

David Attenborough

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
David Attenborough	...	Himself - Presenter 13 episodes, 1979

Storyline

British naturalist David Attenborough examines the diversity and origins of "life on earth." As is usual with David Attenborough's work, the camera work is outstanding and employed techniques which were ground-breaking in their day. Also, as is his custom, Mr. Attenborough filmed this series in locales all across the world.

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Plot Keywords:

nature | bbc | nature documentary | tv mini series | 

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Genres:

Documentary

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 January 1979 (UK)

Also Known As:

Zycie na Ziemi

Filming Locations:

Bermuda

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC),Reiner Moritz Productions,Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

702 min (13 parts)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

An additional item on the DVD is David Attenborough being interviewed by fellow naturalist Tony Soper regarding the making of Life on Earth including the equipment used (at around 23 mins)

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Quotes

David Attenborough: There is more meaning and mutual understanding in exchanging a glance with a gorilla than any other animal I know.

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Alternate Versions

The original home video release was severely edited down to fit on two video tapes, meaning half or more of the original broadcast was omitted.

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Connections

Featured in A Zed & Two Noughts (1985)

User Reviews

And Let's Thank God That There Is ..................

IT'S TRULY UNBELIEVABLE that this series is now over a quarter of a century old. That would just about make it old enough itself to both witness the ongoing phenomenon of evolution and to be carbon date for establishing age. (Well we admit to a bit of good spirited hyperbole and apologize to any of our readers who have trouble with the notion of "Evolution.*)

WE CAN WELL recall watching this with our then grade-school aged daughters, Jennifer an Michelle. We tried not to deceive them in any way, but we never told them that such outstanding viewing was also "educational." We just chalked it up to a soft sell and secretive version of Home Schooling.

WE NOW SEE that this series gave us a 'Baker's Dozen episodes that covered Life On Earth "from Soup to Nuts", or so to speak. All questions about life today and in the distant past was brought to the forefront for our consideration. All of the best evidence of how things got the way that they did were presented. This was framed in the most beautiful manner with the best in both the colour photography as well as the musical score.

ANOTHER INTANGIBLE ELEMENT which added to the end result of the product's effectiveness on the viewing audience was the presence of David Attenborough himself. The great interest and enthusiasm projected by Sir David was both highly contagious and pleasantly infectious to all. The authoritative narration plus the enthusiastic manner in which it is delivered makes this Attenborough verbal dissertation a true equivalence of Carl Sagan's spoken word in his series, THE COSMOS.

ONE VERY HAPPY memory that we will always recall and cherish came on the viewing of one of the earliest installments. While lecturing on The Age of Trilobites in the ancient seas, Attenborough posed the question asking what was the closest living relative to the Trilobites I the World today?

WELL QUICK AS a flash Jennifer & Michelle's Pop (me) offered the answer as being "the Horseshoe Crab!" Right after, Sir David affirmed the veracity of my answer.

MODESTLY I SAID to myself quietly, "Oh Ryan, you've done it again!"

NOTE: * As far as one's belief in Creation vs. Evolution., must the two be mutually exclusive? We think not and take the position that the development of the various species indeed are interrelated; but are the result of the Creator (God) putting it all in motion in the beginning. Perhaps the misunderstanding starts with Charles Darwin's THE ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES. Contrary to the popular belief of so many, Darwin was never trying to explain the Origin of Life itself and neither is David Attenborough.