There is always something inherently restorative about watching a nature documentary that takes you quietly and with real fascination through the seasonal cycles of one specific location. You feel, almost immediately, as if you are immersed in this world, a feeling heightened to a wholly rewarding degree in Backyard Wilderness, Continue Reading
Documentaries
Thoughts on the Secret World of Sound with David Attenborough
(courtesy IMDB) If you’ve seen as many nature documentaries as this reviewer – they have always been and will likely remain one of my prime happy places – you could well wonder if there’s anything new under the sun, any new way of approaching the genre that feels fresh or Continue Reading
Not the people you thought you knew: Thoughts on Secrets of the Neanderthals
(courtesy IMDb (c) Netflix) Growing up, I remember being fascinated by the idea that there were other human species alive on the Earth, not just well before Homo Sapiens but crossing over with us. At the present time, there are a number of species that have been discovered to have Continue Reading
Discover the secret that connects us all with Our Living World
(courtesy & (c) Netflix) SNAPSHOTAt first glance, the grazing patterns of reindeer in the Arctic may not appear to have much to do with the day-to-day lives of hippos in Africa. Despite the physical distance between these herds, however, their survival is bound together in a vast and intricately linked Continue Reading
Documentary review: Epic Animal Migrations – Patagonia
(courtesy IMDb) Documentaries in our hyper-sensationalised digital age have a lot to contend with. With almost everything braying at us with unrelenting 24/7 intensity, you have to be loud and intense and a little tabloidy to cut through; fair enough in one sense – if everyone else is yelling, you Continue Reading
Documentary review: The battle for survival on Life on Our Planet
(courtesy IMP Awards) There’s an interesting trend in some parts of modern documentary making that views the enthralling wonder of information in and of itself as not enough to keep peoples’ attention. To be fair, we do live in a hyper-attentive age where people are pulled in a thousand different Continue Reading
To understand life, we must go back to the beginning: Life on our Planet teaser trailer
(courtesy YouTube (c) Netflix) SNAPSHOTThis is the story of life’s epic battle to conquer and survive on planet Earth. Today there are 20 million species on our planet, yet what we see is just a snapshot in time — 99% of earth’s inhabitants are lost to our deep past. The Continue Reading
Documentary review: Experience life’s extraordinary journeys with Our Planet II (narrated by David Attenborough)
(courtesy IMP Awards) Back in a far more innocent time, watching nature documentaries was simply a matter of sitting back and letting the splendour of the natural world wash over you. Not a mention was made, and honestly maybe it should have been, of the fact that humanity was trashing Continue Reading
New dinosaurs. New habitats. New season. Thoughts on Prehistoric Planet S2
(courtesy IMP awards) Dinosaurs, and indeed any kind of prehistoric life, have long held a fascination for many people including this reviewer who, like many kids his age, loved playing ancient animal games with toys of T-rex, Stegosaurus and Triceratops. Reading about the latest discoveries and absorbing how weirdly wonderful Continue Reading
Well hello Admiral Ackbar! Find out where some of Star Wars most fantastical creatures are born #MayThe4thBeWithYou #StarWarsDay
SNAPSHOTDo you know where Star Wars most Fantastical creatures are born? Well a lot of its weirdest and most wonderful characters come to life in a South London workshop and Gustav Hogan is the man behind them…Gustav’s been making monsters for three decades and he’s taking a look back at his creations. Continue Reading