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The Blue Planet
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This article is about the BBC nature documentary. For other uses, see Blue Planet.

The Blue Planet
Screenshot of series title card
Series title card from UK broadcast

Also known as
The Blue Planet: Seas of Life
Genre
Nature documentary
Narrated by
David Attenborough
Composer(s)
George Fenton
Country of origin
United Kingdom
Original language(s)
English
No. of episodes
8
Production

Executive producer(s)
Alastair Fothergill
Running time
50 minutes
Production company(s)
BBC Natural History Unit
Discovery Channel
Broadcast

Original channel
BBC One
Picture format
16:9 (PAL)
Audio format
Stereophonic
Original run
12 September 2001 – 31 October 2001
Chronology

Related shows
Planet Earth
Frozen Planet
External links
Website
The Blue Planet is a British nature documentary series created and produced by the BBC, It premiered on 12 September 2001 in the United Kingdom. It is narrated by David Attenborough.
Described as "the first ever comprehensive series on the natural history of the world's oceans",[1] each of the eight 50-minute episodes examines a different aspect of marine life. The underwater photography included creatures and behaviour that had previously never been filmed.[2]
The series won multiple Emmy and BAFTA TV awards for its music and cinematography.[3] The executive producer was Alastair Fothergill and the music was composed by George Fenton. David Attenborough narrated this series prior to presenting the next in his 'Life' series of programmes, The Life of Mammals (2002), and the same production team created Planet Earth (2006).


Contents  [hide]
1 Background
2 Episodes 2.1 1. "The Blue Planet"
2.2 2. "The Deep"
2.3 3. "Open Ocean"
2.4 4. "Frozen Seas"
2.5 5. "Seasonal Seas"
2.6 6. "Coral Seas"
2.7 7. "Tidal Seas"
2.8 8. "Coasts"
3 DVDs and book
4 Film
5 Live concert tour
6 Overseas
7 Criticism
8 References
9 External links

Background[edit]
The series took almost five years to make, involving nearly 200 filming locations. The fact that most of the ocean environment remains a mystery presented the production team with many challenges. Besides witnessing animal behaviour for the first time, the crew also observed some that were new to science. The producers were helped by marine scientists all over the world with state-of-the-art equipment.
Blue whales — whose migration routes were previously unknown — were located by air, after some of the animals had been given temporary radio tags. The camera team spent three years on standby, using a microlight to land on the water nearby when they finally caught up with the creatures in the Gulf of California. The open ocean proved more difficult and over 400 days were invested in often unsuccessful filming trips. After six weeks, the crew chanced upon a school of spinner dolphins, which in turn led them to a shoal of tuna. Off Mexico, the behaviour of a flock of frigatebirds guided the cameramen to a group of sailfish and marlin: the fastest inhabitants of the sea. Near the coast of Natal in South Africa, the team spent two seasons attempting to film the annual sardine run, a huge congregation of predators such as sharks and dolphins that assembles to feast on the migrating fish by corralling them into 'bait balls'. Meanwhile, in Monterey Bay, orca were documented attacking gray whales and killing a calf. Filming in the deep ocean required the use of special submersibles. One of them enabled the crew to dive over a mile into the San Diego trench, where the carcass of a 40-ton gray whale had been placed to attract a large variety of scavengers.[4]
Upon its first transmission on BBC One, over 12 million people watched the series and it regularly achieved an audience share of over 30%.
Episodes[edit]

"Our planet is a blue planet: over seventy percent of it is covered by the sea. The Pacific Ocean alone covers half the globe. You can fly across it non-stop for twelve hours and still see nothing more than a speck of land. This series will reveal the complete natural history of our ocean planet, from its familiar shores to the mysteries of its deepest seas."
— David Attenborough, from episode one
1. "The Blue Planet"[edit]



 Sunset over the Pacific Ocean
Broadcast 12 September 2001,[5] the first episode looks at how ocean life is regulated around the globe by currents and the varying position of the sun. Near a Pacific seamount, there is a large concentration of marine animals because when the current makes contact with the submerged rock, it forces upwards plankton and other organisms. This in turn attracts other fish to the area that are higher up the food chain, like tuna, and those that are higher still, such as silky sharks. Off South Africa, a similar situation occurs every June when sardines migrate and are pursued by a caravan of various predators. The South Atlantic waters are the roughest, and storms also churn up nutrients to the surface. These feeding grounds have led to the world's largest albatross breeding colony, on Steeple Jason Island, west of the Falklands. Phytoplankton forms the basis of all sea life, and every night some 1,000 million tonnes of creatures ascend from the deep to search for food. Lunar phases can also have a bearing on events and the mass arrival of Ridley sea turtles on a Costa Rican beach is shown. Herring initiate the most productive food chain, providing sustenance for humpback whales, and Steller's and California sea lions. In addition, their eggs are nutrition for many, both above and in the sea. Along the coast of California, a migrating gray whale and her calf are targeted by a pod of orcas, who hunt down and kill the calf. Meanwhile another gray whale carcass has sunk to the bottom of the deep sea. Hagfish, a sleeper shark, and other scavengers arrive to feast on the carcass. A year and a half later the carcass is stripped to the bone. This episode won an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Cinematography for Non-Fiction Programming". George Fenton's work in this episode won another Emmy for "Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore)".[3] This episode was broadcast in the United States with the title "Ocean World".
2. "The Deep"[edit]
Broadcast 19 September 2001, the next programme explores the unknown depths of the ocean. Over 60% of the sea is more than a mile deep and it forms the planet's most mysterious habitat. A sperm whale descends 1,000 metres to look for food and is followed, with the Johnson Sealink submersible. On the way down, a number of unusual creatures are witnessed, such as transparent squid and jellies, whose photophores give pulsating displays of colour. In such dark places, both being able to see (or sense movement) and the means of quick concealment are equally desirable. To that end, some use bioluminescence as a means of detecting food or evading predators. A descent to the very bottom of the ocean — some 4,000 metres — reveals life even at such cold temperatures, much of it new to science. It is dominated by echinoderms that sweep the sea bed; however, there are occasional large hunters, such as chimaera. In addition, sixgill sharks can grow up to eight metres in length and have remained unchanged for 150 million years. They are described as "living fossils" and relatively little is known about them. The remains of a gray whale are filmed being consumed by hagfish, a sleeper shark, probably a Greenland sleeper or a Pacific sleeper and the submersible involved in filming this is DSV Alvin, which is the same submersible that Robert Ballard used in 1986 to explore the wreck of the Titanic, as acrylic sphere submersibles cannot reach that depth. As the continental slope flattens out, it joins the abyssal plain, which can form huge trenches. At seven miles, the deepest is the Mariana trench, and fish have been found there right down to the very bottom. Attenborough remarks that more is known about the surface of the moon. Species captured on film for the first time include the Dumbo octopus and the hairy anglerfish. This episode was nominated for two Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Editing and Outstanding Sound Mixing in the non-fiction category. It was also nominated for a BAFTA TV award for Best Innovation.[3]
3. "Open Ocean"[edit]
Broadcast 26 September 2001, the third installment focuses on life in the "marine deserts": seas that are furthest from land. Such waters contain the swiftest and most powerful of ocean hunters. A feeding frenzy is shown, as striped marlin, tuna and a Sei whale (later identified as a Bryde's whale) pick off a shoal of sardines until all within it have been consumed. Manta rays also gather to eat the eggs of spawning surgeonfish. Accumulations of plankton correspond to ocean 'boundaries' and consequently, schools of fish seek them out. This in turn attracts predators, and a sailfish is filmed on the attack. The only escape for smaller fish is to put as much distance between them and their pursuers as possible. Bluefin tuna are able to heat their bodies and so can hunt in colder conditions than the others of their species. Off the coast of New Zealand, an undersea volcano has formed an island and the nearby currents sweep many kinds of creatures to it, again creating huge feeding grounds. Another Pacific seamount is surrounded by hammerhead sharks, but not to seek food: they are there to allow other fish to clean them of parasites. However, others that are on the lookout for prey arrive in vast numbers. A large pod of common dolphins is too big to feed all at once and so splits up into smaller expeditions. One of these ends up near the Azores with a shoal of mackerel in its sights, but they have to compete for their quarry with an attendant flock of shearwaters and a group of adult yellowfin tuna.
4. "Frozen Seas"[edit]



Polar bear
Broadcast 4 October 2001, the next episode compares oceanic life in the Arctic and Antarctica. The winter in these regions brings temperatures of minus 50°C and frozen seas that create the biggest challenge. However, there are polynyas in the Arctic, which are free of ice owing to the pressure of currents on either side, and such places do provide refuge for some species, like the walrus and the bowhead whale. A pod of belugas is shown: their movements are limited to a single hole in the ice — therefore putting them at risk of attack from polar bears. Everything changes with the arrival of summer, when melting ice brings a variety of migratory visitors. At the other end of the planet, in the Antarctic, winter is even more harsh, but emperor penguins and Weddell seals stay throughout. Under the sea ice, krill shrink in size and revert to their juvenile form in order to save energy. Chinstrap penguins overwinter to the north, beyond the ice, but return during the spring to breed. Having managed to get ashore, they have to walk a great distance to find a nest site, and the most favoured is Zavodovski Island, an active volcano whose warmth keeps ice from forming. Further south, as the sea ice breaks up, humpback and minke whales appear, their target the abundant krill. The leopard seal is the Antarctic's top predator. It is most effective underwater, and emperor penguins propel themselves at speed through its territory. Nonetheless, it almost invariably makes a kill.
5. "Seasonal Seas"[edit]
Broadcast 10 October 2001, this programme surveys the effects of the seasons on the world's temperate seas — the most productive on Earth. Sable Island near Nova Scotia boasts the largest colony of grey seals, which breed there when the weather is at its worst. The pups remain marooned for weeks until the spring, when they are strong enough to swim. Spring also heralds the bloom of phytoplankton: it provides food for copepods, and they in turn are prey to jellyfish, which assemble in vast, million-strong swarms. On the Californian coast, giant kelp also flourishes and by summer, grows at the rate of a metre a day. It provides a sanctuary for shoals of fish and sea otters, the latter anchoring themselves to the seaweed when resting and keeping its grazers in check by eating them. Late summer in Alaska sees Pacific salmon heading inshore to breed. However, the level of their favoured river is too low and they are forced to wait in the open sea, where they fall prey to a salmon shark. The early autumn near Vancouver Island, and the temperature drops slowly. There, the last of the year's baby herring become the focus for a feeding frenzy by diving auks and murres, and marauding rockfish. Pacific white-sided dolphins also inhabit these waters and, when not hunting nocturnally, socialise during the day. As winter arrives in the north, adult herring seek shelter but are hunted by orca, which club the fish with their tails to subdue them by creating waves of pressure.
6. "Coral Seas"[edit]
Broadcast 17 October 2001, the next instalment is about coral reefs, which are so crowded that they play host to a perpetual battle for space, even among the coral itself. It starts life as a larva that becomes a polyp. Having multiplied, it hardens into a limestone skeleton and grows to form a reef. As the community flourishes, animals develop relationships with one another and such a place can feature a huge variety of ocean life. Although corals feed nocturnally on plankton, sunlight is vital because even though they are animals, each contains millions of single-celled algae. This in turn is the favoured sustenance of the humphead parrotfish, whose jaws are so powerful that it erodes much of the reef into fine sand. Algae also grows on the top of the reef and a battle for grazing rights between shoals of powder blue and convict tangs is shown, the former being initially overwhelmed by the latter's weight of numbers before regaining the upper hand. The night-time hunting of a marbled ray alerts other predators and a group of whitetip reef sharks moves in, from which few are safe. Several breeding strategies are examined, including the acrobatic habits of brown surgeonfish and the colourful courtship of the flamboyant cuttlefish. Humpback whales are visitors to the reef and males establish their seniority by the loudness and strength of their song. Being fixed to the seabed, corals must synchronise their reproduction with lunar phases and the rising spring temperatures.
7. "Tidal Seas"[edit]



Tidal bore at Fundy Bay
Broadcast 24 October 2001, the penultimate episode deals with marine life that is structured around the rising and falling tides. These are caused by the gravitational pull of the orbiting moon, but in some locations, this can also combine with the power of the sun to create a tidal bore. The world's largest tides are to be found in the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia and therefore it is a rich feeding ground. A school of finback whales is closely shadowed by a flock of Cory's shearwaters. However, they only have a limited time to feed before low tide, when they must retreat and other creatures appear. Elsewhere, some of the latter include sand bubbler crabs, bears (which feed on shellfish) and a snail species that can 'surf', and some Sand lancelets being preyed on by dogfish sharks. The extreme spring tides allow opportunists to forage further, and raccoons are shown tackling a red rock crab. Some larger fish that hunt on the seabed, such as nurse sharks and stingrays, are forced to sit and wait until there is sufficient water in which to swim. A giant horse conch is shown devouring a tulip snail, and hermit crabs battle over its vacant shell. The varying water levels are no obstacle to tarpon: they can breathe air. This enables them to inhabit stagnant areas and hunt in them. The autumn equinox combines with a hurricane off the Bahamas to create a much higher tide than is usual, flooding large parts of the coast. When the sea recedes, it leaves behind salt: food for brine shrimps and the perfect habitat in which flamingos can breed.
8. "Coasts"[edit]
Broadcast 31 October 2001, the final programme examines the world's coastal environments, "the most dynamic of all ocean habitats". The perils of living in such places are highlighted by Marine Iguanas on the Galápagos Islands, whose diet of seaweed is quickly grabbed between crashing breakers. Many shores provide sites in which to breed or lay eggs. Apart from birds, turtles are among other major species to do so, and the mass emergence of flatbacks on Crab Island in Australia is reduced by predatory herons, pelicans and other hunters. Each year, four million seabirds, comprising fourteen species, return to the island of Talan in eastern Russia to nest. By ensuring that all their chicks eventually leave at the same time, they lessen the impact of predators. The rough seas of the Southern Ocean play host to penguins, and a group of them is shown being pursued by an aggressive bull sea lion. The planet's coldest seas are in Antarctica, and on South Georgia each spring, thousands of Southern elephant seals arrive to breed. A pair of males is shown fighting a bloody battle to control a harem of females, and Attenborough states that these fights, which are rarely fatal, can go on for 20 minutes or longer. In Patagonia, the social nature of sea lions is shown as they establish colonies, each of them several hundred strong. While in some respects it is an ideal location for the growing young, high tide brings danger for the colony as a pod of orcas habitually goes on the attack. Having snatched a victim, the predator returns to the open ocean to 'play' with it.
DVDs and book[edit]



The Blue Planet DVD cover (first release).
The series was available as a 3-disc DVD set (BBCDVD1089, released 3 December 2001), including interviews with the production team, a photo gallery and three additional programmes:
Making Waves: the making of The Blue Planet (50 mins)
Deep Trouble: an ecological documentary (50 mins)
Blue: a five-minute theatrical short
The first DVD has now been superseded by a 4-disc Special Edition (BBCDVD1792, released 3 October 2005), which features three extra programmes:
The Abyss
Dive to Shark Volcano
Amazon Abyss
In the US, there is a different 5-disk Special Edition (BBC040754, released 2 October 2007). It contains the featured presentations as well as a 5th disk containing 4 special presentations:[6]
Amazon Abyss: discover an array of creatures living in the Amazon
Dive to Shark Volcano: venture to Cocoa Island, an underwater volcano
Beneath the Tides: explore an estuary in winter
Antarctica
The accompanying book, The Blue Planet: A Natural History of the Oceans by Andrew Byatt, Alastair Fothergill and Martha Holmes (with a foreword by David Attenborough), was published by BBC Books on 27 September 2001 (ISBN 0-563-38498-0).
In the U.S., BBC released The Blue Planet: Seas of Life on Blu-ray Discs on April 9, 2013.
Film[edit]
Main article: Deep Blue (2003 film)
Deep Blue is a 2003 nature documentary film that is a theatrical version of The Blue Planet. Alastair Fothergill and Andy Byatt are credited as directors, and six cinematographers are also credited. The film premiered at the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain on September 20, 2003. It screened in over 20 territories from 2003 to 2005 and grossed over $30 million at the box office.
Live concert tour[edit]
The Blue Planet was turned into a theatrical presentation entitled The Blue Planet Live! and toured the UK in 2006. The UK live shows were presented by World Class Service Ltd. George Fenton conducted the Manchester Camerata Orchestra in Manchester, Newcastle and Nottingham during December 2006, in three critically acclaimed shows. The tour continued in April 2007, again conducted by George Fenton, in London, Cardiff, Birmingham and returning to Manchester and Nottingham.
For the show, some of the most spectacular sequences from the series have been edited together and are displayed on a huge screen (18 metres wide and 3 storeys high). The presentation is introduced by a special guest.
The tour continued in April 2008 with dates at Wembley Arena, Nottingham Arena, Manchester Central, Cardiff St. David's and Birmingham Symphony Hall.[7]
The Blue Planet Live! continues to be staged:
in June 2012 in Singapore performed by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra[8]
in July 2011 in the Mann Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia performed by the Russian National Orchestra, narrator Jane Pauley[9]
Overseas[edit]
The series was sold to over 50 countries.[10] In the USA, it was shown as The Blue Planet: Seas of Life with the episodes in a different order, the first one being retitled "Ocean World". The series aired on the Discovery Channel and was narrated by Pierce Brosnan.
Criticism[edit]
The series attracted some criticism when it was revealed that some of the footage was filmed at an aquarium in Wales. Series producer Alastair Fothergill said that around 2% of the whole series was filmed in tanks at aquariums.[11][12]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ From DVD cover
2.Jump up ^ "The Blue Planet homepage". BBC Online. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
3.^ Jump up to: a b c "Awards for the Blue Planet (2001)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
4.Jump up ^ Holmes, Martha (2001). Making Waves (DVD). United Kingdom: BBC.
5.Jump up ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008044n/episodes/guide
6.Jump up ^ "amazon.com website". Retrieved 16 July 2010.
7.Jump up ^ "The Blue Planet Live". SMG World Class. Retrieved 31 March 2009.[dead link]
8.Jump up ^ "The Blue Planet Live! Performed by Singapore Symphony Orchestra". SISTIC. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
9.Jump up ^ "PECO Pops @ the Mann - The Blue Planet Live Russian National Orchestra - Broadcast Journalist Jane Pauley, narrator". The Mann Center for the Performing Arts. 27 July 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
10.Jump up ^ "The Blue Planet set for movie release". BBC Press Office. 3 March 2003.
11.Jump up ^ "BBC defends indoor lobster footage". BBC News Online. 14 October 2001. Retrieved 11 May 2009.
12.Jump up ^ "FAKERY in Wildlife Documentaries". the fifth estate. CBC Television. 26 November 2008. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
External links[edit]
The Blue Planet at BBC Programmes
The Blue Planet on the Eden website
Discovery Channel's Blue Planet homepage
Simon King, Cameraman
The Blue Planet at the BFI's Screenonline
The Blue Planet at the Internet Movie Database





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David Attenborough's television and radio series


The Life series
Life on Earth (1979) ·
 The Living Planet (1984) ·
 The Trials of Life (1990) ·
 Life in the Freezer (1993) ·
 The Private Life of Plants (1995) ·
 The Life of Birds (1998) ·
 The Life of Mammals (2002) ·
 Life in the Undergrowth (2005) ·
 Life in Cold Blood (2008)
 

Other TV series
Zoo Quest (1954–63) ·
 The People of Paradise (1960) ·
 The Miracle of Bali (1969) ·
 The Tribal Eye (1975) ·
 Wildlife on One (1977) ·
 The First Eden (1987) ·
 Lost Worlds, Vanished Lives (1989) ·
 BBC Wildlife Specials (1995–2008) ·
 State of the Planet (2000) ·
 The Blue Planet (2001) ·
 Planet Earth (2006) ·
 Are We Changing Planet Earth? (2006) ·
 Nature's Great Events (2009) ·
 Life (2009) ·
 First Life (2010, 2013) ·
 Madagascar (2011) ·
 Frozen Planet (2011) ·
 Attenborough: 60 Years in the Wild (2012) ·
 Africa (2013) ·
 David Attenborough's Natural Curiosities (2013–) ·
 David Attenborough's Rise of Animals: Triumph of the Vertebrates (2013)
 

Other TV
 programmes
Christmas Lecture: The Language of Animals (1973) ·
 Horizon special: How Many People Can Live on Planet Earth? (2009) ·
 Horizon: The Death of the Oceans? (2010) ·
 other programmes as listed in filmography
 

3D programmes
 and films
Flying Monsters 3D (2010) ·
 The Bachelor King 3D (2011) ·
 Kingdom of Plants 3D (2012) ·
 Galapagos 3D (2013) ·
 Micro Monsters 3D (2013) ·
 David Attenborough's Natural History Museum Alive (2014)
 

DVD collections
Great Wildlife Moments (2003) ·
 Attenborough in Paradise (2005) ·
 The Life Collection (2005) ·
 Life on Land (2008)
 

Radio
Scars of Evolution (2005) ·
 David Attenborough's Life Stories (2009–11) ·
 Tweet of the Day (2013–14)
 

 


Categories: 2000s British television series
2001 British television programme debuts
2001 British television programme endings
BBC television documentaries
Documentary films about nature






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Life in the Freezer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


Life in the Freezer
Life in the Freezer DVD cover
Region 2 DVD cover

Genre
Nature documentary
Presented by
David Attenborough
Composer(s)
George Fenton
Country of origin
United Kingdom
Original language(s)
English
No. of episodes
6
Production

Executive producer(s)
Alastair Fothergill
Running time
30 minutes
Production company(s)
BBC Natural History Unit
 Lionheart Television Int.
National Geographic
Broadcast

Original channel
BBC One
Picture format
4:3 (PAL)
Audio format
Stereophonic
Original run
18 November 1993 – 23 December 1993
Chronology

Preceded by
The Trials of Life
Followed by
The Private Life of Plants
External links
Website
Life in the Freezer is a BBC nature documentary series written and presented by David Attenborough, first transmitted in the United Kingdom from 18 November 1993.
A study of the seasonal cycle of Antarctica, it was the first of Attenborough's more specialised surveys following his major trilogy that began with Life on Earth. Each of the six 30-minute episodes (except the last) examines how species cope with life on the Antarctic continent during the year.
The series was produced in conjunction with The National Geographic Society and Lionheart International, Inc. The producer was Alastair Fothergill and the music was composed by George Fenton.
Part of David Attenborough's 'Life' series of programmes, it was preceded by The Trials of Life (1990) and followed by The Private Life of Plants (1995).


Contents  [hide]
1 Background
2 Episodes 2.1 1. "The Bountiful Sea"
2.2 2. "The Ice Retreats"
2.3 3. "The Race to Breed"
2.4 4. "The Door Closes"
2.5 5. "The Big Freeze"
2.6 6. "Footsteps in the Snow"
3 A. N. Wilson controversy
4 DVD and book
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

Background[edit]
Over the course of the series, the seasonal effect on the continent is explored, from one of the harshest winters on the planet to the arrival of spring, which welcomes a population of ocean travellers returning to breed. Then, in the summer, creatures such as seals and penguins struggle to raise their young before winter once again sets in. At this point, the ice sheet doubles and animals must leave to find food.
David Attenborough accompanied a 20-strong crew to Antarctica and spent three years filming the series. They had to contend with monolithic glaciers and extreme weather conditions, including mountainous seas, 160 km/h blizzards and harsh temperatures.
Once again, following on from The Trials of Life, the team used the latest camera technology and techniques, and had to travel into territory that had been previously inaccessible to filmmakers.[1] For example, to photograph the wildlife of the sea, boats, divers, suspended capsules and remotely controlled cameras mounted on inflatables were used. Particularly dangerous to divers were leopard seals and other predators, so some underwater sequences necessitated the use of cages for safety. The team also used a small, steel-hulled yacht, the Damien II. It had a retractable keel, which enabled the vessel to venture into shallow bays and land camera crews on to remote islands, where they could remain in contact via radio. A steadicam was used to obtain close-ups of fighting fur seals, with another person carrying a pair of wooden poles close by, in case one of the creatures attacked the human visitors.
Cameraman Michael deGruy gave an account of what it was like to film beneath the ice during a blizzard:

"I jumped into a seal hole, pushing the ice away as I entered, and they handed me my camera. Surprisingly, I wasn't too cold, except around where my mouth held on to my regulator, and that instantly froze and became numb. Suddenly everything was quiet and I found myself looking at easily one of the most extraordinary scenes I had ever, ever experienced. When I dropped down through a hole in the ice, I was completely surrounded by ice: a tunnel maybe twenty feet across. Everything above me on the land was roaring with wind and down there, there was absolutely no sound except for the distant trills of Weddell Seals."[2]
The last episode looks at the race by humans to be the first to reach the South Pole, and its second half describes how the series was made.
Episodes[edit]

"I am at the very centre of the great white continent, Antarctica. The South Pole is about half a mile away. For a thousand miles in all directions, there is nothing but ice. And, in the whole of this continent, which is about one-and-a-half times the size of the United States and larger than Europe, there is a year-round population of no more than 800 people. This is the loneliest and coldest place on Earth, the place that is most hostile to life. And yet, in one or two places, it is astonishingly rich."
— David Attenborough's opening words
1. "The Bountiful Sea"[edit]



 The diet of the Black-browed Albatross is about 40% krill.
Broadcast 18 November 1993, the first episode introduces the continent of Antarctica and the surrounding sea and islands, its glaciers and the icebergs that form from it. It describes how the continent changes throughout the seasons, as it effectively doubles in size in winter when the surrounding sea freezes over, "the greatest seasonal change that takes place on this planet." Penguins, whales and seals are shown feeding in the Southern Ocean. Many of them eat the abundant krill (which in turn feed on phytoplankton and ice-algae). Humpback whales are shown catching krill through sophisticated co-operation: they create spiralling curtains of air bubbles that drive it into their centre, where the whales can then catch them by surging upwards in the middle of the spiral. Also shown are the various seabirds which feed in the Antarctic sea, especially albatrosses, whose impressive wingspans are possible because they utilise the updraft generated by the huge waves in the stormy southern waters. Because of the patchiness of krill, albatrosses can travel for many hundreds or indeed thousands of miles on a single trip in search of it. All birds scavenge, and a group (including giant petrels) is shown taking the remains of a whale, left by orca. Many birds (including penguins) lay their eggs and feed their chicks on the islands surrounding the Antarctic continent, especially South Georgia where both albatross and King penguins have their nesting sites throughout the year.
2. "The Ice Retreats"[edit]
Broadcast 25 November 1993, the second programme examines what happens during spring on Antarctica. The sea ice extends for hundreds of miles around the continent, but there are a few subantarctic islands that escape it. Such places are highly valued, for as the sea never freezes, animals can always get ashore. Elephant seals are the first creatures to return to the beaches. They form large breeding colonies, where the males fight fierce battles to gain and retain permanent access to a great number of females and mate with them as soon as they are receptive again. Millions of macaroni penguins occupy huge territories on the islands to breed, as do thousands of albatrosses. The Antarctic peninsula is one of the few regions of the continent inhabited by animals, even in summer. Gentoo penguins build their nests on bare rock and humpback whales seek krill along the coast, while Adelie penguins nest even further south. Crabeater seals, one of the most numerous mammals on Earth, live and reproduce in the pack ice zone around Antarctica. Snow petrels fly many miles into the island to find rock on which to lay their eggs.
3. "The Race to Breed"[edit]



 A leopard seal on an iceberg, with penguins in the background.
Broadcast 2 December 1993, this instalment looks at the summer, when almost all life in the region breeds. A South Georgian colony of fur seals is shown: the pups grow fast on the rich, fatty milk provided by their mothers and double their weight in just sixty days. As the females become sexually available, the mating season begins — males try to claim territory and mate with females. Chinstrap penguins form large groups on Deception Island, climbing up its steep slopes to find mountain ridges free of snow. Returning birds find their partners by recognising their voice (performing a brief greeting ritual when they find them), which is why the colonies are very noisy during the breeding season. Males and females take turns in catching food, some of which they later regurgitate for their chicks. The summer also thaws some of the ice on the continent's shores. The fresh water allows moss and other plants to grow, which in turn provide food for mites that are adapted to the cold climate — they can survive temperatures up to minus 30 °C because they contain a kind of antifreeze. They become active as soon as the ice melts, and reproduce whenever they get an opportunity to do so. Lichens grow even further south than moss, and algae populate some of the snow. In the ocean, life is much more diverse, and blue-eyed shags dive for fish near the peninsula. More than 300,000 petrels come to breed to the Scullin Monolith, one of the few areas of open rock.
4. "The Door Closes"[edit]
Broadcast 9 December 1993, this episode describes the migration of most animals northwards (some from the Antarctic continent, others from the few islands surrounding it) as the continent and surrounding sea freeze over at the end of summer. At Cape Royds, the most southernly colony of Adelie penguins is virtually emptied as adults lead their newly feathered young to the sea. Young penguins often fall prey to leopard seals as they try to make their way across the already partially frozen water — and their stripped remains become food for isopods and meter-long nemerteans. However, before going to the sea, the adult penguins must moult their coats. The freezing sea ice usually does not reach South Georgia, and seal pups are still fed there by their mothers in autumn to be ready for the winter. They use their remaining time for play and mock fights in the ocean. Those who do not survive become food for the predator birds — the skuas and the giant petrels. Elephant seals also undergo moulting while on the island. Albatrosses nesting on South Georgia continue to feed and mate, but the ever harsher weather forces most animals further northwards.
5. "The Big Freeze"[edit]



Emperor penguins
Broadcast 16 December 1993, this programme deals with those who stay during the coldest weather. As almost all animal inhabitants of Antarctica are forced to migrate, the sea underneath the ice still provides a home to many specially adapted fish whose cells are protected from freezing through an inherent "antifreeze". Many feed on the faeces of other animals. Perhaps the most notable larger creature that does not journey north is the Weddell seal, which can be found as close as 1300 kilometres to the pole. Groups of seals tear holes into the ice to dive for food and come up to breathe. The females come back to the ice to give birth. Also described is primitive plant life such as lichen, which can still be found on the continent in winter, even in the extremely dry and permanently frozen valleys — conditions under which dead animals can lie frozen for many centuries without decomposing. Attenborough observes that the Antarctic plateau is so "forbidding, hostile and desolate" that human life there seems not only insignificant, but also "totally irrelevant". Also explored is the life of the Emperor penguin, "the only birds to lay their eggs directly on ice". While others retreat, Emperors migrate not just to the ice, but into Antarctica itself. The newly laid egg is quickly transferred from female to male. They then incubate the eggs under the harshest conditions on Earth (huddling closely together in temperatures of minus 70 °C), while their partners return to the sea.
6. "Footsteps in the Snow"[edit]
Broadcast 23 December 1993, the final instalment discusses human exploration of Antarctica, in particular the mission led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott, whose team died on the way back from the South Pole. Attenborough visits the hut at Cape Evans where Scott and his team spent the winter of 1911. It shows their well-equipped laboratory and the darkroom where the group's photographer, Herbert Ponting, developed his films. Attenborough contrasts the transportation used by Scott (initially motor sledge, ponies and dogs before ending up on foot) with today's helicopters. The episode also details the scientific work in the modern human bases in Antarctica, especially Mawson Base and its observation of Adelie penguins (partially through tracking devices). The film concludes that although working in Antarctica is now much easier than during the early days of exploration, human footsteps on the continent are still exceedingly rare — in part because of international treaties prohibiting industrial exploitation.

"At a time when it's possible for thirty people to stand on the top of Everest in one day, Antarctica still remains a remote, lonely and desolate continent. A place where it's possible to see the splendours and immensities of the natural world at its most dramatic and, what's more, witness them almost exactly as they were, long, long before human beings ever arrived on the surface of this planet. Long may it remain so."
— David Attenborough, in closing
A. N. Wilson controversy[edit]
After Life in the Freezer was broadcast, A. N. Wilson, then a television reviewer for The Independent, wrote a column accusing the production team of staging a harrowing sequence in which a leopard seal killed and dismembered a young penguin. He claimed that the chances of filming natural behaviour like this were far too low, and that the crew must have thrown baby penguins to the seal until they got the shot they wanted.
Alastair Fothergill responded by threatening to sue. In a private settlement, Wilson was forced to publish an apology and retraction acknowledging that there had been no basis for his claims. The Independent also paid an undisclosed sum of money, which Fothergill and Attenborough donated to a fund for the penguins of the Falkland Islands.[3]
Wilson had previously made similar claims about Attenborough's previous series, The Trials of Life, regarding the filming of the Malleefowl, and had been forced to retract those as well.
DVD and book[edit]
The series is available in the UK for Regions 2 and 4 as a single DVD (BBCDVD1106, released 16 September 2002) and as part of The Life Collection. There are no extra features.
The accompanying book, Life in the Freezer: A Natural History of the Antarctic by Alastair Fothergill with a foreword by David Attenborough (ISBN 0-563-36431-9 ), was published by BBC Books on 4 November 1993. It is currently out of print.
See also[edit]
BBC Atlas of the Natural World, a 2006-07 compilation series for North America
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Life in the Freezer DVD notes
2.Jump up ^ Episode "Footsteps in the Snow"
3.Jump up ^ David Attenborough, Life on Air, BBC Books 2002.
External links[edit]
Life in the Freezer at BBC Programmes
Life in the Freezer at the Internet Movie Database
Life in the Freezer on the Eden website





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David Attenborough's television and radio series


The Life series
Life on Earth (1979) ·
 The Living Planet (1984) ·
 The Trials of Life (1990) ·
 Life in the Freezer (1993) ·
 The Private Life of Plants (1995) ·
 The Life of Birds (1998) ·
 The Life of Mammals (2002) ·
 Life in the Undergrowth (2005) ·
 Life in Cold Blood (2008)
 

Other TV series
Zoo Quest (1954–63) ·
 The People of Paradise (1960) ·
 The Miracle of Bali (1969) ·
 The Tribal Eye (1975) ·
 Wildlife on One (1977) ·
 The First Eden (1987) ·
 Lost Worlds, Vanished Lives (1989) ·
 BBC Wildlife Specials (1995–2008) ·
 State of the Planet (2000) ·
 The Blue Planet (2001) ·
 Planet Earth (2006) ·
 Are We Changing Planet Earth? (2006) ·
 Nature's Great Events (2009) ·
 Life (2009) ·
 First Life (2010, 2013) ·
 Madagascar (2011) ·
 Frozen Planet (2011) ·
 Attenborough: 60 Years in the Wild (2012) ·
 Africa (2013) ·
 David Attenborough's Natural Curiosities (2013–) ·
 David Attenborough's Rise of Animals: Triumph of the Vertebrates (2013)
 

Other TV
 programmes
Christmas Lecture: The Language of Animals (1973) ·
 Horizon special: How Many People Can Live on Planet Earth? (2009) ·
 Horizon: The Death of the Oceans? (2010) ·
 other programmes as listed in filmography
 

3D programmes
 and films
Flying Monsters 3D (2010) ·
 The Bachelor King 3D (2011) ·
 Kingdom of Plants 3D (2012) ·
 Galapagos 3D (2013) ·
 Micro Monsters 3D (2013) ·
 David Attenborough's Natural History Museum Alive (2014)
 

DVD collections
Great Wildlife Moments (2003) ·
 Attenborough in Paradise (2005) ·
 The Life Collection (2005) ·
 Life on Land (2008)
 

Radio
Scars of Evolution (2005) ·
 David Attenborough's Life Stories (2009–11) ·
 Tweet of the Day (2013–14)
 

 


Categories: 1993 British television programme debuts
1993 British television programme endings
1990s British television series
BBC television documentaries
Documentary films about Antarctica
Documentary films about nature
English-language films






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