Planète Terre

Thankfully, I caught a couple of these episodes on American television, which led me to this 11-part series on Blu-Ray DVDs and over five hours of outstanding entertaining and education. Looking back, I still shake my head in amazement at the things I saw on these discs.

Obviously, the incredible photography and sharpness/color (please see this on high-def, if you can) is the first thing that captures the viewer's eye, but as the series went on I appreciated the objectivity in here ("aw, cute" shots mixed in with the brutality of existence) and the lack of environmental propaganda, which one usually gets in boatloads in these "nature" films. Here, the writers and narrator David Attenborough just present the world as it is. Only at the very end do you get a short environmental message. It isn't needed: the beauty of this earth says it all, and the writers were smart enough to figure that out during this series.

After viewing 11 discs, you come to the obvious conclusions that in the Earth's world of animals, birds and fish come only a few objectives: where to find food, water, a mate, and escape being devoured by a predator. That's it, except for pets or zoo animals. On land or in water, it's simply a matter of survival, as this BBC series shows us.

What makes this so special is that, thanks to incredible work by cameramen, we are privy to many extraordinary sights we would never see, if left on our own, and never imagined existed on this planet. Much of this series is simply mind-boggling to view, especially all the overhead shots, which were stunning.

There are too many positive adjectives I could use to even begin, in recommending you watch this. Just give it a try - any of the 11 segments - and see if you don't want to then watch all of them.

I don't think I can add anything to the previous 10 out of 10 comments, other than that I'd give it a full 11 out of 10 if this were possible. I have seen my share of nature documentaries, but this takes the cake. Utterly awe-inspiring, mesmerizing and brilliant. I own an extensive DVD-collection, but if I had to choose 1 title and had to throw away everything else I had, this would be the one I'd keep. I have no better DVD-title in my collection. Period.

David Attenborough is my personal hero. Although he merely provides the commentary for this series (as he did with the also terrific Blue Planet), but his work for the BBC's Natural History division (setting it up and making several brilliant series himself) and his inspiring personality make him one of the true greats.

Miss this at your peril.

This is a beautifully shot series looking at nature in all it's natural wonder, showcasing a breathtaking diversity of life from the poles to the deserts.

With the spectre of global warming rapidly looming I wonder just how much of these wonderful ecosystems are going to survive. I just hope that in 100 years time people will not watch 'Planet Earth' with the same curiosity that I have when look at etchings of the Dodo from old books.

TV like 'Planet Earth' has made me think a lot more about the natural world that surrounds me and the impact I am having on it. We can't sit back and let this disappear. It's for all future generations, not just this one.

As the influence of man expands across the globe, fewer and fewer truly untouched wilderness exists. This series aims to use technology never used for nature programmes before to take us into these wildernesses and see the environment within them and the creatures that live there. Starting with a journey from one pole to the other, this series explores the extreme conditions of mountains (from the birth of one to the coldest of those existing), deserts, caves, oceans, fresh waters and others to present some of the most impressive footage ever seen in a nature documentary.

With a budget of about £40 million, the BBC were going to have to deliver something pretty special to avoid the usual accusations of waste tax payer's money, catering to a small audience etc etc. However with Planet Earth they have easily silenced the critics to present a nature programme that is interesting and education. The biggest selling point is the footage which, at its worst is impressive but at its best is simply breath-taking and actually had me saying "wow" at some points. I am not naturally a nature programme viewer but this show had me hooked from episode 1 where a quick glance at the opening minutes had me staying with it for the following eleven weeks. The footage is impressive and, although it is the weakest part of each hour, I did enjoy some of the "Planet Earth Diary" sections where we actually saw the technology, techniques and sheer trial of getting the views that we get. My words can't really do it justice but the series gives footage that you won't have seen anywhere else before – with episode 1 claiming that the footage of a pack of dogs hunting told experts things they hadn't previously known.

However I have seen some a couple of nature documentary feature films recently that have also had impressive footage but Planet Earth backs it up with a typically informative and engaging narration from David Attenborough. For me he added enough educational value to prevent the series just being televisual wallpaper – which of course is what it also does in terms of providing some beautiful material that would work even if the sound broke on your television. Like many others though, I would have liked there to be more connection made to the impact that man's actions are having on the ecosystems and animals that we are shown – for example are they getting rarer or having their habitats shrinking? Occasionally it does this but nowhere near enough – which is partly why some critics have labelled it "environmental porn", which I can understand but do not totally agree with.

Overall this is a great series that does a great job of presenting the beauty of the natural world but just about having enough educational value to it to avoid it just being the television equivalent of wallpaper for your computer. The shots are impressive and the range of creatures and habitats that are presented makes this well worth seeing. I'm sure that wildlife fans will long for more detail but as a casual viewer this was just what I was looking for. An impressive and memorable look at the world that we live in.

Planet Earth is a worthy documentary series that looks not just at the animals and plants in remote areas, but at the ever-changing ecosystems that look prone to collapse in the near future. This is the sort of programme that the BBC excels at and makes better than anyone else.

The camera-work is fantastic and the sections at the end of each programme where they look at how certain parts were filmed is interesting as you see the dedication of the crew who go out to these desolate spots for months to film sections that will last only a couple of minutes on screen. Much of the wildlife has barely been filmed and some such as the wonderfully agile Wild Amur leopard have probably only been seen by very few living people in the flesh.

It is narrated by David Attenborough who has the perfect voice for wildlife documentaries and his presence is almost a guarantee of quality in itself. His record speaks for itself.

Some of the sequences shown are very brave, most notably the struggles of the polar bear to find food on the ever-decreasing Arctic ice. Too many nature documentaries succumb to "niceness" and show only cute animals looking sweet. To understand how Man is changing the planet it is crucial to show how wasting energy may be affecting wildlife in distant lands (or seas). Sadly it is also important as it seems all too likely that much of the footage will become museum property in the near future, showing subsequent generations the marvellous diversity of life Earth used to enjoy.

Overall it has some good educational value as it can be enjoyed both by young children and was recommended by my tutors during a conservation module of my degree.