Great Barrier Reef with David Attenborough

It is hard to consider how good one of David Attenborough's shows really is, because they are often so filled with amazing natural things, that this is what sticks in the mind. Of course though this show is as strong as ever in terms of the technical delivery, and even with the challenges of shooting, it looks great throughout. Likewise the sense of wonder in the delivery is palatable. Not only do I enjoy the feeling that a man who has lived so long doing this is still amazed by what he sees, on top of this it is that the footage entirely justifies this. The detail of the ecosystems is fascinating and there is plenty of great images which support the interesting narration.

I am not sure why I did not totally love it though. The 'making of' at the end of each episode was not as interesting as it could have been, but I also felt there was not as much great footage as there could have been. It is not that there is a lot of padding, but it does feel like they didn't have to be brutal to fit the footage into the running time. Instead it feels like there was plenty of non-reef material in the main chunk of the show. The submarine, the footage of the briefing, bits like this all took time which could have been instead spent under the water with the reef. The 'making of' highlights the many challenges, but still, I watched every episode loving what I saw, but wishing they had taken more time with it.

David Attenborough boards the research vessel Alucia. They are visiting The Great Barrier Reef. He returns to many of the same locations that he first visited in the 50's. It has a few scenes of the old footage. It has the usual colorful images of underwater life. It has some science. It has some scientists. There are three episodes with an extra episode of behind-the-scenes.

The wildlife images are great as usual. The science is interesting. David Attenborough has his soothing British narrations. His reminiscences help to deliver good personal nostalgia along with a good way to emphasize the changes in the environment.

David Attenborough is nothing short of a national treasure. He may apparently dislike the term, but it is hard to not say that about such a great presenter who has contributed significantly to some of the best programmes (of the documentary genre and overall) the BBC has ever aired/produced.

It is really hard picking favourites, let alone a definite favourite, among what Attenborough has done because he has done so many gems, it is the equivalent of trying to choose your favourite ice cream flavour or your favourite operatic role (for examples) and finding you can't pick. 'Great Barrier Reef with David Attenborough' is not one of his best, but even when Attenborough was not at his best he still delivered. The "making of" footage scenes have been more interesting elsewhere in his other work, here they felt like padding and didn't illuminate as much this time. It also lacks the emotional punch and complex emotions of the animal/wildlife documentaries. Still, other than that 'Great Barrier Reef with David Attenborough' is very good and almost lives up to its great name.

'Great Barrier Reef with David Attenborough' looks amazing first and foremost. The colours really pop out at you and one is totally immersed into this wondrous undersea world. It is gorgeously filmed, done in a completely fluid and natural, sometimes intimate (a great way of connecting even more with the animals), way and never looking static. In fact much of it is remarkably cinematic with some of the shots being unique for a documentary series, making one forget that it is a series. The editing is always succinct and smooth and the scenery is pure magic. The music score fits very well, never overly grandiose while never being inappropriate.

Again, like so many Attenborough nature/wildlife documentaries, 'Great Barrier Reef with David Attenborough' fascinates, teaches, moves, entertains and transfixes. In terms of the facts there was a very good mix of the known ones and the unknown, some facts being familiar to us while going into detail about the Great Barrier Reef.

Narration by Attenborough helps significantly. He clearly knows his stuff and knows what to say and how to say it. He delivers it with his usual richness, soft-spoken enthusiasm and sincerity, never talking down to the viewer and keeping them riveted and wanting to know more.

Overall, very good but not among the best Attenborough has done. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Attenborough is still producing some marvelous TV, with enough hard science to be informative, presented in an entertaining way.

Unfortunately, this is one of the first of his shows where I found the "background" music to be seriously annoying. It made it difficult to hear the speech at times.

It got so bad, that I skipped the last few episodes. Such a shame. A good, informative, entertaining show ruined in post production.