In 1990, the BBC aired "Trials of Life", a 12-part natural history series exploring animal behaviour, showing a variety of species from the moment of their birth through to adulthood and becoming a parent themselves.
This 6-part series, "Life Story", follows a very similar theme, covering the stages of life and the challenges that await them in the animal world. Like many of David Attenborough's latest documentaries, this series adopts the same format of showing a 50-minute episode followed by a 10-minute "Diaries" which follows the camera crew as they try to capture the behaviour of one of the animals which featured in the series. They make you appreciate some of the hardships the crew often go through to get the best results.
Where "Trials of Life" was a 4:3 production, "Life Story" is fully-HD due to being filmed with 4K cameras, and includes some beautiful camera work with extraordinarily detailed close-ups, as well as fantastic shots of insects and other microcosmic species. These people really make an effort to capture memorable events and David's narration is as eloquent as ever, both educational and witty, to suit the on-screen action.
Like most nature programmes, "Life Story" includes some mildly disturbing scenes of animal behaviour, but this is how those species have evolved in order to survive in harsh environments. You have to take the bad with the good and accept that nature can be cruel. Witnessing these animals face such challenges and learning to adapt and overcome them is the true reward. Where many endure, few survive.
