adam-whitmore

This series is genuinely innovative in its approach. Instead of a linked series of natural wonders, each episode covers one group of animals filmed typically over two years or so. As a result we see relationships changing and individual fortunes rising and falling. This provides insights conventional wildlife film-making simply can't match. A unique achievement.

All the episodes are compelling, but for me favourites were those covering chimpanzees and lions for the strength of the story lines, and the emperor penguins for sheer visual beauty (they've been filmed many times but never like this).

Many movies and television series claim to push the boundaries. This one really does. As the material about the making of the series (at the end of each episode and online) shows, the four years it took to make included a record depth for a manned submersible dive in Antarctica, round the clock diving to make sure they did not miss a once-a-year event at a remote island, coping with huge sharks attacking the crew's submarine, deploying a range of novel filming technologies, and taking so much time under water that they were able to record behaviours never seen before. Around a thousand hours of shooting were needed for each hour of programme. The results are genuinely sublime, with an astonishing range of natural wonders captured by photography that is surely peerless in its beauty, range and consistency. Skilful editing and commentary helps bring each of the subjects to life. Evocative music and sound effects may irritate some but for me, and I expect most others, these add to the impact. The conservation message is there in part in most episodes, emerging into its own in the final episode, but really the whole series is a uniquely powerful plea for the conservation of the oceans.

Beyond that there is not much to say except "see it".

This is not just one of the best wildlife documentaries ever made - superbly filmed using the latest techniques and equipment – it is one of the great achievements in any area of culture from this or any other year. Little else shows such skill and dedication from its makers, or is as moving in its sense of beauty and feeling of something larger than ourselves.

It is an emotive evocation rather than cerebral narrative, and to this end there is extensive and prominent use of music, and added sound effects. Some find these intrusive, but for me they were very effective. There were a few occasions on which I felt that emphasis on getting in close went too far - for example the fighting Komodo dragons broke from the top of the frame unnecessarily, and the framing of eagles fighting over a carcass felt a little tight. However pushing the boundaries in any field can sometimes mean going too far, and this is surely trivial set against the scale of the achievement. Sequence after sequence is profoundly impressive, and the cumulative effect uniquely wonderful.

This is of course worth seeing with the best quality source and the largest, best quality screen you can find. The Blu-ray transfer is excellent.

In reviewing last year's outstanding "The Hunt" I wrote that I found it hard to imagine how even the BBC wildlife unit could surpass that. Now I see. Can even the BBC wildlife surpass this? Maybe Planet Earth 3?