The Living Planet: A Portrait of the Earth is a BBC nature documentary series written and presented by David Attenborough, first transmitted in the UK from 19 January 1984.
The sequel to his pioneering Life on Earth, it is a study of the ways in which living organisms, including humans, adapt to their surroundings. Each of the twelve 55-minute episodes (one fewer than his previous series) featured a different environment. The executive producer was Richard Brock and the music was composed by Elizabeth Parker of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.
Part of Attenborough's Life series, it was followed by The Trials of Life (1990). However, before the latter, Attenborough wrote and presented two shorter series: The First Eden (1987), about man's relationship with the natural habitats of the Mediterranean, and Lost Worlds, Vanished Lives (1989), concerning the discovery of fossils.
Background
The programmes were just as ambitious to produce as those in the previous series, each featuring a variety of locations from around the world.
Among the most difficult places, in terms of logistics, was the Sudan, where the crew had to be flown in—despite there being no runways or indeed roads. Conversely, areas such as the Himalayas permitted no transportation at all, so the only option was to walk. In South America, a shortage of boats led to one cameraman having to push his equipment in a rubber dinghy, while he himself swam behind it.
Some subjects proved even more challenging: the production team had to wait two years for news to arrive of an erupting volcano, and had to suspend all other filming in the hope that it would still be alight when they reached it. Elsewhere, cameraman Hugh Miles had to put himself away from a polar bear in order to film it in close-up.
For the episode "The Sky Above", the series' makers managed to secure the services of NASA, and the use of its gravity research aircraft, affectionately known as the Vomit Comet.
However, the most time-consuming sequence involved red-breasted geese in flight—not in terms of actual filming, but in preparing for it. The birds had to be reared by hand from birth so that they would respond to the voice of their 'mother', and this eventually enabled them to be photographed as they flew alongside a moving open-top car.
Filming techniques continued to evolve. One new piece of equipment used was a scuba diving suit with a large, fully enclosed faceplate, allowing Attenborough to speak (and be seen) underwater.
In an interview on the making of the series, Attenborough was self-effacing concerning his own contribution: "The difficulties are not actually experienced by me, because the bits that I do are the easiest bits. [...] It's not too difficult to walk on to a rock and look at a camera and say something. The difficulties are those that are encountered by the cameramen, directors and recordists, who actually have to get an animal doing something which perhaps nobody's ever even seen before. Those are extremely difficult things to do."Interview from The Making of The Living Planet
Episodes
1. "The Building of the Earth"
Broadcast 19 January 1984, the first episode begins in the world's deepest valley: that of the Kali Gandaki river in the Himalayas. Its temperatures range from those of the tropics in its lower reaches to that of the poles higher up. It therefore shows how creatures become adapted to living in certain environments. The higher that Attenborough travels, the more bleak and mountainous is the terrain, and the more suited to it are the animals that live there. However, such adaptations are comparatively recent: these mountains were formed from the sea bed some 65 million years ago. To show the force of nature responsible for this, Attenborough stands in front of an erupting volcano in Iceland and handles a piece of basalt; the Giant's Causeway is an example of what happens to it over a great length of time. The Icelandic volcanoes represent the northern end of a fissure that is mostly underwater and runs down one side of the globe, forming volcanic islands en route where it is above sea level. It is such activity, known as plate tectonics, from deep within the Earth that pulled apart Africa and South America and created the Atlantic Ocean. Footage of the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980 shows what decimation it caused. However, this pales in comparison to the destruction caused by Krakatoa in 1883, which Attenborough relates in detail. When such pressure beneath the Earth shifts, it results in hot springs and caverns—which themselves support life. This episode has the alternative title of "The Furnaces of the Earth" on the four-disc BBC DVD box set (BBCDVD1234).
2. "The Frozen World"
Broadcast 26 January 1984, this programme describes the inhospitable habitats of snow and ice. Mount Rainier in America is an example of such a place: there is no vegetation, therefore no herbivores and thus no carnivores. However, beneath its frosty surface, algae grow and some insects, such as ladybirds visit the slopes. Africa's mountains are permanently snow-covered, and beneath peaks such as Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya, there are unique communities of plants and animals. However, they endure extremes of temperature within 24 hours like no other. At night they are in danger of freezing solid, and during the day they may be robbed of moisture. Giant Senecioss and Lobelias combat this by (among other adaptations) insulating their growing points or stems with a dense layers of leaves or producing pectin-filled water reservoirs. The Andes run the length of South America and are surrounded by the altiplano. On these high plains there is a large and varied population of animals. Antarctica is bigger than the whole of Europe and is for the most part devoid of life. However, its shores and waters are fertile and are home to fur seals, their main food (krill), and several species of penguin. By contrast, because of its connection to more temperate regions, the Arctic has been colonised by a large variety of species. They include Arctic foxes, polar bears, lemmings, snowy owls, and the region's most powerful hunter, the Inuit. It is also a temporary home to migratory animals, such as the caribou and snow goose.
3. "The Northern Forests"
Broadcast 2 February 1984, the next instalment examines the northern coniferous forests. The programme begins in northern Norway, 500 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle. Here, there is only just enough light for the pine trees to survive, but it is extremely cold during the winter. Pine cone seeds provide one of the few foods available at this time of year, and large herbivores such as the moose must also rely on their fat reserves. However, there are predators, including lynxes, wolverines and eagle owls. The coniferous forest grows in a belt right around the globe, some 1,900 kilometres across at its widest. On each continent, many migratory animals arrive in the spring, and even more during the summer. In years when the vole population is high, the numbers of their main predator, the owls, increase correspondingly and spread out. Further south, the warmer climate sees the pine trees give way to broad-leaved species, such as the oak and beech. More birds occupy the forest canopy during the summer than at any other time of year, feeding on a myriad of insects. At the onset of winter, many animals in these forests hibernate, and in America, Attenborough uncovers the den of a black bear, which can be asleep for six months at a time. Finally, further south still, Attenborough discovers the effects of forest fires, which are not so destructive as they appear—the areas affected rejuvenate themselves within a couple of months, with more flowers than before.
4. "Jungle"
Broadcast 9 February 1984, this episode is devoted to the jungles of the tropics. Attenborough ascends a Ceiba pentandra (kapok) in the South American tropical rainforest to observe "the greatest proliferation of life that you can find anywhere on the surface of the Earth." There are two main causes for this: warmth and wetness. As this climate is constant, there are no seasons, so trees vary greatly in their flowering cycles. However, each species does so at the same time and, because of the lack of wind, relies on birds and insects for pollination. Bromeliads have their own population of visitors, largely due to their chalice-like rosettes of leaves that hold water. This is used by some for drinking, or, as in the case of the poison dart frog, for depositing tadpoles. Attenborough also highlights those species that have perfected the art of camouflage, including phasmids. The most densely populated part of the jungle is in its uppermost reaches. Around halfway down, there is little life, apart from those that inhabit nest holes, such as macaws, or use the trunks and lianas to aid movement. The jungle floor is not very fertile as the rain washes away any nutriment from the soil. Tree roots therefore rely on a kind of compost formed from decaying leaves—a process that is greatly accelerated in the natural humidity. After a tropical storm, an aged kapok tree comes crashing to the ground, leaving a gap in the canopy above. The process of renewal then begins as saplings race to fill the space created.
5. "Seas of Grass"
Broadcast 16 February 1984, this programme looks at a plant of which there are some 10,000 species and which covers over a quarter of vegetated land: the grasses. It is a plant that keeps growing despite continuous grazing—because a grass leaf grows at its base, which is permanently active. At such low levels, lizards prey on insects, praying mantises eat grasshoppers, spiders hunt anything they can and dung beetles clear up the mess. Termites are among the most successful: in the savannah of Brazil, there are more termite mounds per acre than anywhere else—and where they flourish, the anteater follows. At dawn on the Brazilian campo, many open-nesting birds are vulnerable to species such as the tegu. There are few trees because of little water and during the dry season, caiman and turtles vie for space in such pools as there are. Three thousand kilometres to the north, in Venezuela, the clay soil enables the Llanos to hold flood water, and some creatures, such as the capybara, relish it. Further north still, on the North American prairie, the freezing temperature of minus 46 °C means that few animals can survive it; the bison is one that can. The African plains have a greater variety and bigger concentration of grass-living animals than any other. This leads to a similar abundance of predators, and the Merle people ambush white-eared kob as they cross a river. Of the million animals that attempt the crossing over several days, some 5,000 are killed.
6. "The Baking Deserts"