Life of Mammals

I've just been watching the Life of Mammals with my daughter Roxanne. She's fascinated by the animals. Me, I'm absolutely gobsmacked by the photography. The series is the latest work by Sir David Attenborough, and it's an incredible exploration into our mammalian history, from shrews to the Blue Whale and from the Loris to us. The imagery is nothing short of stunning, and there are many new techniques used to film, including fiber-optic cameras to film inside tiny burrows and infra-red to film at night.

The Blue Planet has just finished showing here also, although that's a rerun. That is also immensely fascinating.

The most obvious thing, though, is that Sir David Attenborough is still completely fascinated by the natural world after more than fifty years of making natural history programs. You can see his enthusiasm in his face when looking at things, or observing some new animal, be it a squirrel or a gibbon or even a Blue Whale. And he's up in the trees, scooting along on the water or saying "Boo!" to a sloth. Well, he's only 76 years old, I'm sure he's got plenty of excellent series in him yet. His hobby is natural history. His overriding passion is natural history, and it's also his job. I hereby nominate Sir David¹ for the award of having the best damn job on the planet.

1. I wouldn't normally bother with titles like that, but Sir David has made many, many wonderful documentaries showing the wonder that is the natural world and he's brought that into my (and your) living room. I remember watching Life on Earth when I was a young lad and staring open-mouthed at the wonders he was showing us. I'd certainly say that he's earned every title ever bestowed on him. Sir David's Autobiography.