TV Review: The Frozen Planet

I’ve just spent a couple of hours catching up on The Frozen Planet from the BBC as I was not able to watch it as it went out. It was one of the best 2 hours TV I’ve watched for a very long time. One of the things the first two programmes confirmed for me was that given the choice between a holiday to the Antarctic and one to the Arctic I would choose the Arctic every-time.

The second programme really reinforced just how diverse and lush the Arctic is. Once the ice dams started to break and the melt waters flow the region is alive with life. Of course the Antarctic is not a place to ignore – the ice crystal caves were fascinating to learn about. Then there’s the pack mentality and hunting of the killer whales. But it’s a long way to go when there’s such a dynamic and vibrant polar environment just a short flight away from the UK.

Incredible filming on the Frozen Planet documentary.

The filming, as you would expect from the BBC, was incredible. It’s always easier to appreciate the wealth of wildlife in the poles when your in a warm room sipping hot chocolate and having the vast region presented to you in a 1 hour snippet.

So from the first two programme what was most memorable. Well, to be honest, there was just too many moments to be able to single any out as a particular favorite. I loved watching the orcas work as a pack to generate a big enough wave to wash a seal off an ice floe.

Pack hunts by both killer whales and wolves.

Then there was seeing the killer whales bobbing up and down in a break in the ice quite literally just inches away from the camera crew. It must have been quite an awesome experience for them.

Then ‘up north’ the shots of the wolves hunting down a bison from the herd was a incredible feat for the film crew. You can understand why it takes such a long time for a major wildlife documentary such as the Frozen Planet to be filmed.

The time lapse photography of the ice thawing out and the vast floods that are generated after the ice dams gave way was an inspiring sight to see. Once the weak spring sun starts to shine the tundra just comes to life in an incredible way.

The frozen caterpillar on the Frozen Planet.

This led up to probably one of the most fascinating gems of the series – the 14 year old caterpillar. The Arctic summer is to short for the caterpillar to put on sufficient weight to change into a moth. So for 14 years the caterpillar eats and then gets frozen for the winter to awake again in the spring to put on a little extra weight. Then, finally, it wakes up for one last spring and prepares its cocoon in which to undergo metamorphosis. A truly incredible life cycle.

But of all the polar species that featured on the Frozen Planet, one stood out for me. It’s the one species that I would love to see in the wild and that is the unicorn of the seas – the narwhal.

The narwhal stands out in the Frozen Planet.

The narwhal is just one of those species and to see it on the programme just reminds me how diverse and strange the natural world can be. To see a line of them swimming along a thin crack in the ice to get to better feeding grounds was great. Then they came head to head with another group coming the other way there was a stand off. Eventually one group gave way and turned around and the line of narwhals with their ‘swords’ continued through the ice.

I have no doubt that there’s going to be even more fascinating wildlife scenes to see in the nature documentary and I’m looking forward to catching up on other programmes in the series.