The nature fix: documentaries that unlock the mysteries of the natural world

After all these years, David Attenborough is still fascinated by the natural world. In the opening sequence of Life in Color with David Attenborough, Netflix’s recent three-part docu-series, we see the 95-year-old walking on a tropical beach, binoculars in hand. “The natural world is full of colours,” goes that immediately recognisable voiceover. The series is about how animals use colour to communicate, how it is a part of gradual evolution in some cases, and a matter of day-to-day survival in others. The usual suspects are all there, of course — peacocks with their mating dance, flamingoes turning pink on account of all the algae they eat. But there’s plenty here that will surprise you.

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In terms of content and large-scale approach (the first episode itself spans four continents), the series is classic Attenborough territory, resembling Planet Earth and the many other BBC classics from his oeuvre of nature documentaries. Visually, however, Life in Color is part of a recent batch of nature documentaries that take an unusually immersive approach, often using custom-made technology to film at punishing locales. These include Discovery Plus’ Endangered (narrated by Ellen DeGeneres, it premièred April 22), Apple TV’s The Year Earth Changed (premièred April 16), as well as the second season of Apple TV’s Earth at Night in Color (narrated by Tom Hiddleston, premièred April 16).

Into the night

Earth at Night in Color has the most stunning imagery of the lot, I’d argue. The quality of the light-sensitive cameras used is off the charts and the results speak for themselves. Moreover, the makers do a great job of crafting narratives around these striking images. Night-time is a “shadowy world that hides over half of the animals in the world”, as the voiceover by Hiddleston informs us. It is the stage for rich, urgent drama — a lioness searching high and low for her missing cub, a pack of hyenas working in ruthless, systematic fashion to corner their prey, an owl swooping down from the night sky to catch unsuspecting reptiles and rodents.

There is some overlap between the show’s first season and the 2020 Netflix series, Night on Earth (which had considerably longer episodes than the 30-minute chunks we get here), especially in the big cats department. But with this second season diversifies its portfolio efficiently: the episode on kangaroos, especially, will win over most viewers.

A still from ‘Breaking Boundaries: The Science of our Planet’  
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Special Arrangement

Life of the endangered

In the almost 90-minute documentary Endangered, we are introduced to the work of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List, where the ‘threat status’ for every single species on Earth is recorded. According to the level assigned (Least Concern, Near Threatened, Vulnerable, Endangered and Critically Endangered), scientists and conservators across the world calibrate their efforts. As you’d expect from such a film, there are a lot of rare animals and birds: the giraffe, Grauer’s gorilla, and the like. The segment on the clouded leopard is my favourite because it gives the viewer an intimate look at how conservators invest so much into making endangered species breed in a protected atmosphere. It’s an endlessly challenging process and it takes a lot of patience, by any standards.

The sometimes grim subject matter — how do we save as many brink-of-extinction species as we can — goes down a bit easier with DeGeneres’ easygoing, gently humorous voiceover, whether she’s joking about amorous leopards or illegal bird markets.

There’s nothing quite so grim about The Year Earth Changed, however. This film (also narrated by Attenborough) is about how various animal communities around the world have directly benefited from reduced environmental impacts — less people means less damage to their habitats and so on. At just 48 minutes, this documentary is clearly intended as a bit of comic foil to the other entrants in Apple’s nature portfolio, including Earth at Night in Colour and Tiny World. It is a worthy addition: towards the end, you can almost hear the chuckle in Attenborough’s voiceover as he rattles off suggestions that can help us hold on to lockdown-induced environmental gains.

In the pipeline

Major streaming networks will continue to churn out new nature documentaries in the weeks and months ahead. June will see Netflix’s Penguin Town and Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet, for example. If you’re the incurably outdoors type, watching these films will probably not fill that particular void in your life, but they will renew your appreciation for the mysteries of the natural world — and the people who work tirelessly to unlock them.