Vintage nature documentaries

[regshoe]

It's finally getting properly cold here, so I've decided it's time to start putting cinnamon and ginger in my hot chocolate of an afternoon. Very good stuff.

Anyway, I was looking around on BBC iPlayer for old David Attenborough documentaries, as you do (in my opinion the best television ever made was 'The Life of Birds'), and came across this, a collection of some of the earliest programmes he made, way back in the 1950s. I've been watching the first couple of episodes of 'Zoo Quest' this week (they've got one long episode about a trip to Sierra Leone, then two series about Southeast Asia and Madagascar, as well as some slightly later and more anthropological-looking programmes).

It's fascinating stuff—very much of its time, this being a time when one could apparently just jet off to Borneo, wander into the forest and find a random man willing to trade a baby orang-utan for some tobacco. It reminds me a bit of Gerald Durrell's books about collecting animals for the zoo, and the animals are similarly characterful and entertaining, especially that orang-utan! But there's some solid natural history stuff too, which is always good to see. It's interesting from a history of TV perspective as well—obviously a lot less polished than modern nature programmes, and it feels much more opportunistic and meandering rather than crafted to tell a story. I'm enjoying it so far!

Comments

[theseatheseatheopensea]

Ohh, how lovely! Cold weather and cinnamon, ginger and hot chocolate sound like the perfect combo! It's getting very warm over here, so I'm a bit jealous, hehe! ;)

What a good find! I love David Attenborough's documentaries, he knows so much about everything, and is so good at explaining/narrating! (and I always like looking at all the pretty animals and places!)

And I think you're right about nature-related programmes being more polished these days (and not just from a technical perspective!) I recently watched the "World of calm" series, and it was very nice, but very tidy and scripted--definitely "crafted to tell a story", like you said. It's nice to have a variety, though, for when we want a more focused approach, or a more spontaneous one, or something else! :D

Heh, and those "very much of its time" nature-related stories can be very colourful, if nothing else--I immediately thought of a local zoo director in the 1920s organising a hunting expedition... to catch a plesiosaur (haha, I know...)

[regshoe]

I love David Attenborough's documentaries, he knows so much about everything, and is so good at explaining/narrating! (and I always like looking at all the pretty animals and places!)

Aww, yes to all this :)

I know—there's much more fancy camera work and carefully arranged storytelling but often less proper detailed natural history, which—for all that natural spectacle and cute animals are very worthy and important, of course—is what I'm really there for. And taking a more scientific approach to the lives of wild animals is more interesting as well as a better thing for an educational programme to do!

Hahaha, I admire that zoo director's optimism...

[hyarrowen]

I don't doubt that the Attenborough charm was already very much in evidence. :)

[regshoe]

Aww, it definitely is :D The studio sections where he introduces the 'quests' and locations (and some of the animals, from their new homes in the zoo!) are very charming, especially.