Darwin's Struggle Review from Giantsorbiting

Doubtless many of you will have watched David Attenborough's Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life on BBC1 last Sunday night at 9pm, and if not you can still catch it on the BBC iPlayer here.

However, more fascinating, I found was the rigorous exploration of Darwin's life leading up to his great works as is conveyed through Darwin's Struggle: The Evolution of the Origin of Species.

Jeremy Bristow's production gives us a brutally accurate description of the truly tragic life Charles Darwin lead: His family touched by the tragedies of the deaths of three of his children finally causing him to lose his faith and to damn religion... The influence of his daughter Anne's death on chapter 3 of On the origin of species as he sees the face of nature stricken as her face was with the struggle to survive...
His concern for his wife Emma's fear that he will be damned to hell.

It is easy to forget, amongst visions of his great works and great voyages that Charles Darwin was a man leading a man's life with all the pressures we experience today and more. His personal growth is almost as amazing as the theories it precedes.



Eventually Darwin published his book only highlighting the effects of his theories on species and avoiding the implications of the origins of mankind; but these implications were not lost on many scientists including his close teacher and mentor Adam Sedgewick who brutally denounced his work in a devastating letter to him.
He was subject to widespread ridicule.


Darwin's Struggle: The Evolution of the Origin of Species is a fascinating exploration of the life-long torment which lead to one of the most important theories in science today. One of the most honest portrayals of Darwin to date, I'd recommend anyone interested in his great works to watch Darwin's Struggle and learn about the true evolution of the origin of species.

Read the full review from Giantsorbiting here.

You can watch Darwin's Struggle on the iPlayer until Monday the 9th February and it will also air again tonight (Tuesday 3rd) at 7.30pm on BBC4.

Review: Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life

Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life, BBC One, Sunday 1 February, 9pm


David Attenborough on The Andrew Marr Show 1st Feb 2009

Following review by Sian Meades TV Scoop

Evolution is not a theory; evolution is the truth. A huge statement from David Attenborough in Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life. One that's given him a handful of complaints from creationists. This show was always going to spark controversy, but it was good enough to stand up to it and made a compelling argument.

Of all of the Attenborough shows I've seen, this one was the best by miles. Sir David Attenborough has a natural ease that makes watching him a pleasure. The idea of evolution, put forth by Charles Darwin, isn't always that simple, but Attenborough makes understanding the theory a breeze. He makes science accessible. And that's why his shows are so good.
Celebrating 150 years since Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, Attenborough talked not only about Darwin's life, and where his ideas originated, but also how they affect us, and what this means for the animals we recognise today. It was admirable in its simplicity.

I had no idea that someone else had come up with the same theory as Darwin. He actually had to go 'head to head' with another scientist to decide who came up with the theory of natural selection first. Darwin had 25 years of evidence to back up his claims, but despite him winning the case, at this time, no one cared. This was a time when religion ruled over science and most people didn't believe Darwin's theory. Even Attenborough talked of professors of his time who refused to believe that the continents were once one huge super continent. These are great academics who didn't believe the theory in its entirety. There are still people who don't believe this.

There was no one better to present this show. Watching Attenborough quite humbly talk about Darwin and his theories, and tell the audience stories of his childhood and what he learnt then was magical. He has a sixth edition of On the Origin of Species. Darwin has clearly played a huge part in his life and work. To most of us, David Attenborough is as important to our understanding of the natural world as Darwin is, watching him talk about why Darwin was so important was inspiring. The show was an impressive mix of wildlife and history covering the idea that over millions of years, a breed of animal could evolve into its own species to suit its environment. I didn't take my eyes off the telly for the whole hour.

Some people might not believe in evolution, or indeed, Darwin's theory of natural selection, but Attenborough pulls this together with a modern twist and makes a compelling argument. The end scenes, explaining how birds turned into land based animals seemed a little too easy - computerised and glossy. But the rest of the show had built up to this point - it was believably that simple. What's most amazing, is that Darwin was convinced of this theory over 150 years ago. He was one of the most important minds in science and this fabulous show was a fitting tribute to a remarkable man.
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Review: The Secret Life Of Elephants

BBC One, Wednesday 28th January, 9pm

Hear from the programmes Producer speaking with BBC Wildlife Magazine in The NatureWatch 'Tales from the Field' Section

The following Review is By TV Scoop
The Beeb do wildlife shows like no one else. Exciting, informative and easy watching. Secret Life of Elephants was an entertaining way to pass the time. I got to watch as the elephants went about their day, doing elephanty things and was kept interested for the most part. Almost enough to forgive its failings.

After a recent drought, the Save The Elephants team were anxious to make sure all of them were safe. Luckily, most of them were fine and the babies were all OK (I have to admit, I was pretty worried - those baby elephants are cute!) Everyone seemed fine except poor little Mirrow who'd hurt her leg. She was limping and couldn't keep up with everyone else.

So, it was down to the elephant team to save her. Hurrah! Except that this wasn't any normal wildlife show rescue. It appeared to be produced by the Eastenders team. So instead of seeing what happened to the poor little tyke, the story switched completely and focused on a bull elephant and whether or not he was going to get laid. Hang on just a second, BBC! I was watching the story about the cute baby! Bring her back! I didn't appreciate the soap opera style filming at all.

When they finally did pan back to Mirrow, it was all very dangerous and her tranquilised mother managed to fall onto her chest and stop breathing. Everyone was very worried indeed, but then with the help of a car to pull her over, it was all fine. Some anti-biotics for baby and she was out of the woods too. Her broken leg should heal just fine. Although she was stupid and thought a truck was her mummy when she came around. That was quite funny. They were about the same size. Female elephants weight about three ton apparently. Wow.

It's clear to see that without people to help them, these elephants would be in even more danger. You never get to see the people who help when you watch David Attenborough. Seeing poached elephants, and the teams of people who live in Kenya and save the elephants lives was a great insight. If only I could have got past the soap opera feeling I'm sure I would have enjoyed it much more.

Oh, in case you were wondering, the bull elephant did get laid in the end. It was a bit like when Scott and Charlene finally got together in Neighbours.

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Click below to enlarge the image for more information. Image Copyright of BBC

Review of Natural World: Mountains of the Monsoon

The Pogeyan, a new mystery cat
By Darren Naish re-Published from Tetrapod Zoology ' Science Blogs'

I've pretty much given up on TV. I occasionally watch a few things (The IT Crowd, Doctor Who, QI, Never Mind the Buzzcocks), but I'd be very happy to not have a TV at all. Once in a blue moon, however, there is something really good. On Friday evening (Jan 16th), BBC 2 screened 'The Mountains of the Monsoon' as part of its The Natural World series. This featured wildlife photographer and environmentalist Sandesh Kadur as he travelled about the Western Ghats in quest of wildlife.

The Western Ghats evidently has some awesome wildlife. There are dholes, tigers, leopards, elephants, sambar, gaur, jungle cats, leopard cats, lion-tailed macaques, scimitar-babblers, green pigeons, woodshrikes, eagle owls, fish owls, great hornbills, and hundreds of frogs, lizards and snakes. Several frogs that Sandesh has photographed are new, as-yet-undescribed species, and a shieldtail snake that Sandesh caught and handled was also suggested to be new.

The most famous herp of the region is, I would say, the bizarre, fat, purple frog Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis, which you'll know well following its publication in 2003 (Biju & Bossuyt 2003) [previously discussed here on Tet Zoo]. The documentary included film of the animal, probably the first taken and certainly the first shown on TV (I think) [adjacent image, from 'The Mountains of the Monsoon', shows Sandesh holding a Nasikabatrachus. Image © BBC]. I hadn't previously realised how large Nasikabatrachus is, nor how fat and wobbly its back is. Incidentally, the idea that Nasikabatrachus is most closely related to the sooglossids (Seychelles frogs) was mentioned during the documentary. This relationship has been recovered in most phylogenetic studies (Biju & Bossuyt 2003, Frost et al. 2006, Van der Meijden et al. 2007). However, an alternative possibility - that it's actually more closely related to the African pig-nosed or shovel-nosed frogs (the hemisotids) - has also been suggested (Nussbaum & Wu 2007).

The pogeyan

Anyway, the documentary mostly focused on something even more novel: namely, the unresolved identity of a mysterious large cat. Sandesh saw this cat about ten years ago. His sighting occurred during broad daylight, in the high-altitude grasslands around Anamudi, the highest peak south of the Himalayas. Unfortunately the cat was not photographed or filmed. It was large, long-tailed, and had rounded ears and a uniform darkish grey colour. It does not match any known cat, and might therefore represent a new species. In an effort to film the animal, Sandesh set up a camera-trap (a chirping model of a black-capped chickadee was used as bait), and also used a heat-sensitive camera. Unfortunately neither effort yielded any images of the cat....

Read more at Tetrapod Zoology