Never really had a problem with whether 'Wildest Africa' covered new ground or whether it troud familiar ground, with all the previous episodes having either one of those or a nice mix of them. What mattered to me much more was that it was well made, informative, charming, entertaining, worth investing in emotionally, well written and well presented. Found 'Wildest Africa' to be all of those, while it is not one of my favourite nature documentaries it is really very much a must.
"Sahara: Life on the Edge" did have a fair share of content unfamiliar to me beforehand, though it was based upon such a famous location covered a lot in nature documentaries so it wasn't completely unfamiliar. This is not a bad thing, if anybody worries that it all went over my head or made me get lost. In reality, actually like that not everything is known beforehand about documentaries and think that it should be like that because that way there is more of a chance of learning a lot. Of the later 'Wildest Africa' episodes, "Sahara: Life on the Edge" is one of the prime examples of this.
The Sahara is an amazing sight, beautiful yet also very uncompromising (especially with the likes of temperatures) made even more so by the photography. Which has such a realism to it and seeing so much so up close with such impact made it even more striking. The music doesn't overbear, or at least to me it didn't, never at odds with the drama on screen or lessening the impact of the information given.
Colin Salmon narrates with real engagement with the material, bringing the right amount of enthusiasm and sincerity to it. The information itself is informative but doesn't come over as too academic, with a good and successful attempt in making the information accessible and emotionally investable.
Various wildlife can be seen and they are great to look at with a wide range of personalities, most that were pretty unique to me like the world's smallest dog and the fish-like lizard. It was interesting to see how they all adapted and what lengths they went to and methods they had in surviving such a beautiful yet cruel (one of the world's cruellest perhaps). We see how humans are affected too.
In conclusion, great episode. 9/10
"Sahara: Life on the Edge" did have a fair share of content unfamiliar to me beforehand, though it was based upon such a famous location covered a lot in nature documentaries so it wasn't completely unfamiliar. This is not a bad thing, if anybody worries that it all went over my head or made me get lost. In reality, actually like that not everything is known beforehand about documentaries and think that it should be like that because that way there is more of a chance of learning a lot. Of the later 'Wildest Africa' episodes, "Sahara: Life on the Edge" is one of the prime examples of this.
The Sahara is an amazing sight, beautiful yet also very uncompromising (especially with the likes of temperatures) made even more so by the photography. Which has such a realism to it and seeing so much so up close with such impact made it even more striking. The music doesn't overbear, or at least to me it didn't, never at odds with the drama on screen or lessening the impact of the information given.
Colin Salmon narrates with real engagement with the material, bringing the right amount of enthusiasm and sincerity to it. The information itself is informative but doesn't come over as too academic, with a good and successful attempt in making the information accessible and emotionally investable.
Various wildlife can be seen and they are great to look at with a wide range of personalities, most that were pretty unique to me like the world's smallest dog and the fish-like lizard. It was interesting to see how they all adapted and what lengths they went to and methods they had in surviving such a beautiful yet cruel (one of the world's cruellest perhaps). We see how humans are affected too.
In conclusion, great episode. 9/10