The Private Life of Plants
| The Private Life of Plants | |
|---|---|
Region 2 DVD cover
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| Genre | Nature documentary |
| Written by | David Attenborough |
| Presented by | David Attenborough |
| Composer(s) | Richard Grassby-Lewis |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Mike Salisbury |
| Producer(s) | Neil Nightingale |
| Location(s) | Worldwide |
| Running time | 50 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
BBC Natural History Unit Turner Broadcasting |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC One |
| Picture format | 4:3 (PAL) |
| Audio format | Stereophonic |
| Original release | 11 January – 15 February 1995 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Life in the Freezer |
| Followed by | The Life of Birds |
| External links | |
| Website | |
The Private Life of Plants is a BBC nature documentary series written and presented by David Attenborough, first shown in the United Kingdom from 11 January 1995.
A study of the growth, movement, reproduction and survival of plants, it was the second of Attenborough's specialised surveys following his major trilogy that began with Life on Earth. Each of the six 50-minute episodes discusses aspects of a plant's life-cycle, using examples from around the world.
The series was produced in conjunction with Turner Broadcasting. The executive producer was Mike Salisbury and the music was composed by Richard Grassby-Lewis. In 1995, it won a George Foster Peabody Award in the category "Television".
Part of David Attenborough's 'Life' series of programmes, it was preceded by Life in the Freezer (1993), and followed by The Life of Birds (1998).
The series utilises time-lapse sequences extensively in order to grant insights that would otherwise be almost impossible. Plants live on a different time scale, and even though their life is highly complex and often surprising, most of it is invisible to humans unless events that happen over months or even years are shown within seconds. Like many traditional wildlife documentaries, it makes use of almost no computer animation. The series also discusses fungi, although as it is pointed out, these do not belong to the kingdom of plants.
The mechanisms of evolution are taught transparently by showing the advantages of various types of plant behaviour in action. The adaptations are often complex, as it becomes clear that the environment to which plants must adapt comprises not just soil, water and weather, but also other plants, fungi, insects and other animals, and even humans. The series shows that co-operative strategies are often much more effective than predatory ones, as these often lead to the prey developing methods of self-defence — from plants growing spikes to insects learning to recognise mimicry. Yet humans can work around all these rules of nature, so Attenborough concludes with a plea to preserve plants, in the interest of self-preservation.
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Wikipedia