Watch Life UK

TV-G
2009
1 Season
9.1 (43,942)

Life UK is a documentary series that aired on BBC One in 2009. The series was narrated by the legendary naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough. The show explores the unique and diverse habitats found in the United Kingdom, from the rugged coastlines and towering mountains of Scotland, to the rolling hills and meandering rivers of England, and the lush valleys and dramatic cliffs of Wales.

Over the course of the series, viewers are taken on a journey through some of the most spectacular and awe-inspiring landscapes in the UK, discovering the incredible array of wildlife that calls these places home. From the smallest insects to the largest mammals, Life UK showcases the diversity and resilience of the UK's natural world.

Each episode focuses on a different habitat, including coastlines, mountains, forests, wetlands, and islands. In each habitat, the program examines the unique adaptations of the animals that live there and delves into the intricate relationships between different species.

One of the key themes of the show is the impact of human activity on the natural world. Attenborough and his team highlight the ways in which changes to the landscape, such as deforestation and urbanization, have impacted the UK's flora and fauna. However, the series also highlights the efforts being made to preserve and protect the UK's natural habitats and animals.

The first episode of Life UK, "Coasts," explores the rugged and varied coastline of the UK. From the towering cliffs of Scotland to the sandy beaches of Cornwall, the program showcases the incredible adaptations of animals such as seals, seabirds, and crabs that make their homes along the shoreline. The episode also examines the impact of human activity such as pollution and overfishing on these fragile ecosystems.

In "Mountains," the second episode, the program explores the UK's highest peaks and the animals that inhabit them. From mountain hares and ptarmigans to red deer and golden eagles, the program showcases the unique adaptations that allow animals to thrive in these harsh environments.

The third episode, "Forests," takes viewers on a journey through the UK's ancient woodlands, home to an incredible array of flora and fauna. The program examines the role of these forests as habitats and resources for wildlife, as well as the impact of human activity such as deforestation and pollution.

Moving on to the episode titled "Wetlands," viewers are immersed in the world of marshes, bogs, and fens. This episode highlights the vital role of these habitats as breeding grounds and feeding areas for a wide variety of species, including otters, water voles, and dragonflies.

The final episode of the series, "Islands," takes viewers on a journey to some of the UK's most remote and rugged islands, including the Scottish islands of Skye and Mull and the Welsh island of Anglesey. Here, the program showcases the resilience of the animals that have adapted to live in isolation on these harsh and unforgiving landscapes.

Life UK is a stunning and insightful exploration of the UK's natural world. Attenborough's narration is as captivating as ever, and the stunning cinematography immerses viewers in the beauty and complexity of the UK's habitats and the animals that inhabit them. From the smallest insects to the largest predators, Life UK shines a light on the incredible diversity of life in the United Kingdom.

Life UK is a series that ran for 1 seasons (10 episodes) between October 12, 2009 and on BBC one

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Seasons

10. Primates

December 14, 2009

Primates are just like humans - intelligent, quarrelsome, family-centered. Armies of Hamadryas baboons, 400 strong, battle on the plains of Ethiopia to steal females and settle old scores. An orangutan baby fails in its struggle to make an umbrella out of leaves to keep off the rain. Young capuchins can't get the hang of smashing nuts with a large rock, a technique their parents have perfected.

9. Plants

December 7, 2009

Plants' solutions to life's challenges are as ingenious and manipulative as any animal's. Innovative time-lapse photography opens up a parallel world where plants act like fly-paper, or spring-loaded traps, to catch insects. Vines develop suckers and claws to haul themselves into the rainforest canopy. Every peculiar shape proves to have a clever purpose. The dragon's blood tree is like an upturned umbrella to capture mist and shade its roots. The seed of a Bornean tree has wings so aerodynamic they inspired the design of early gliders. The barrel-shaped desert rose is full of water. The heliconia plant even enslaves a humming bird and turns it into an addict for its nectar.

8. Creatures Of The Deep

November 30, 2009

Marine invertebrates are some of the most bizarre and beautiful animals on the planet, and thrive in the toughest parts of the oceans. Divers swim into a shoal of predatory Humboldt squid as they emerge from the ocean depths to hunt in packs. When cuttlefish gather to mate, their bodies flash in stroboscopic colours. Time-lapse photography reveals thousands of starfish gathering under the Arctic ice to devour a seal carcass. A giant octopus commits suicide for her young. A camera follows her into a cave which she walls up, then she protects her eggs until she starves. The greatest living structures on earth, coral reefs, are created by tiny animals in some of the world's most inhospitable waters.

7. Hunters And Hunted

November 23, 2009

Mammals' ability to learn new tricks is the key to survival in the knife-edge world of hunters and hunted. In a TV first, a killer whale off the Falklands does something unique: it sneaks into a pool where elephant seal pups learn to swim and snatches them, saving itself the trouble of hunting in the open sea. Slow-motion cameras reveal the star-nosed mole's newly-discovered technique for smelling prey underwater: it exhales then inhales a bubble of air ten times per second. Young ibex soon learn the only way to escape a fox - run up an almost vertical cliff face - and young stoats fight mock battles, learning the skills that make them one of the world's most efficient predators.

6. Insects

November 16, 2009

There are 200 million insects for each of us. They are the most successful animal group ever. Their key is an armoured covering that takes on almost any shape. Darwin's stag beetle fights in the tree tops with huge curved jaws. The camera flies with millions of monarch butterflies which migrate 2000 miles, navigating by the sun. Super-slow motion shows a bombardier beetle firing boiling liquid at enemies through a rotating nozzle. A honey bee army stings a raiding bear into submission. Grass cutter ants march like a Roman army, harvesting grass they cannot actually eat. They cultivate a fungus that breaks the grass down for them. Their giant colony is the closest thing in nature to the complexity of a human city.

5. Birds

November 9, 2009

Birds owe their global success to feathers - something no other animal has. They allow birds to do extraordinary things. For the first time, a slow-motion camera captures the unique flight of the Marvellous Spatuletail Hummingbird as he flashes long, iridescent tail feathers in the gloomy undergrowth. Aerial photography takes us into the sky with an Ethiopian Lammergeier dropping bones to smash them into edible-sized bits. Thousands of pink flamingoes promenade in one of nature's greatest spectacles. The Sage Grouse rubs his feathers against his chest in a comic display to make popping noises that attract females. The Vogelkop Bowerbird makes up for his dull colour by building an intricate structure and decorating it with colourful beetles and snails.

4. Fish

November 2, 2009

Fish dominate the planet's waters through their astonishing variety of shape and behaviour. The beautiful weedy sea dragon looks like a creature from a fairytale, and the male protects their eggs by carrying them on his tail for months. The sarcastic fringehead, meanwhile, appears to turn its head inside out when it fights. Slow-motion cameras show the flying fish gliding through the air like a flock of birds and capture the world's fastest swimmer, the sailfish, plucking sardines from a shoal at 70 mph. And the tiny Hawaiian goby undertakes one of nature's most daunting journeys, climbing a massive waterfall to find safe pools for breeding.

3. Mammals

October 26, 2009

Mammals dominate the planet. They do it through having warm blood and by the care they lavish on their young. Weeks of filming in the bitter Antarctic winter reveal how a mother Weddell seal wears her teeth down keeping open a hole in the ice so she can catch fish for her pup. A powered hot air balloon produced stunning images of millions of migrating bats as they converge on fruiting trees in Zambia. Slow-motion cameras reveal how a mother rufous sengi exhausts a chasing lizard. A gyroscopically stabilised camera moves alongside migrating caribou, and a diving team swim among the planet's biggest fight as male humpback whales battle for a female.

2. Reptiles And Amphibians

October 19, 2009

Reptiles and amphibians look like hang-overs from the past. But they overcome their shortcomings through amazing innovation. The pebble toad turns into a rubber ball to roll and bounce from its enemies. Extreme slow-motion shows how a Jesus Christ lizard runs on water, and how a chameleon fires an extendible tongue at its prey with unfailing accuracy. The camera dives with a Niuean sea snake, which must breed on land but avoids predators by swimming to an air bubble at the end of an underwater tunnel. In a TV first, Komodo dragons hunt a huge water-buffalo, biting it to inject venom, then waiting for weeks until it dies. Ten dragons strip the carcass to the bone in four hours.

1. Challenges of Life

October 12, 2009

David Attenborough shows us how some animals have evolved new hunting, mating and parental techniques to help them survive the challenges of life.

Description

Where to Watch Life UK

Life UK is available for streaming on the BBC one website, both individual episodes and full seasons. You can also watch Life UK on demand at Vudu and Max.