[Peewit]

hi there

I see that Planet Earth live is being trailered a lot at the moment. Even to the point that Richard Hammond and Julia Bradbury appeared on One Show last night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWH__DWCb28
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00qj06z

Looking good though I feel myself that wildlife presenters would be more suitable for this kind of show over general presenters

We will see what we all make of this and how the programme progresses.

Regards
Kathy
x

[Euan Buchan]

Originally Posted by Peewit

Looking good though I feel myself that wildlife presenters would be more suitable for this kind of show over general presenters

We will see what we all make of this and how the programme progresses.

Regards
Kathy
x

I agree but we will just have to wait & see.

[derek marsden]

it looks to be a good programme so i will watch it and see.i hope it will be good the adverts for it looks great so lets hope and see if it is as good as the adverts say it is.

[Peewit]

Originally Posted by Peewit

hi there

I see that Planet Earth live is being trailered a lot at the moment. Even to the point that Richard Hammond and Julia Bradbury appeared on One Show last night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWH__DWCb28
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00qj06z

Looking good though I feel myself that wildlife presenters would be more suitable for this kind of show over general presenters

We will see what we all make of this and how the programme progresses.

Regards
Kathy
x

Yes, we all wait in anticipation what this programme holds for us all

I see that the programme starts on Sunday 6th May 2012

Part 1/8 BBC1 19.50pm-21.00pm, and has a write up on Page 55 of the next weeks Radio times

Regards
Kathy
x

[Farnboro John]

I will be there. I just hope we are going to get proper presenting and not baby animal soppiness. Mortality statistics demonstrate that the job of most young animals is to provide food for other animals, and there actually isn't anything "wrong" about that - right and wrong simply don't apply.

John

[JTweedie]

All I can say is: bring back Gordon Buchanan...

[Farnboro John]

Originally Posted by JTweedie

All I can say is: bring back Gordon Buchanan...

Gordon will be on later in the series. In the meantime Hammond is not at all bad but the fair Julia is using words like "cute" ... arrgh!

John

[StuartReeves]

Originally Posted by Farnboro John

I will be there. I just hope we are going to get proper presenting and not baby animal soppiness. Mortality statistics demonstrate that the job of most young animals is to provide food for other animals, and there actually isn't anything "wrong" about that - right and wrong simply don't apply.

John

Out of luck I'm afraid, baby animal soppiness it is.

[JTweedie]

Originally Posted by Farnboro John

Gordon will be on later in the series. In the meantime Hammond is not at all bad but the fair Julia is using words like "cute" ... arrgh!

John

Bradbury going over the top about the bears is the main thing that annoyed me, compare her presentation of the bear encounter with Buchanan's in his series.

And another thing that annoyed me was when Hammond was showing the map of the area and he said something like "don't worry it's not a geography lesson, it's interesting" - come on, just show us the flipping map and tell us the facts, don't act all embarrassed about passing on facts and knowledge!

The individual segments were good - the macaques, tracking down the elephants to tag one, following the lions, but the surrounding bumpf just brought it down several notches.

[AlfArbuthnot]

Surely this is the beginning of the end for regular Springwatch/Autumnwatch?

Schedules aren't big enough for the both of them. Humble has already moved on, Packham getting on as many panel/interview/quiz shows as he can by way of an audition...

[DavidNorfolk]

This format is now getting too long in the tooth. I switched off from spring/autumn watch a few series back. Both presenters look disinterested and distant from the subject matter. No supprise as they are presenting something that was hyped up as something 'never been done before'. They were never going to live up to the expectations the BBC had created. This was a very lazy attempt from the Natural History Unit and a somewhat cynical attempt to flog a dead horse. Elephants, lions and bears - back on the default subject mammals. How very boring.

[Rhummy]

Yeah I am so bored of learning about Lions, Bears and Elephants. I would much prefer them to focus on less popular animals and actually focus on something interesting for once.

I am looking forward to the Sea Otters though

[Farnboro John]

Actually what annoyed me most was that only the two presenters were live. Planet Earth Live - like hell it is.

Listening to everyone else's issues - what animals would we like to see instead of the tediously familiar ones? One each apiece if you don't mind.

Wolverine for me.

John

[Rhummy]

Eiders for me.

[AlfArbuthnot]

Problem is, Discovery Channel and other US and global networks aren't interested in buying footage of Eiders, or other things we'd be interested in, such as Field Vole (ever seen that on the BBC? Britain's most common mammal? Cornerstone of the British food chain?), Dunnock, or Great Crested Newt. They want big, iconic species, like Lions and Bears, or ones with lots of soft fur and human-like faces, like Meerkats and Monkeys. That is what pays for the expensive filming on location.

Interesting to see Channel 4 muscling in on the genre now, with Foxes Live. I thought that was a bit patchy, but it had promise. I doubt the format will ever really go away, as we've had it for about 30 years (remember Tony Soper's live birdwatching shows?), but I cannot see the BBC filling schedules with two very similar shows.

Incidentally, Bradbury is an excellent presenter, but this is clearly not her 'thing'. And what Hammond brings to the table can be written on the back of his tiny squirrelly hand...

[AlfArbuthnot]

Originally Posted by Farnboro John

what animals would we like to see instead of the tediously familiar ones? One each apiece if you don't mind.

Wolverine for me.

John

How about 'Sloths Live'?

Has to be better than watching Richard Hammond!

[derek marsden]

i dont think richard hammond can do wildlife shows he looked very nervice and did not know what to say.but you never know what is going to hapen we have 3 weeks of programmes so it might pick up.i injoyed the bears though.

[gw4aurora]

After all the hype I thought this episode was dire. To increase the interest they should have fed Hammond to the lions.

[Green Sandpiper]

Could only watch half of it before giving up. I like richard Hammond (not so keen on Julia) but I felt he approached this like his kids tv prog Blast Lab. Not suitable for somethign aimed at a grown up audience (and its scheduling ensured that a while lot of kids would be in bed)

Surely, there are natural history presenters out there, not involved in Springwatch, who could have been involved? The lions footage was good, but the BBC did this stuff better on Big Cat Diary. Even a quick browse through the various 'discovery' type channels on Sky will give you programmes that give the same type of footage without the contrived format.

Disappointing, as I had been really looking forward to it.

Oh, alternative subjects for coverage? Bees for me every day.

[Robin Edwards]

I really couldn't see the point of this programme being "Live" from a tent in the rainy season and in the dark!

Given the BBC advertising, I thought it was disappointing.

[TheThing]

How about Hamster Live? Oh, maybe it was...

[Kentbloke]

When I saw this advertised I thought 'there's one to miss'...

[ClarkWGriswold]

Just watched this on i-player. The presenters were much better than I expected though this isn't my sort of programme in the first place. Suggestions for animals to feature - how about a whole series about Jasper National Park and the animals therein.

Rich

[Monahawk]

Originally Posted by gw4aurora

After all the hype I thought this episode was dire. To increase the interest they should have fed Hammond to the lions.

Si.

[JTweedie]

Someone just asked why the lion and her cub were exiled from the pride. It's a question I was thinking last night too - I'm aware of male lions getting kicked out of prides, but it's not something I'm aware of with female lions.

Unfortunately, it's the kind of question that isn't likely to be answered in this series, the two main presenters probably wouldn't even to think to ask it!