In the documentary stakes no one compares to Sir David Attenborough, his incredible knowledge of the subjects he’s filming and his passion for sharing this knowledge are second to none. The private life of plants is just another shining example of the brilliant work he does. The camera work on this is the same usual high standard we have come to expect when watching his work, and I doubt anyone will be disappointed with this.

David Attenborough has a knack of finding something in the everyday and making it fascinating, in this DVD he takes inside actual plants we see parts of plants being formed, that have never been filmed before. The series was broken up into six parts and each episode focussed on a particular stage that most plants go through in order to survive and reproduce. The usual informative narrative that clearly explains everything you are watching enhances the footage. The DVD focuses mainly on the adaptations that plants have had to undergo in order to survive a changing world and the struggle they go through to live in the most inhospitable environments in the world. Featuring all landscapes form dessert to Arctic and lots of different types of rare and unusual plants that you would not see normally I found this fascinating. My kids & I sat through this and barely moved, we watched an episode each day for 6 days and by the 2nd day they were begging to watch it all at once.

Even now we will walk past a garden and one of them will comment on what is going on, so I guess I can claim this was very educational, and really something the whole family can watch and enjoy. This is definitely one for the collection.

THE EXTRAS

Behind the scenes footage was great, I guess it makes you appreciate how patient these filmmakers are, often waiting for days to

capture the shot they want.

The bonus features also included an interview with Sir David, which was equally informative and included some highlights form the

DVD, and some information on how he uses special tricks such as time lapses photography.

CONCLUSION

In the documentary stakes no one compares to Sir David Attenborough, his incredible knowledge of the subjects he’s filming and his passion for sharing this knowledge are second to none. The private life of plants is just another shining example of the brilliant work he does. The camera work on this is the same usual high standard we have come to expect when watching his work, and I doubt anyone will be disappointed with this.