Human Planet starts tonight at 8pm on BBC1

[darrenleroy]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00rrd81

I'm hoping to learn something from this. It's getting good previews and hopefully will be an antidote to the celebrity-led anthropological/survival shows.

Sadly, I fear we will be seeing some of the techniques used by the people in these films for the last time. At least they've been captured on film.

 

[darrenleroy]

Human Earth was on tonight on BBC1. Disappointing. I can only assume it was made for an American market such was the dearth of factual info and the emphasis on creating a 'thrilling' story arc to each cinematically recreated segment. I learn more from watching Countryfile on a Sunday night. Bah!

 

[Jaysurfer]

Got to say I wasn't overly impressed... Although as usual with the BBC the cinematography was excellent especially in HD.
I will continue to watch though as you never know with these sort of things.

 

[Wayland]

I think they tackled one of the most difficult environments first, I learned a few things I didn't already know so it was worth it for me.

7 more shows to run, presumably in terrestrial locations. I think the best is yet to come.

 

[spiritwalker]

a whole film with the whale hunters would have been good got glimpses of them drying the meat etc would have made a good shrafty documentary

 

[locum76]

I thought it was pretty good. I thought the shark hunter was a bit of a sham but the compressor divers were crazy.

 

[Loenja]

great really interesting, will follow with interest

 

[Bushcraftsman]

The guy who could walk on the sea floor was awesome!!!

 

[Biker]

Yeah I watched that programme with great expectation, then after 40 mins it cut to the making of, behind the scenes, how we were so clever thing and I felt cheated by having a rehash of what I'd already seen.

Yeah, like Locum76 said above those compressor divers were nuts. How that old boy lived to be 65 was amazing given his lifestyle. And that fella who walked on the sea floor 60 feet down was pretty damned impressive. (I fainted from lack of oxygen at 50 seconds)

The programme was interesting enough but didn't deliver as much as I had hoped. I might give the second episode a gander. Totally agree with the drama being hyped up for a possible American market. It's an insult to our intellyjunce.

I say bring back another series of Masterclass with Monty Don, now that was an excellant series, despite the "one has to be a winner" for each episode.

 

[hog]

I thought it was pretty good. I thought the shark hunter was a bit of a sham but the compressor divers were crazy.

How possibly a sham, better shark catcher with bare hands than anybody on this forum.

 

[Biker]

How possibly a sham, better shark catcher with bare hands than anybody on this forum.

Ok I did kinda scoff at that excerpt too. Not that I'm any sort of fisherman and having butchered a shark recently (blunted my Mora knife in no time) I know how sharp those teeth are close up. so no thanks, not with bare hands. Big spiked stick perhaps, dynamite to be really sure.

I digress.

It was him sitting in a boat singing to the shark's spirit to allow it come and be caught, killed, cooked and be eaten. Ok that is their religeon and that's fine. However it was the big coconut rattle that he was sloshing about in the water that mimicked a fish in distress or perhaps a school of fish in feeding frenzy that smacked of "cheating" to me. I also wonder if he didn't chum the water with blood and offal to bring them in when he's out on his own, no one would be the wiser.