Sir David Attenborough reveals how Mammals have conquered the Earth, uncovering the secrets to their success with their winning design, incredible adaptability, unrivalled intelligence, and unique sociability.
66 million years ago, when the reign of the dinosaurs came to an end, mammals were set free to exploit every corner of the planet. Mammals reveals the strategies, behaviours and traits that lie behind the astonishing success of this remarkable group of animals. Above all, the series celebrates the amazing intelligence that enables mammals to learn, remember, problem-solve, parent, and co-operate.
In six episodes we will show how mammals have taken advantage of every major environment on earth. They are found in every ocean, and on every continent, from frozen wildernesses, dense jungles, baking deserts, even the dark depths of the open ocean and the skies above our forests.
- Dark - Originally confined to the night during the time of the dinosaurs, many mammals have, with heightened senses verging on superpowers, become masters of the shadows. Today, some are even returning to the dark side as their daytime world gets more and more crowded.
- The New Wild - It is two decades since Sir David looked at the “Life of Mammals.” In that time the issues facing mammals have grown and grown – today, less than 6% of the world’s mammal biomass is made up of wild mammals, and many face extinction. As well as bringing a fresh understanding of this remarkable group of animals we highlight many of the problems faced by mammals in a rapidly changing world. To do this, we explore how mammals are coping living alongside perhaps the most successful mammal of all – us, revealing both winners and losers in today’s new wild.
- Water - Very few mammals have managed to lose all ties with land and conquer life in water, one of the greatest challenges for an air breathing mammal. Those that have are some of the cleverest of all, forming surprising bonds not just amongst their own but with other species as well.
- Cold - Thanks to their great ingenuity, combined with a thick fur coat, mammals can survive where no others can, in the cold of the planet’s extreme frozen worlds. Here we see a polar bear learn remarkable new hunting skills and witness the rarely seen caring side of the not so mythical wolverine.
- Heat - With fur designed to keep you warm, keeping cool is never going to be easy, yet mammals are found in the hottest, driest places on earth such as Australia’s barren outback, where they have found remarkable ways to stays cool, find water, and beat the heat.
- Forest - From down in the undergrowth to high above the treetops, we see how mammals have conquered every level of the forest with perfect camouflage, secret messages, and even the power of flight, but now many face new challenges as they are forced to adapt to a changing world.
Episode one of Mammals is on BBC iPlayer and BBC One on 31 March at 7pm.
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Watch the trailer
Interviews with the team
Roger Webb, Executive Producer
What inspired you to take on the subject of mammals?
It's just a dream cast of animals. I went straight into my boss’s office and said, “I want to do that series. I'm just so pumped and excited about it!” So when we won the commission, I was just licking my lips. Mammals are just really relatable. You look another mammal in the eye, and it’s looking back at you. And obviously, we're mammals. I was a big fan of the original Life of Mammals series, which was 20 years ago, and lots has changed in that time. I also felt there's a story to be told about mammals today, and how they're adapting to us and all the changes that are going on in the world. There are some negative things, but there are also some incredible positive things, and the resilience of mammals and their ability to adapt to almost any situation is inspiring. So yes, there's just a lot of love for the subject matter. I think that's what really lit my fire.
How did you parcel up the episodes?
We obviously gave that a lot of thought and liked the idea of mammals being able to adapt to almost any environmental condition. So rather than being simply divided up into habitats, we've got a water episode, rather than, say, an oceans episode. What that allows us to explore is this adaptability within mammals and their ability to cope with almost any situation, any environmental condition. It shows the fact they can live in the coldest places on earth and the hottest places on earth, and they can go down a mile plus in the ocean. They all have similar traits and things in common that makes them mammals, but they can do the most incredible things as a group. And so, it just made sense to us to group the episodes as we've chosen to.
Can you pick out a few personal highlights from the series?
The story of the wolf that has adapted to life in minefields in the Golan Heights is a good one. What I love about that is the tenacity of the wolf to move into an area that we can no longer go into because, unfortunately, we've messed it up in a very tragic way. Behind that story is an incredible human being, Itamar Yairi. He's a real hero. It’s people like Itamar who opened the door for us to these incredible stories and allow us to then document them and put them on screen. So we always give a huge nod to those local heroes. We wouldn't have been able to make this series without those people.
Can you give us some other examples of terrific stories from Mammals?
There are a lot of riches in the series. Looking at new behaviours, in the opening sequence for the cold show we've got a polar bear chasing down a reindeer. It’s doing what polar bears aren't really meant to do. This is an animal that hunts on sea ice and focuses on seals, and it's been doing that for millennia. And now suddenly, because of the way things are in the Arctic, with food scarce and less sea ice, they have turned their attention to an animal that lives more on land. Watching that polar bear chase down that reindeer is just incredible. It is doing whatever it needs to do to get food, even if it's not the most satisfying meal for a polar bear. To bring that new behaviour to the screen is great. I think it delivers on lots of fronts. It shows how amazing polar bears are, and it's an incredibly engaging sequence. But also, there's another layer behind it - that our world is changing, and these animals are having to adapt, and do what they have to do to survive. They are doing their very best to do that. That’s inspiring, but the situation they find themselves in is also tragic.
Do you film any other firsts in Mammals?
Yes. We film new behaviour with chimpanzees, where they're able to sniff out honey from underground. With the troop that we filmed, only the alpha male seems really to have got his head around how to do it. We have got this adorable scene where he's picking himself a tool, which is a suitable branch from a tree. Then he starts forcing this big stick underground. You're watching it and thinking, “What is he doing?” He's mining or fishing for honey bees. So the alpha male is wedging this big stick into the ground, and eventually, he finds what he's looking for. And then he's able to dig, dig, dig, and put his long arm underground and pull up honeycomb dripping with honey. What’s beautiful about the scene is that the rest of the troop are watching what he’s doing. He is eating this honey all by himself. They are all just standing there and staring, as if to say, “Oh, can we have a little bit, please?” He just carries on eating it, looking straight through them as if they're not there. In the end, he finishes up, wipes the remaining honey off on his fur and walks off. Then the others come up and put their hands down the hole, but there's none left. Their little faces! It’s just the enjoyment you get from observing our fellow mammals. It’s the ultimate engagement in terms of natural history.
What sets this apart from other natural history series?
It’s the journey we go on. It’s also great that we've got Sir David Attenborough at the top of the series. He introduces it beautifully. He is obviously the master of storytelling, and he sets us off on absolutely the right path by explaining how mammals have risen to be so successful today after the meteorite that destroyed so much life on Earth 66 million years ago. Actually, although that was a tragic event, it opened the door for mammals. It's really what gave rise to them and how they have become the most successful animal on the planet today. What Sir David also does in that opening is set up the fact that the only real challenge facing mammals today is us - arguably the most successful mammal of all. That gives everything a layer. It makes you reflect on our role as this mammal superior to all these mammals we're looking at, and how every decision we make potentially impacts on all of these incredible animals. And so, sitting behind it all is this feeling of connectedness and also responsibility. That gives the series a sense of gravitas that is unique because we're telling the story of our fellow mammals, and we can't help but be connected to that story because we are mammals, too. Because of its subject matter, Mammals has a weight and also a level of engagement that you wouldn't be able to get from any other series. For me, that's the power of Mammals.
Can natural history documentaries change the way we think and behave?
Yes, I do feel that. That happened with Blue Planet 2, where plastics became such a huge talking point. That series did bring about genuine change. That’s why I'm so proud to make programmes for the BBC. If they can make a difference, and people watch them and feel inspired and want to make change, that's huge. I’m 48 now, and I've been working at the BBC for nearly 28 years. If I can have any sort of legacy and inspire people to want to care about the Earth and make changes that benefit the planet and all of the life that lives on it, then that would be fantastic.
What do you hope that viewers take away from this wonderful series?
I hope they come away feeling love for their fellow mammals and understanding how amazing they are. Ultimately, the series celebrates this incredible animal group. They are inspiring, they are charismatic. I hope along the way, audiences will have a bit of a laugh as well. Some of these animals are incredibly charming. When you're watching a hairy armadillo trying to court his potential mate, you can't help but have a smile on your face. I hope viewers will feel respect towards their fellow mammals and realise the role we also have to play in making sure all of these mammals have a future alongside us on the planet.
Finally, what is it that makes the BBC Studios Natural History Unit world leaders?
We are incredibly ambitious, and we're incredibly proud of what we do. We all have a deep love for our subject. We are building on an incredible legacy all the time, which obviously Sir David has been a part of from the beginning. To still be working with the great man at the age of 97 is genuinely an honour, and I don't just say that glibly. We all feel the responsibility to do things the right way, to tell the truth, and to also keep pushing things from a creative point of view. We feel we are the world's leaders in what we do, in how we tell our stories, and in how we engage our audience.
We're constantly challenging ourselves to continue to push that and continue to do new things, whether that's working with new technology, or bringing in people to work with us who have a different perspective on things. We are continually trying our best to keep evolving the genre and to stay in that position as world leaders in what we do.
If we don't challenge ourselves, then we're not doing our jobs. So we have to be our own biggest critics, and we are. We don't ever rest on our laurels. We just keep pushing. That’s all driven by our love for the natural world. We're not just doing this as a job. We're doing it because we all care deeply about the natural world. And I think that comes across in everything we make.
Scott Alexander, Series Producer
What drew you to this project?
Mammals are a bit of a gift really, aren’t they? Everyone’s favourite animals are mammals: dolphins, tigers, elephants, bears, whales - they're all mammals, and they're all in this series. Plus a few other ones that you might not be so familiar with, which I'm really pleased about.
What makes this series particularly stand out, do you think?
What makes this series so special are the things that make mammals so special, really. They're found in every ocean, on every continent and in every habitat. You find them underground, you find them in the air, you find them in the sea. So you've got this amazing variety of locations. But also, there's great variety in the animals themselves. They run, they swim, they hop, they burrow, they fly - it's just ridiculous, really! And then on top of that, you've got this wonderful diversity in the group as well. You've got the big cats, the great whales, our closest relatives, the great apes, and all the other amazing primates.
What other mammals does the series include?
We've got a few that people might not be so pleased to see, like bats! But bats are remarkable. Nearly a quarter of all mammal species are bats, and they're the only mammal that can truly fly. They have got everywhere. They are even in our cities now. We shot this incredible sequence in Austin, Texas, where there are more bats than there are people. We film this gathering of bats which is just the most astonishing spectacle. It draws in thousands every year. People are mesmerised by it.
We’ve got everything from the smallest land mammal on Earth, the Etruscan shrew – which is about the size of an acorn and weighs no more than a ping-pong ball – to the blue whale. That isn't just the largest animal alive, it's the largest animal that's ever lived. It's just such a great subject, really. Mammals’ behaviours are astounding as well. They are social, they are solitary, and they are amazing parents. As I said, it's an absolute gift to be able to make a series about mammals.
What sequences from Mammals have you especially enjoyed?
That’s tricky. It’s like asking you who your favourite child is! But the wolverine sequence is incredible. For most people, they might think of a mythical creature or superhero when they think of a wolverine, but it's one of the most stunning mammals. It’s also one of the most beautiful and one of the most tenacious animals. It lives up in the high tundra, and its life is completely reliant on it being cold. It relies on other animals not being able to survive the cold when it can. It's awesome. It's such a difficult animal to film, but we've got the most amazing sequence of this unique behaviour that no one's ever seen before.
Tell us more.
There is an element of the wolverine’s parental care which has never been captured on film before. The wolverine comes across this dead caribou and has a bit of a meal. Then suddenly it picks up a piece and just drops it in the middle of nowhere. We stayed around, and what we discovered was that the wolverine was making food deliveries to its mate, who was still in the den. Then we hung around, and by the skin of our teeth, we got this footage of the female emerging with her kit. It’s the first time that this behaviour between the father and the mother and then the kit emerging has been filmed. It is an absolutely amazing achievement because wolverines are ridiculously hard to film. Oddly enough, male mammals aren't actually very good at caring for their children. Not many of them take that much responsibility in raising their offspring. It's quite a rare event in the mammal world. Around 90% of male mammals don't really get involved with any parental care. So to see this animal doing that was lovely.
Does the series also demonstrate how mammals have had to adapt to new surroundings caused by us?
Yes. This series has got the beauty, it's got the environment, it's got the behaviour, but it also shows we are living in the modern world. First and foremost, it's a celebration of mammals. There's no doubt about that. But it's set in today's world. It's got a contemporary and somewhat unfiltered approach. For example, we have wolves living in a minefield, and macaques living in a palm oil plantation. We've got a snow leopard story. That story has been told before, but this is about how a snow leopard interacts with yak herders. We don't ignore the issues – it's important that we cover them. But it's not all doom and gloom. Ultimately, we see that there are winners and losers. For instance, we've got a story about bison coming back. Bison were down to the last few 100 animals in the US. They had been hunted to extinction, but now their population has been managed, they're back and there are over half a million of them. So there are stories of hope as well.
How has natural history filmmaking developed over the past couple of decades?
You never run out of stories. There are always new things to film. The lovely thing is the way we film things has evolved. Originally, we used gimbal cameras attached to helicopters. Then it was drones and the amazing long lens, which has become the main staple for us. So the technology helps us constantly reinvent ourselves. We can always film things better. The only thing that has really changed is that the storytelling has improved. We have a much more character driven approach now.
There's much more emotion. We don’t just present an encyclopaedic look at mammals. We really see the lives and the emotions and the struggles of the animals. So, with the animals providing us with new stories, and technology, editing and storytelling all evolving, the natural history documentary is always going to find itself a good home.
What are you hoping that people will gain from this excellent series?
It’s a celebration of mammals. I just want people to be aware of this amazing group of animals and to remember when they watch it that they are mammals themselves. Watch your relatives and see how incredible they are! I hope viewers just come away with a greater understanding for the natural world. Also, there's always the hope that you'll inspire someone to think, “I'm going to make the world a little bit better for wildlife”. It might be just putting up a hedgehog hotel or doing a beach cleanup. But I hope that at the end of the series, people will have more appreciation for the outdoors and animals. That's ultimately our aim.
What does it mean that Sir David Attenborough is involved in Mammals?
At the very basic level, you could listen to Sir David read the telephone directory! But he brings so much else, too. He's 97, but when he does his commentary, it's a genuine performance. He’s really read the scripts, he's gone through them, and he's adapted them. So he's completely invested. When he reads them, he puts on the most amazing performance. The emotions he brings to it are wonderful. So on that level, it's fantastic. But on another level, it is also brilliant. The Life of Mammals was 20 years ago, and Sir David did that. It's so nice for him 20 years later to be able to narrate the next mammals, see how they have evolved, and hear their new stories.
Stuart Armstrong, Producer (Dark)
What challenges did filming the “Dark” episode present you with?
To the layperson, mammals are the most appealing of animals because they are the family that we are part of. But that also comes with a great challenge. Even though they are some of the best-known animals, they are also some of the hardest to actually film. That really applies to my episode. Nocturnal mammals have mastered a time we avoid: the dark. 80% of mammals are active at night, and more than two thirds are solely nocturnal. So it's the majority of mammals, but then you've got the problem of trying to film them at night. Technically, filming at night is the biggest challenge.
In recent years, though, technology has moved on so much that we have a range of different nocturnal filming techniques at our disposal. One of the key ones for this series is the development of extremely sensitive cameras that enable us to film under moonlight. So where I could, I use that technology to bring a different visual and reveal an animal that probably hasn't been filmed much before outside of controlled conditions.
What other challenges did you face?
Trying to persuade people to come and work at night! All these camera people have been spoiled. They like sunlight to make everything look beautiful. So trying to persuade people to come and do the night shift was a challenge. Nobody wants to do a night shift, but I managed to find enough great people to make it work.
Did you capture any world firsts on camera?
Yes. The first main post-title sequence is a sequence of leopards hunting roosting yellow baboons as they slept 20 metres up in ebony trees at the South Luangwa National Park in Zambia. We did two shoots and I was there for both. I have to say it is the most astonishing thing to witness. In complete darkness, all you can see is the screen of your camera and spotting scopes which we use to highlight to the cameraman what's going on. The leopards only hunt on the darkest night. If the moon is half full, they wait for it to set, so they have the advantage. They can see in what to me is pitch black. But they're not just seeing in pitch black; they are also running around in the canopy and jumping from branch to branch. They can judge distance in order to get their dinner. I was astonished at how skilful leopards are working at night. It is amazing how they can see in the dark. Leopards have got this thing called a tapetum that sits behind the retina. The light goes through the retina and sparks off a signal. But then it bounces back off this reflective layer, and the animals get a double spark so they can make the most use of the limited light that's there. It is quite astounding.
Can you put into words the excitement you feel when you realise you are filming a world first?
It's a thrill from the point of view of telling the story on screen, but it's also pretty gruesome. Even though it's black and white, you can see the blood dripping down the branch and the baboon is very close to us. All the other baboons have obviously lost their mate, Bill, Steve, Clive, whatever they call him. There's a lot of tension and angst within the baboon colony. So it’s bittersweet. It’s amazing to capture the behaviour in order to tell the story, but hard to see these things sometimes. It’s nature red in tooth and claw, or black and white in tooth and claw in this instance!
What other sequences from your episode are you very pleased with?
The sequence we filmed of the fennec foxes because all along I knew how difficult this would be to achieve. Usually, we rely on amazing teams of researchers and scientists scattered around the world who've been putting their whole lives into this one particular animal. They know everything about them and can open the door to us and hopefully reveal them to the wider world. But because fennec foxes live in very politically unstable regions of the Sahel and across the Sahara, no one studies them. But I got in touch with a wildlife photographer, Bruno D’Amicis, an Italian who had spent the last 10 or 15 years with his own funding trying to tell the story of the fennec fox. He found a location in Tunisia that he was willing to share with us. We went to the most amazing landscape in the Sahara, the Grand Erg Oriental, which is one of the largest sand dune deserts in the world. It's just this spectacular landscape of nothing. You occasionally find these footprints seemingly leading nowhere. You speak to the locals, and they say, “I've seen one fennec fox in my life” – and they live there. So locating the animal was an immense challenge.
How did you tackle it, then?
We had two cameramen who were doing the hard yards throughout the night. But we also put out a lot of these camera traps with these incredibly sensitive, low light cameras to film under moonlight. We got footage showing what fennec foxes do, which is use their amazing ears to find food that's hiding underground. They listen to where animals are living under the sand and then dig up insects and gerbils. The foxes are omnivores. There's not much to eat there, so they'll take advantage of most things. We placed the cameras in known spots near to bushes or where there might be a gerbil borrow or signs of insect activity and left them there for a long, long time. The fox’s hearing is astonishingly sensitive. Bruno always tells the story that as he took photographs in the old days, when the shutter clicked, the fox would disappear – even when it was a hundred metres away. Their hearing is that good. So I'm hugely proud of the footage we achieved.
What makes mammals different from other animal groups?
They are obviously the family that we are part of. So there's a lot of common ground and a lot of things that we recognise within them. But the other side of mammals is they're a very young family in evolutionary terms, but they have managed to solve the problems of almost every habitat on Earth. They live in the poles. They live in the deepest parts of the ocean. They live in the air. They live in the desert. Every niche available has been occupied. They solve problems in evolutionary terms in a very short space of time. They are so engaging because we're so familiar with them, but they are also so unfamiliar. For example, young kids at school will know what fennec foxes are, but they have hardly seen any sequences of them. So hopefully this series will reveal mammals in greater clarity than ever before.
Why does the BBC Studios Natural History Unit lead the world?
It is this tight network of experts in their field. We are a little bit different from the rest of the media. Most of us have studied biology, zoology, or botany, and then, thanks to that passion, have gone down the media route, whereas most people in the media have probably gone into the industry earlier. So we're a bit niche. But there's this amazing team of people with unbelievable knowledge of all things natural history from all around the world that you can fall back on. The Natural History Unit has been there for nearly 80 years. So we are standing on the shoulders of giants, aren't we?
Lydia Baines, Producer (The New Wild)
Why were you eager to be part of this series?
Mammals are everyone's favourite, aren't they? Everyone loves a mammal. Also, this production is global. The scope is huge. Working on this series gives you the ability to film some of the most loved animals on this planet. People adore mammals because we have a natural affinity with them - some of them even look like us! They also act like us. There's a lot of us that we can see in mammals, which I think makes them particularly appealing. And they do things - they're super dynamic. It helps as well that they have fur, which usually makes them cute and fluffy!
Can you outline your episode for us?
My episode is called “The New Wild,” and I guess the clue is in the title. It's about how we humans are changing the face of the earth, and how mammals are having to adapt to all of those changes, and adapt pretty quickly because we're making the changes pretty quickly. The backbone to all of my different sequences is about how these habitats are changing and what mammals are doing in response. Obviously, some are doing well off the back of it, and others aren't. The episode tries to give us a balanced view, but also to highlight the incredible behaviour that we're starting to see. We are seeing evolution in action.
Can you give us an example of that?
One of the sequences we filmed was in a palm oil plantation in Malaysia. Obviously, a lot of primary forest is being cut down to make way for palm oil plantations, which is bad for the majority of wildlife there. But one troop of pig-tailed macaques has started to take advantage of it. The plantation gets overrun with rats, and these monkeys that used to be predominantly vegetarian have started coming into these plantations, and they've learned how to catch and feed on rats. Gruesome, but incredible.
How long would the evolutionary process take which turns macaques into carnivores?
That’s an incredibly good question as this behaviour is really new to science. It has only been seen in the last few years, and it’s never been filmed before. But what can happen, especially in higher primates, is that one individual can start doing something new. And then the other rest of the family or the primates in close contact can start learning from the individual. So especially in animals that have a high cognitive ability and capacity to learn and pass on culture, these things can spread like wildfire.
What other world firsts did you shoot?
We filmed a pack of Indian wolves living on the Golan Heights on the border between Israel and Syria. They live in landmine fields. So, historically, and even today, wolves have been hugely shot in that area. One of their last strongholds is in these landmine fields on the Golan Heights. They're able to live there fairly undisturbed because humans just won't venture into the minefields. That’s never been filmed for broadcast television before, probably because no one's thought it was a good idea to film wolves in fields of landmines!
What made you think it was a good idea, then?
We were really lucky that we got to work with a local expert. His day job is as a carpenter, but he's obsessed with these wolves. Every day for the last decade, he's been out there following them. He's also a photographer. So he managed to get us unparalleled and safe access to these areas because he's found ways through and knows how the wolves behave. Without him, it would have been impossible and too dangerous.
What other discoveries did you make about these extraordinary creatures?
The man we were working with has studied the wolves for so long that he thinks the wolves can smell the landmines. There are certain areas where the wolves don't really like going to so our local guide would say, “I think we're not going to go to this area because the wolf doesn’t like it. So we're just going to keep to the more trodden paths.”
Is there evidence that wolves can smell landmines?
Scientists are looking into that. At the moment, there are a number of mammals that have been proven to be able to smell TNT, which is the chemical in landmines, including animals such as rats. Some scientists believe that wild boars are able to smell them as well. So you've got this weird ecosystem going on out there where prey and predator are likely to be able to smell these landmines and create these paths through the fields. But obviously, when high speed chases happen, they take far more risks. There are one or two wolves out there that only have one leg. That may be from accidents, but it also may be from an incident with a landmine.
What distinguishes Mammals from other terrific BBC Studios Natural History Unit series?
It’s very character-led, but we've not held back on our stories, our punchiness or our grittiness. Watching the series as a whole, I have felt that it's definitely out there and it's not shy, which I think is exciting. We've got some hard watches, we've got some funny watches, but it's definitely bolder than some of the other previous series.
It’s important that we do not ignore the effect we humans are having on wildlife, isn’t it?
Totally. Certainly with my episode, I was trying not to lecture anyone, but instead to look at the change of habitats through the eyes of the animal behaviour. It is celebrating how incredible the natural world is to be able to do these adaptations. But at the same time, the backbone to all these stories is this change. So what I hope people will take away from this film is the enjoyment of watching all this incredible animal behaviour, but also to plant seeds in people's minds about what it must be like being these animals and the challenges they're facing. Just look at Indian wolves living in the minefields on the Golan Heights. The fact is that that area is a stronghold for them because it keeps us out. It's just incredible that they are safe because they're protected by these landmines that keep humans away. It's just crazy. It does highlight the state of the world.
What has helped the BBC Studios Natural History Unit gain this world-class reputation?
Passion and experience. Everyone at the NHU is so unbelievably passionate about what they do. That is obvious when you look at the programmes. But it also has just a wealth of experience - it's been going for so long. It’s a real hive network. Everyone talks to everyone, everyone's helping everyone. I have already had about five Zoom calls today with different projects asking about little things. It's just one massive brain basically. It's so collaborative, and I just think that's so important. We're like little ants!
What do you hope the impact of your episode will be?
I hope it makes people think. We have to tread a difficult line between trying to entertain and educate and inspire. We have to juggle those elements because you don't want to make a programme that's too depressing for people to watch on a Sunday night. You want to give hope, but you also want to give an honest depiction of what is going on in the world. So we need to be able to share that through the animals’ eyes and through their behaviour. I'm hoping that people will go away and have really enjoyed watching it. But I also hope they think about it afterwards. I hope they think about what some of the global habitat changes actually mean for us and for the mammals we share this planet with.
Daniel Rasmussen, Producer (Water)
What fired you up about working on this series?
I am really excited about ocean stories, and my animals of choice to work with are marine mammals. This was a rare chance to tell stories about what are, to me, the most iconic animals on earth. I was absolutely thrilled just to have the time and expertise to really do justice to mammals and to find new stories about what are really difficult animals to film in faraway places. Being on the water is very expensive. So for me, it was just a dream ticket to be able to do the thing I'm most passionate about. The fact that Sir David is involved makes all the difference. For me this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I jumped at it!
Can you expand on the importance to the project of Sir David’s narration?
His voice is the voice of natural history. It has such authenticity. He's someone that's lived and breathed this for his entire career. He’s an incredible human being in his own right, but he also is fantastic writer and has a great way with words and great delivery. He just does justice to the ups and downs, the emotional journey that our narratives often have. So working with him is critical to give the series traction, not only nationally, but internationally.
Why is water such a captivating environment for the viewer?
Mammals evolved on land, and they only took to water much later in their evolutionary journey. So today, only about 2% of mammals are aquatic. So it's an incredibly challenging environment and a very difficult place to live, if you're air-breathing, warm-blooded, and you give birth to live young. All the physiological traits that define what the mammals are would seem like a setback in water. Yet, everywhere on Earth, you find marine mammals. Not only do you find marine mammals, but they're normally the keystone species or apex predators in any of the aquatic habitats where they live.
Can you elaborate on that?
How have they risen to those heights? The way that they've done it is that they've used the strengths of mammalian behaviour, which are having a big brain and using their intelligence. It's about communication and cooperation. All of those things that define mammals are really most obvious in the water because that's the only way that they can survive. Their big brains and large social groups are completely intertwined with each other in terms of evolution. And in water, of course, you've got no barriers. There's nothing to stop you travelling forever. So the animals have these huge social groups, and as a result, they've got really big brains. With that comes great intelligence, incredible language, and culture. All of these things that are at the zenith of all mammals are found in the sea. So if you're looking to see the most amazing mammals on Earth, they're all in the water.
Do you have a favourite sequence from your episode?
One sequence absolutely blew us away. It's never been seen before by anybody. We didn't plan on filming it. But it just so happened to play out in front of us, and we were lucky enough to capture it on camera. We were filming orcas hunting baby humpback whales. There's this amazing story that off the west coast of Australia you've got this incredible rebound of a population of humpback whales that's gone from a few hundred to 35,000. It’s an astonishing conservation success story. There is a very small group of fewer than 30 orcas there that specialise in hunting the baby humpback whales which are born there before they go on their migration to Antarctica. Normally, the orcas obviously have much diminished odds against taking the babies because they're fighting essentially big whales. But they did this incredible behaviour.
What was it?
Usually, you get bigger groups of orcas so they can use the power of numbers to overcome the humpback whales. But we observed something very different, a small group of only three orcas who designed a tactical plan on the fly. They kidnapped this baby humpback whale calf off the back of its mother and they put it in their slipstream. The three of them then swam along the surface and pulled the baby along with them away from its mother. A scientist who was with us has been studying them for 10 years, and it is clear that the orcas have just developed this new behaviour. They created it, communicated it, did it, and it succeeded on the fly. This calf had just been born. It had no idea what was going on. It just went along willingly with the three orcas. It’s quite remarkable behaviour, and it has never been seen before. It blew my mind.
What did that sequence prove to you?
It just showed you just how smart orcas can be and how incredible they are as predators. They are the greatest predators on planet Earth. The only things animals need to worry about in the ocean are other mammals. They are so many tiers above every other life form there. For all of their physiological disadvantages, they really are a cut above every other life form in the ocean.
Finally, what makes aquatic mammals so special?
First of all, the level of investment that they put into their young. Being a good mum or a dad or a brother or a sister is so critically important to many mammals, not only when they are young, but all through their life. And that's not only in working together, but that's in the knowledge they accrue from their family that can lead them to be successful later on. So I think in this episode, it’s very evident that being a good mum is key to individual success. The second part of my answer would be the diversity of mammals. The majority of mammals are smaller and nocturnal, which you will see in the “Dark” episode.
But of course, the aquatic mammals are anything but that. Blue whales are the biggest animals that have ever lived. They are bigger than any dinosaur. They are today's biggest toothed predators. They have the biggest brains and the most complicated languages. Every single one of them is unique and full of character, which is just like us. Human beings watching this show can understand their daily struggles. They are the easiest for us to empathise with. They are simply extraordinary.
William Lawson, Producer (Cold)
What were the most challenging aspects of shooting in the cold?
I've actually been making cold related programmes for the BBC for about seven or eight years now. The one thing that never changes is the logistics: the length of time that's needed to be able to get to these locations - a lot of them are very isolated, difficult to reach - and the equipment. Cold and electronics do not go hand in hand. They're not firm friends by any stretch of the imagination. Also, people operating in cold conditions, wearing big thick clothing and gloves – everything takes two to three times longer in cold environments than in warm ones. As a result, you have to give yourself that bit longer in the field to be able to operate there successfully. So the cold puts a challenge on the equipment, and it puts a challenge on the people working there.
What are the other difficulties?
In cold environments, during winter, there's not a lot of general wildlife activity. For the cold episode, we decided that we wanted every sequence to have a cold backdrop to it. We didn't want to seasonally jump into the middle of summer where the bounty comes through; we wanted to keep the audience in this very special, cold place. As a result, the population density of the species and characters we wanted to film was low. Finding them is not guaranteed by any stretch of the imagination. Then when you do find them, you need to find ways and means of keeping up with them as the weather changes rapidly and conditions get hard. So yes, there was a raft of challenges.
Is there one sequence in “Cold” that you are especially proud of?
One extremely dramatic sequence that we've got right at the beginning of the programme is a polar bear hunting and chasing reindeer. We filmed it up in on the archipelago of Svalbard, between Norway and the North Pole. We headed up there with the ambition of filming this very rarely seen behaviour. The polar bears’ preferred prey in the winter are seals because they can digest the blubber and it puts calories on very quickly. But one of the important elements of this episode is that these cold environments which mammals have adapted to so incredibly well are now changing. And so, we are seeing that mammals are having to adapt accordingly. One behaviour that may be related to this change in sea ice in Svalbard is polar bears spending more time on land than they would do normally. The only real option they have in terms of prey on land is Svalbard reindeer. Svalbard reindeer are the smallest reindeer species in the world. They've adapted to living on the islands, but have not adapted to coming into contact with polar bears.
What happened when you were up there?
We ended up there with a team and managed to film, from a drone and also from the ground, a successful chase and kill by a particular female polar bear that we went to look for. Our understanding is that it's the first time this has been filmed successfully from both land and air. The development in drone technology made that possible. Without the ability to put a drone up into the air over those huge I feel we would not have been able to capture that on camera. I don't think a few years ago that behaviour would have been possible to film.
How else has climate change affected animals that live in the cold?
In current studies, it’s been shown that the Arctic itself is warming faster than the global average. The sea ice is obviously a very important indicator of that change, and the sea ice and tundra butt up to one another. So those two environments are seeing a lot of change over a relatively short period of time. Mammals have adapted to the cold over millennia, not over a short period of time. That’s what makes mammals unique. They've mastered these cold environments where other animals see it as a barrier. For other animals, the stresses on the body are too great in the cold, so they just can't survive, or if they can survive, they can't thrive. But mammals have learned to do so.
Tell us more.
As we show in the programme, since the extinction of the dinosaurs, there have been over 50 glacial periods, during which ice sheets expanded and covered huge areas of land. Whereas that pushed away a lot of animals, certain groups of mammals seemingly embraced it and used it to find a niche in that environment. Because of their fur, because of their blubber, because of being warm blooded and being able to produce milk, they were able to raise their young very quickly in a really hard environment. They almost used it as a training ground, with each glacial period helping them evolve and hone their physiology and behaviour to master that very hostile environment. But in some respects, they may have over-evolved to an environment that is now changing quickly. So yes, we knew from the get-go that it was an important point to make that these cold specialists are now living in an environment that seems to be warming relatively quickly.
Why does this series stand out from the crowd?
The last time that the BBC did such an expose on mammals was The Life of Mammals, which was over 20 years ago. It’s not often that we focus so heavily on one group of animals and their physical and behavioural strategies for survival. We don't shy away from that in this series at all. We're very bold, and we make it contemporary. We talk about how mammals and humans are interacting, both positively and negatively. Over the last 20 plus years, since the original Life of Mammals, our storytelling technique and our editing technique has changed, and many would say it's improved. And so, we look to give an in-depth characterization of a particular species in an environment and pull the audience in to understand and empathise with that particular species in that particular place at a particular time. I think that's very powerful.
What other elements make Mammals such an outstanding show?
The series allows the audience to really recognise how surprising and unfamiliar we can make stories about familiar species and familiar characters. Just in the cold episode, we feature polar bears, grizzly bears, Arctic foxes, snow leopards, pikas - a list of characters that the audience may or may not have seen before. But one thing that we really pushed very hard for in this series was to show these familiar characters in unfamiliar places, doing unexpected things. I think we really succeeded in that. I knew that the challenge was going to be great to find newness and surprise off the back of a comprehensive series on frozen environments like Frozen Planet 2, but I'm really pleased to say that we have achieved that. We've got newness, and I think the audience will be surprised by some fascinating things. This series will really grab the audience's attention by making them see a familiar group of animals in a very new way. It will give them a real sense of surprise and appreciation of why mammals are probably the most successful animal group on the planet.
Can you provide an example?
The wolverine sequence where we got a world first by filming a kit emerging from its den. I think most of the audience will only know the name wolverine through a pop culture reference. But hopefully, by the end of that sequence, they'll fall in love with the real thing!
Rob Pilley, Producer (Heat)
How did you put up with the hardship involved in making your episode?
You throw yourself into it, and you endure it. Because if you don't endure it, you don't experience what the animals go through and ultimately, you don't get the sequences that you need to shoot. For example, the tree hugging behaviour that we filmed with the white sifaka lemurs in Madagascar, which we are the first people to film, only occurs when it's particularly hot. So we as a crew have to go out when it's very, very hot, even though it's not pleasant at all. The sifakas only hug the trees to keep cool when it's unbelievably hot. So if you go out on a more pleasant day, they don't do the behaviour. So it's just what we have to do.
What other memorable behaviour did you observe?
Another one that springs to mind was when we filmed Harris antelope squirrels in Arizona. They have evolved this physiology called heat dumping. Most other mammals there become nocturnal and will actually go underground to avoid the fierce heat of the day. But there is a risk then because all your predators are nocturnal as well, such as snakes and coyotes. So the Harris antelope squirrel has evolved to come out in the day to avoid those predators. But the downside to that is it's obviously extremely hot. The ground temperature goes up to 80 degrees. The way that they endure it is by engaging in this very rapid activity across the surface of the hot sand. But of course, they're very small, about the size of a chipmunk, and they get very hot as a result. Their core temperature goes up to 43 degrees, which is extraordinary. Only the camel can get hotter inside, but camels are far bigger animals. But these little tiny guys get up to 43 degrees at their core.
What happens next?
When they get very, very hot, they have evolved the ability to offload the heat very, very quickly into the ground in the shady areas under the cactuses. As a result, they can lose up to one degree per minute. And so, they live this lifestyle of getting hot, cold, hot, cold, hot, cold, hot, cold to get through the day. It’s quite extraordinary.
How do the squirrels actually dump the heat?
They dive onto the surface of the sand and flatten themselves on the ground. They keep their arms and legs completely flat to maximise the surface area on the ground. The ground is still hot, but relative to the squirrels’ core temperature, it's lower. It literally looks like they've been run over. The locals call it “splooting” because they've just gone “splat” on the ground. When you see them doing it, it’s hilarious!
Why do people love the “making of” segments at the end of each episode so much?
For a multitude of reasons. For a start, it shows the pain of what we do! Also, as a viewer, you enjoy the educational experience of an episode. But it should also be creating questions in your mind about how we did it. When you've enjoyed a particular sequence, it naturally leads you on to say, “That was extraordinary. How on earth did they do that? I wonder what it was like behind the scenes. Was it as glamorous or as beautiful as it seemed? And how did they get that camera down that tiny hole?” Then the viewer gets to the “making of” section and says, “Ah, this is the bit I've been waiting for. They are going to answer some of my questions.”
What did you choose for your “making of” segment?
The sequence with the sifaka hugging the tree. The reason why I did the “making of” with that particular animal is because it's a new behaviour that has not been shot before. Also, we knew it was going to be hard. There were an awful lot of unknown quantities trying to achieve that footage. You can only anticipate so much. We were in what's known as the spiny forest, and so we knew there were going to be a few prickles and a few tough moments in there. We also knew we were going to be dealing with an extraordinary behaviour from an animal that is really cute. Sifakas look like little polar bears. So we were going to film a very endearing animal doing a very beautiful thing, but in very tricky conditions. It just ticked a lot of boxes for a “making of.”
How did you go about filming it?
We explained the situation and shot it from our point of view to show what we were going through. The audience is living it with us. They are part of it. They’ve seen us getting stuck, being sick, getting lost. They have witnessed us enduring it. We are willing the sifaka to do the behaviour and saying to each other, “Come on, come on,” but it still doesn’t work. But you just keep going. It’s a case of “Will they, won't they have success?” I think that’s what makes a good “making of”: a journey.
Can you articulate the thrill that you experience when you capture on film for the very first time a behaviour such as a sifaka hugging a tree?
It’s so unexpected when you see them doing it. As well as being a wildlife filmmaker for many years, I am a zoologist, and my passion and my heart have always lain with the animals. They are my inspiration. I am always so admiring of the fact that they do amazing things that we've ever seen before. Then to actually be at the forefront of science, using bespoke techniques and spending time in the field, is amazing. When you are working with an animal that you love so much and respect so much and all of a sudden it reveals to you something extraordinary, that you've never seen before, it's very humbling. That just gives you this impetus to want to keep going. It gets the juices going and brings out the child in you. It's very inspiring.
Justine Allan, Producer (Forest)
What appealed to you about working on this series?
First of all, the chance to work with Sir David. This series was born from the landmark of The Life of Mammals, which was 20 years ago now. To revisit those familiar animal characters, with the huge leaps in technology and advances in knowledge since then, was hard to resist. Also, the forest presents a whole new collection of challenges as an environment. I’ve worked with tigers in the past, and the complexity of forests, and the diversity of forests, and how things are constantly changing – that richness is something that's really fascinating as a filmmaker. It is so beautiful and lush as an environment to work in, but it's also quite challenging. It’s about picking out the right stories. So that was a good reason to jump into this film.
What are the specific challenges of filming in the forest?
I am sure my colleagues won't mind me saying that forests are known for being one of the most challenging environments to film in because the lines of sight are very difficult. An animal can disappear in an instant. So when you are in the field, you have to up your game. The architecture of a forest is this multi-dimensional, multi-layered environment where the odds are changing at every level. If you're working on the ground, or if you're working at height, or if you’re even going above and beyond the canopy, the way you have to approach filming is very different, even just from a safety point of view. You’re having to bring in different kinds of specialists for each situation. Also, you have to minimise any disturbance to the animals because you're working within their environment, but at height that can be very difficult.
What other challenges confront you?
The fact that forests are constantly changing. It’s dark, it's hot, it's dense, but it also can be cold and windy. The challenges are 360 degrees, literally all around you. It's not just looking at the environment on a linear plane. You have to be very strategic about your timing. Working with animals in a forest is just a whole different ballgame. It’s no surprise that people say, “Don’t make a forest film because you can never see the animals!”
What are the joys of working in a forest?
The interconnectivity of a forest is amazing. At first glance a forest can look quite chaotic and messy. “How has this come to be? How are you going to get through it? You can’t see anything.” But actually, the harmony and the peace of being in a forest is extraordinary. Everything has its own tiny, little niche, whether it's an insect on the floor, or a tiger, one of the largest feline predators. All these animals are slotting into this mesh, this interwoven world. It feels quite constricted and complicated, but it is bursting with life. One of the joys for a filmmaker is to discover those different stories and bringing to light different characters. The interconnectivity of this world and the constant changing of it means that it's always bringing new surprises and unexpected things. There are opportunities and dangers and triumphs in the shadows, but also at different levels. An animal can be on the floor and in danger, but then it suddenly moves up to the heights, and it's a champion. So working in the forest really keeps you on your toes.
Do you have a personal highlight from your episode?
I love the sequence we filmed with chimps in Gabon. Chimps are such iconic mammals, our closest wild relatives. The fact that we ourselves are mammals was just another thing that really attracted me to make a film about them. Rightly or wrongly, it’s very easy for us to make comparisons with chimps’ behaviour. We can relate to them through play, family and social structures. We filmed a world first with this really nice sequence at the very beginning of the episode where the alpha male finds honey. He puts a stick in the ground, and then sniffs it to check if it smells of honey. These special underground stingless bees live there, so he knows he won't get stung. He finds out where the honey pot is, and then once he’s found it, it's like, “Bingo, hit the jackpot!” The alpha male is just covered in honey, but the alpha male won't share any of the sweet delicacy with his family!
What happens then?
We show why mammals are so amazing. In an instant, the chimps able to change from playing and being sociable with the honey into carrying out these military style hunting tactics. Like most mammals, chimps are quite opportunistic, and they take the chance to hunt red-capped mangabey monkey. On the ground, the monkeys are really fast and flighty, but their odds change as the levels go up. When the chimps are in the trees, they have the upper hand because they can deploy this strategic form of hunting. You see the chimps scale this tree with absolute ease. If we climbed a tree, we'd be huffing and puffing.
But these animals, which are sedentary for most of the day, are incredibly strong once they start climbing. The tactic is that half the group goes ahead silently and lies in wait for the ambush. Once they're all set, the leader gives the cue, and the rest flush out the red-capped mangabey monkeys right into this silent trap. Once they have caught the monkeys, the chimps will often share the meat between the whole troop. Hopefully it’s a really good bit of drama.
What does that behaviour tell us about chimps?
The level of intelligence required to set an ambush like that is extraordinary. The cooperation between that family group is amazing. Everyone knows their role. Everyone knows it's hunting time, so it’s game on. Chimp intelligence is up there with some of the best. It's quite remarkable and also a little bit scary. I find it really quite inspiring to see the animals’ intelligence, going from just playing and being nice with the honey to performing this sophisticated hunt.
How does Sir David’s involvement enhance the series?
He’s just such an icon. For many of us, he's somebody who has influenced and ignited our own passion when we watched his series as children. Coming full circle and having him put his voice to something that the team has worked towards for so many years just gives it this level of completeness. Also, there's a sense of safety in working with Sir David. He is still so passionate and enthusiastic about individual animals or individual sequences. It's lovely to have that, even though he's seen more of the natural world across his lifetime than we ever will. Especially because times are changing, it's good to have that constant voice of history. Sir David brings a real gravitas to your film.
What do you think sets Mammals apart?
It’s been a while since we've really focused on one animal group. Also, we can't really ignore that we are mammals. We are part of that family group. Hopefully, what viewers will find is a unique type of connection to this series because we are also mammals. That group of animals is worth exploring because of its incredible diversity. Mammals are everywhere, from the highest mountains to the deepest oceans. Their intelligence and ingenuity can be seen in every corner of the globe. That is something really worth celebrating.