• 1990
  • 50m
The Trials of Life

Summary Each of the twelve 50-minute episodes features a different aspect of the journey through life, from birth to adulthood and continuation of the species through reproduction. View more details

  • 1990
  • 50m

The Trials of Life

Directed : Unknown

Written : Unknown

Stars : David Attenborough

All cast & crew

8.9

Details

Genres : Documentary

Release date : Oct 2, 1990

Countries of origin : United Kingdom

Official sites : Official site

Language : English

Production companies : Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) BBC TV

Summary Each of the twelve 50-minute episodes features a different aspect of the journey through life, from birth to adulthood and continuation of the species through reproduction. View more details

Details

Genres : Documentary

Release date : Oct 2, 1990

Countries of origin : United Kingdom

Official sites : Official site

Language : English

Production companies : Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) BBC TV

Photos

The Trials of Life (1990) The Trials of Life (1990) The Trials of Life (1990) The Trials of Life (1990) The Trials of Life (1990) The Trials of Life (1990) The Trials of Life (1990) The Trials of Life (1990) The Trials of Life (1990) The Trials of Life (1990) The Trials of Life (1990) The Trials of Life (1990) The Trials of Life (1990)

Episodes

View All Seasons
Episode 1 • Oct 02, 1990
Arriving
The first dangerous step into a hazardous world. From egg laying to live-bearing mammals have adopted an extraordinary variety of techniques to give birth, but the release of an egg to the safe delivery of an infant is merely one step in the great journey through life.
Episode 2 • Oct 09, 1990
Growing Up
For some baby animals, the care of diligent parents smooths the way to adulthood. Whereas others are abandoned before their childhood is over. But whether cared for or not, the main trial remains the same; staying alive during this difficult period.
Episode 3 • Oct 16, 1990
Finding Food
Finding enough to eat is a problem which faces every animal on the planet and since animals - unlike plants - cannot manufacture their own food, they have to eat other organisms which, by and large, don't welcome the experience.
Episode 4 • Oct 23, 1990
Hunting and Escaping
Kill or die. Escape or perish. Such life and death duels are fought on a daily basis in the wild between assassins and their victims and have fuelled a long evolutionary arms race.
Episode 5 • Oct 30, 1990
Finding the Way
How do animals find their way around the globe with such extraordinary accuracy - an accuracy which we have only been able to match in recent years with satellite navigation.
Episode 6 • Nov 06, 1990
Homemaking
To create their hugely varied homes, animals become potters and plasterers, weavers and needleworkers, miners, masons, scaffolders, thatchers and sculptors.
Episode 7 • Nov 13, 1990
Living Together
Whole communities of different kinds of animals have been committed by evolution to live together. We show how some of these animal partnerships are ancient and intricate, whilst others are just being formed and that the delicate balance of benefit and exploitation is ever-changing.
Episode 8 • Nov 20, 1990
Fighting
Fighting is most usually an expression of competition - for food, for land or for a mate. But all fights do not have to be expressed with physical violence. Some are also ritualised encounters in which conflict is waged by signals and in which the only damage done is psychological.
Episode 9 • Nov 27, 1990
Friends and Rivals
Many animals find it advantageous, essential even, to live in social groups where recognising friends and respecting the power of rivals is vital. However there are problems: inevitable squabbles over food, disputes over nesting places and arguments over mates.
Episode 10 • Dec 04, 1990
Talking to Strangers
An exploration of the enormous variety of ways in which animals communicate and then by imitating or adopting some of these, David Attenborough demonstrates how he is able to "talk" to animals.
Episode 11 • Dec 11, 1990
Courting
In the animal kingdom all sorts of methods are employed to attract the best mate from singing, to fantastical displays of plumage, to stylish dance routines, and more violent strategies like the clashing of horns and the assaults on a rival's property.
Episode 12 • Dec 18, 1990
Continuing the Line
A look at the ingenious strategies employed by animals in their desperate attempts to find and retain a mate.

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