Life in Colour | |
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Also known as |
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Genre | Documentary |
Written by | Adam Geiger |
Directed by | Adam Geiger |
Narrated by | David Attenborough |
Composer | James Dorman |
Country of origin |
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Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 3 |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producers |
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Camera setup | Multi-camera |
Running time | 50 minutes |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | BBC One |
Release | 28 February 22 April 2021 | –
Life in Colour[a] is a 2021 British-Australian nature documentary miniseries presented and narrated by David Attenborough.[1] It consists of three episodes.
The series was co-produced by Humble Bee Films and Sealight Pictures for Netflix, the BBC, Stan, and the Nine Network.[2][3] Sharmila Choudhury served as a producer.[4][5] It was originally envisaged as having four episodes, but this was scaled back to three due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[6]
The first episode of Life in Colour aired on 28 February 2021 on BBC One[7] and on 3 July 2021 on Nine Network in Australia.[3]
Viewing data sourced from BARB.[8]
No. | Title | Produced by | Original air date | UK viewers (millions) | |
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1 | "Seeing in Colour" | Sally Thomson | 28 February 2021 | 5.70 | |
A male peacock attempts to woo a mate with his display. Male mandrills develop brightly-colored faces and posteriors to warn rival males. A male Costa's hummingbird performs a flight display to attract a female. A male magnificent bird-of-paradise performs for several females and manages to successfully mate with one. Attenborough uses an ultraviolet filter to demonstrate how pollinating insects see flowers. A blue moon butterfly settles disputes with competitors through aerial displays and also displays for females, which have ultraviolet vision. Male fiddler crabs use their claws to display for females, with a perspective of polarized light. Fish on the Great Barrier Reef have evolved specific patterns that are only visible under ultraviolet light. Peacock mantis shrimps can perceive color faster than any other animal due to having more color receptors, and can also distinguish between polarized and unpolarized light, allowing them to signal mates and warn rivals with scales that reflect polarized light. Andean flamingos perform courtship dances in the Atacama Desert and obtain pink pigments from carotenoids in the algae and shrimp they eat. Strawberry poison-dart frogs obtain their bright warning coloration from the food they eat, show extensive color variation across their range due to differing diets, and fight intruding rival frogs. | |||||
2 | "Hiding in Colour" | Nick Green | 7 March 2021 | 5.38 | |
3 | "Chasing Colour" | Bridget Appleby | 22 April 2021 | N/A |
The Hindu's Aswathi Pacha praised the series, noting Attenborough's enthusiasm.[9] Common Sense Media gave the series four out of five stars.[10] Yvonne Bohwongprasert's review for the Bangkok Post was generally positive, but criticised the film for failing to mention the "ongoing climate crisis".[11]