Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Beeb’s Mountain series is summit to write home about
Iknow the BBC doesn’t like to boast, but it really should have made an exception for its new three-part series Mountain: Life At The Extreme.
Last night’s opening episode deserved to have “It’s what big tellies were made for” stamped across each and every breathtaking frame.
It was another absolute triumph for the Beeb’s Natural History Unit. If you were picky you could say it missed David Attenborough’s husky voiceover, but that’s harsh on Douglas Henshall.
His epic Scottish tones were perfect for this look at life in North America’s Rockies. He used all his drama training to ramp up the tension in a sequence which no doubt caused flashbacks for anyone who’s ever seen Bambi.
Luckily this baby deer avoided any trauma. However, I never thought I’d be so relieved to hear the words: “The grizzly bear ambles away, unaware of the meal under its nose.”
If that didn’t get your heart pounding there was plenty of other footage for the job.
For thrillseekers it was a toss-up between skier
Hilaree O’neill sweeping down an avalanche valley or wingsuited birdman Jeff Shapiro leaping from a 3,000ft mountain with what looked like his nan’s duvet round his shoulders. As for the animals, my favourites were the wolverine that could detect food buried 20ft deep (like a guy I shared a student house with) and salamanders that swam around a murky pond devouring each other until there was only one left. Which reminds me, the party conference season is almost upon us.